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★★★
Directed by: #JamesBushe
Written by: #RichardLeeODonnell
Desperate for business and having landed a big job fitting carpets for an entire country manor, Cupid Carpets manager Nigel sends his best (and only) team out on the job in the middle of nowhere. But when the team arrive to get the job done, they unfortunately stumble into the domain of the horrifying Mrs. Hanning and her cannibal sons and find themselves fighting to stay off the menu
Cannibals and Carpet Fitters started life as a short back in 2014, screening at Cannes, New York and LA, as well as picking up the “Dead Certs” best horror short award at the Leeds International #FilmFestival. Now, the team at Pretty Dead Pictures have added an extra hour to that original twenty minutes. Fun fact – I used to fit carpets in my youth with my dad. Hats off for the great level of detail in the various tools and supplies that reminded me of those earlier days as well as a carpet fitter mantra my dad would have been proud of. But there was - strangely – a distinct lack of carpet.
Anyway, I digress.
The setting of the manor house makes for a perfect stage for the chaos to unfold. The effects and gore used is of a decent standard and used well at key moments, also not as overly gratuitous as some entries in the genre tend to be to try and make an impact.
There are a couple of genuine jump scares thrown in as well, along with some shocking moments you might not see coming.
This film has clearly been brought together by a team of people who know, love and respect the genre but is not without its flaws. The opening ten minutes, which plays out like a rushed version of The Blair Witch Project, has some disorientating shaky cam. Most of the jokes are solid and will give you a good chuckle, but a handful do unfortunately seem to miss the mark.
The film leans on its cast and the dynamics between the characters and there are several different levels of acting ability on display here. None of the characters seem really fleshed out or original, but in the end, you do find yourself rooting for them. The main standouts are Colin (Darren Sean Enright) and Dean (writer and producer Richard Lee O’Donnell), the power-duo of the original short and they are definitely the stars here as well. The back and forth between them provides some of the comedy highlights of film and you get the sense of a genuine bond and affection and between these two as well.
Cannibals and Carpet Fitters is definitely what you would call a Ronseal film – you know what you are getting into right from the off. Inevitable comparisons will be made to other classics in the #horror-#comedy genre such as Shaun of the Dead and while it is nowhere near that level, this is clearly a passion project from lovers of the genre and as a result is something of an entertainingly and decent film that has all the hallmarks of becoming a cult classic.
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