Jackalope Reigns Supreme in 'Easter Bloody Easter' (Review)
Easter arrives a little early for us this year, and not just the holiday. Diane Foster, CEO of Wallybird Productions has partnered with Gravitas Ventures for her directorial debut of the new horror-comedy ‘EASTER BLOODY EASTER.’ Let’s just say this isn’t your typical Easter egg hunt with candy-filled baskets. Foster not only directs but, produces and stars in Easter Bloody Easter as our leading lady, Texas housewife Jeanie Cooper. The folks over at Justin Cook Public Relations were kind enough to give us an early screening of the film for review.
It’s Easter weekend in the small town of Walburg, Texas and despite the numerous vicious and mysterious murders that have been happening, Mary Lou (Allison Lobel) has been working all year to make this the best Easter palooza the town has ever seen. The most recent disappearance is that of Jeanie’s husband Lance who has been missing for almost a week.
After being notified by the local authorities that his truck was found, she rushes over with her long-time friend Carol (Kelly Grant) and discovers it is covered with blood and filled with remnants of some kind of fur. Immediately, Jeanie knows something is off. A little insight, 150 years ago, the town of Walburg was terrorized by a creature known as the Jackalope, the epitome of Easter evil.
The genre of holiday horror is so versatile that it can be taken in any direction. Just about any holiday that you can think of has probably been turned into a horror film. Mostly we see Christmas, Thanksgiving, St. Patrick’s Day, etc. It’s refreshing to see a horror film centered around Easter because I know I’m not alone when I say the Easter bunny is terrifying. You know what I’m talking about, the ones they have at the mall that you can take photos with… nightmare fuel.
To our surprise, the Easter bunny isn’t our killer in this one. Remember that Jackalope we mentioned earlier? Tales of this shapeshifting mythical creature have been swirling around for centuries, but we don’t see too many films depicting it. Foster took the Jackalope by the horns, or should I say antlers, and gave it a backstory that was easy to follow and fun to watch, in a bloody-comedically way.
The comedy aspect triumphed over the horror in this, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Since it was marketed as a horror-comedy shrouded in mystery, it hit the nail on the head. Not to mention, the demon bunny minions of the Jackalope were hilarious in a creepy-cute cuddly way. To piggyback a bit off the mystery aspect, the storyline flowed well, a determined woman in search of her missing husband after a slue of murders to reveal the true identity behind the Jackalope. Short, sweet, and to the point. It also wasn’t immediately obvious what the outcome would be which I think we can all appreciate when watching a film.
As far as acting goes, the chemistry on the set seemed to flow so naturally between the different characters. Especially with Jeanie and Carol, their friendship shined through in their scenes together and didn’t seem too forced. The cinematography was something else we wanted to touch on as well. Easter Bloody Easter was filmed though out the greater Los Angeles area at ranches to achieve the small town Texas vibes, and if you wouldn’t have told me otherwise, I would have believed it was filmed in Texas. My only issue with this film was that it was a tad bit too lengthy, but the ending left us wanting more. Will we see the return of the Jackalope in the future?
We could only imagine that it is difficult to not only direct and produce but also star in your own film; Diane Foster executed this gracefully and gave us a slapstick Easter horror comedy with a newfound fear of the Jackalope. ‘EASTER BLOODY EASTER’ is available NOW on Cable VOD and Digital HD from Gravitas Ventures. Make sure to add this film to your Easter Sunday movie marathon.
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