“ABRUPTIO” (2023) IS A PERFECT BLEND OF PUPPETS, HORROR, AND FEAR
Horror has had many hybrid types of genres added to it over the last few years. Horror comedy, horror drama and etc have graced our screens from time to time. Some good, some bad but either way they provide us with some much-needed entertainment. Movies are always the “great escape” from our troubled realities. We all need a nice way to relax and find our way back to enjoying life just a little bit, right? Movies do that for me, and I am sure they do that for a lot of people as well. Horror movies have always been the best genre to suck me into the story and keep me on the edge of my seat, no matter what some critics may say about them.
Not only are horror movies a great source of enjoyment for me, but I also have a secret obsession with puppets. This is especially true when it comes to vulgar puppets. Something about puppets shouting obscenities and being vulgar just makes me laugh. I have such shows like “Crank Yankers” and “Greg the Bunny” to thank for that, not to mention the string of comedy sketches with puppets. Now you may be wondering, why am I talking about my love of horror and puppets? Sure, most people would be confused by this, but I haven’t heard of too many horror movies with puppets (yes, I know there are a few out there) but not in the range of what I saw recently.
Recently I had the chance to enjoy a movie with just the right amount of horror and puppets called “Abruptio”. This movie has an amazing cast of heavy-hitting talent. “Abruptio” features the voice talents of James Marsters ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), Hana Mae Lee (“Pitch Perfect”), Jordan Peele (“Nope”), Christopher McDonald (“The Faculty”), Robert Englund (“A Nightmare on Elm Street”), Darren Darnborough ("True Blood"), Rich Fulcher ("Rick and Morty"), and the iconic Sid Haig (“House of 1000 Corpses”) in one of his final roles. The synopsis of this movie is as follows:
“Les Hackel hates his life. He works a dead-end job, was just dumped by his high-maintenance girlfriend, and still lives with his nagging mom. One night, he discovers a fresh incision behind his neck. His friend Danny tells him it's a bomb, that someone has implanted one in his neck, too. And then the messages start coming in, forcing Les to carry out missions with deadly results. Les is partnered up with a series of oddball characters to commit heinous tasks. The violence escalating around him, Les pieces together the clues that reveal the horrific plans to breed a monstrous race of beings.”
First off, I have to say that I absolutely love the style of how these puppets look. It paints a very odd and twisted world that clearly is much different from our own but also has some big similarities. Not to mention the puppetry and cinematography in this movie are truly spectacular. The puppets come off as real people so well on screen. Not to mention the way that the puppets pair well with the voice acting of the amazing cast that it’s hard to believe they aren’t felt versions of themselves on screen.
So, getting into this movie was very easy. From the 1st part of the movie it shows the endless experience of a 9-5 office life of our main character Les Hackel (James Marsters) and how relatable that is to each of us. We also get a glimpse into the relationships with the main character and the people in his life, which is also very relatable to anyone. The daily dragging of office life can get to the best of us that’s for sure. We see his everyday life happen day after day after day as he blankly looks past the people that are in front of him. He seems to be living his life in a daze and even his friendship with his only friend Danny (Jordan Peele) even seems to be just a part of his continuously boring life.
Even with this going on he is also dealing with the fact that he is a recovering alcoholic and living with his parents. His boring life comes to a halt when he gets roped into a deadly game that leads him to some very drastic situations, all while having the terrifying fear that his head could blow off due to a bomb surgically implanted in his neck by some unknown source. Les is forced to go to his office and leave a briefcase with toxins aimed to kill anyone in the building.
This office death scene was insane, and intense and even got me more hooked into the story. I was on the edge of my seat with each text Les gets telling him what is next on his twisted agenda. He ends up going to a club and meets Sal (Sid Haig) who is an odd dry-humored old man who seems to also be commanded by this unknown entity commanding them to do unspeakable acts of harm. There is a scene where Les and Sal that leads them to a house that turns into an intense home invasion. This scene was so crazy and terrifying. It showed the true ways that there are absolutely no limits for some people when it comes to self-preservation.
I will say that Sal was an odd character with his dry sense of humor and a weird, but briefly great addition to the story of the movie. There is another intense scene (no surprise right) when Les gets picked up by a cop at the house he just invaded and gets interrogated. The interrogation scene with “The Confessional” was so damn psychotic and I loved every minute of it. It was scenes like this that made me wonder what “Pulp Fiction” would be like if it also had an all-puppet cast (someone please make that). There are even moments in this film when I felt that I was watching an episode of “Black Mirror” while tripping on LSD (I haven’t done that, but I totally could imagine the feeling would be similar).
There is also a fan scene that was compelling and filled with as much puppet gore as you can imagine, especially when he runs into his ex-girlfriend who is in a pile of bodies, somehow still alive. There is also a weird homage to “Beetlejuice” and the sandworms scene. Although a bit of a homage, it was still a scene that provided its own originality. Things even get weird with the occasional puppet boobs and sexual aggressiveness of some of the characters that Les meets along the way.
The final act is more insane than all of the scenes I mentioned put together. There is such a crazy twist ending and the way it wraps up is absolutely beyond anything I expected. After watching this movie, I felt like “Oh shit! I didn’t see that coming”. It’s a twist that would give M. Night Shyamalan a run for his movie. This movie (if you couldn’t tell) was very enjoyable and had so much substance, as well as plot that I would shout from the rooftops that everyone should see this movie when they get the chance. It is truly the perfect combination of adventure, horror, and puppets.
“Abruptio” by Hellbent Pictures is currently hitting the independent filmmakers circuit with its next stop being Fantaspoa. This is a movie you are definitely going to want to see and also check out when it is available in your town.
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