This makes me want to see Father’s Day even more!
Astron-6 (2011)
Directed By: Astron-6
Where to get it: CAV
The Prologue
Adam Brooks, Jeremy Gillespie, Matthew Kennedy, Conor Sweeney, and Steven Kostanski, all make up Astron-6. And here in this particular Troma release, Astron-6, you get a whole load of short films from these guys and you also get a long-ish trailer to the Father’s Day film they made, which has been getting rave reviews for those who have seen it. So, in a way, what you have here isn’t as much of a movie release as it is just a giant sample of what to expect from that movie. A giant sample in the form of many throwback style short films that can run even as long as the 26-28 minutes in length each. So, in other words, if you dig their style, you will find this disc to be a massively enjoyable DVD that is just oozing out pure awesome sauce!
The Movie
Five friends, a love of film and a suicide pact. In Tolkein lore, Astron-6 is the day of the Elvish New Year, and a new year is upon us indeed….From their first meeting at The Winnipeg Short Film Massacre, the five men instantly found themselves embroiled in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Rather than destroy each other, the sworn enemies decided to unite – and then destroy themselves (once famous). Astron-6 is the brainchild of these five iconoclastic, multi-media artists who share a fascination with the mechanics of fear and laughter. They subvert the expectations of the seasoned viewer with the nightmarish and absurd. Their imagery and recurring themes are often torn from the childhood of the irony-craving, internet savvy Generations X and Y. That is, they often lampoon genre films of the 1980s.
And while that gives you detail of just what to expect from this, there is still soo much more to this release that I feel I’ll never be able to truly give justice to. There really is something here for everyone when you break down each short this movie as a whole has to it. And each film packs that old school flavor that while cheap looking in spots, still does an outstanding job of drawing you into whatever short it is. No matter if it’s about nerds trying to be cool during the Summer (with a bloody twist), a Zombie virus that starts at the penis ect. It’s great stuff here, for the most part, from start to finish.
And speaking of penis, you see a lot of that here. Well, you see it in prosthetic form. It just adds to the overall vibe of the gore you get here (tons and tons of gore and natural effects). You never know what you will see in each short, but you can almost always safely assume it’ll be great stuff. Guts, blood, hands being cut off, and so on and so on, this stuff was just an overall pleasure to me to see. Mainly due to the fact that I love gore and I love genre films of the cheap variety. Not to mention, this thing packs very funny moments from actors that are both good at acting and especially funny. And don’t worry, I feel it’s a very smart type of humor in a way. It seems to know how to be outlandish without jumping the gun on anything.
Now let’s be honest, some of these shorts are way better than others. And there may be a couple you love and couple that you really don’t care for. But I think I just about enjoyed the entire thing and it almost works as a buffet style, meaning there’s a little something for everyone. It also means there may be stuff you try and don’t like, but don’t panic because there is plenty of stuff on the buffet you will like as well. And in a major plus factor, these are short films, that means they don’t have time to drag..WIN! So rest easy if you want to take a chance and check out combined film, it’s pure quality all around from some very talented people.
The Conclusion
If you enjoy comedy, gore, genre movie, and a bit of grindhouse style sleaze, you should find yourself right at home with Astron-6. This being combined with Troma makes for a perfect combination that I think everyone will all around enjoy. And after seeing this, I have no question in my mind that their film Father’s Day will be awesome.
The Rating (8/10)
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