I will preface this review by saying that this is a very well made film with top notch blood-spurting, makeup and digital effects, great cinematography, and excellent sound production. The viewer must keep in mind that it is intended to be a fun horror romp, and should not be taken too seriously. it’s an anything goes horror flick with many redeeming qualities. A true fan of horror comedy (this film tries hard), one who can check his or her brain at the door, will have a few chuckles, and even maybe a guffaw as the film unfolds.
A few familiar faces in the cast include Priscilla Barnes and veteran character actor Tracey Walter, who serves up a few rather unintriguing lines as a patron of the truck-stop diner, and returns in the end to help out a survivor.
Trailer Park of Terror does have a hot blonde in the beginning…
… which takes place at the trailer park sometime in 1980 or 81, where Norma (Nichole Hiltz), our hot blonde born into the wrong way of life, is bothered, berated and bullied by the trailer trash on her way to meet her ticket out of that hell hole: her boyfriend Aaron. On her way out of the park her story is musically narrated by a side-burned southern-rock guitar-Elvis with bad Billy Ray Cyrus hairdo and a Billy Idol lip (played by Myk Watford).
But alas, her runaway dream is not to be. Aaron is inadvertently off-ed by the trailer trash and as Norma runs away from the hokey pokey she encounters a mysterious southern-rock-devil-went-down-to-Georgia stranger (Trace Adkins) who gives her a new ticket. A ticket for revenge in the form of a gun. But it comes with a hefty price tag.
Returning to the trailer park Norma makes quick business of all those who harassed and humiliated her. Then she sits next to the fat lady she shot through the mouth, where she turns on the propane gas, lights up a smoke and waits for the explosive fire to seal the deal. Singing her “come to me Satan” song.
Jump ahead, through a montage of newspaper clippings and signs posted on bulletin boards flashing across the screen, we’re clued in to a trend of missing persons cases. Finally the somewhat nauseating camera pans end and we arrive in 2008, outside a roadside diner where a busload of kids from a church retreat group have stopped for some drinks and snacks before they continue their journey back from a week of finding salvation for their various depraved activities. Apparently the week at camp didn’t work. But they learn what they should be repentant of as the film moves on.
We’re briefly introduced to the characters that will take us through the rest of the film, but not really enough to care about what happens to them, except for maybe the goth chick played by Jeanette Brox. I’m partial to goth chicks.
After shoplifting porn, attempted sex in the bathroom, and a certain favor in exchange for drugs, the unsaved are back on the bus. The film does have it’s share of bad one-liners, evident by the first lame line delivered by the porno-shoplifter kid on the bus when asked to check his cellphone for service. He lamely quips, “looks like a dead zone.” Groan. The commercials from a cellphone company that rhymes with horizon are comical, but the line did not work here.
I don’t want to give away the whole story. Suffice to say the bus is rendered inoperative, and a thunderstorm dumps buckets of rainwater on them as they seek refuge at… you guessed it, the Trailer Park of Terror. Hey, the real horror has only just begun.
Now we get into some real gruesome gore effects, and finally a decent dose of humor. See, the trailer trash are still there, haunting the place where they died, in the form of crazy, red-neck zombies hell bent on having a good gruesome time.
Perhaps the funniest bit comes after our side-burned southern-rock guitar-Elvis with bad Billy Ray Cyrus hairdo (sans Billy Idol lip, you’ll see why) is blown apart when he accidentally steps on his own claymore mine as he chases the goth chick through the woods. One of his cronies attempts to reassemble him with duct tape and a staple gun. This is when we realize the movie is supposed to be a comedy/horror, and it might work there on out after all.
Things get a little inflated as our zombie rocker jams from atop his public address platform narrating the depraved scene unfolding in one of the trailers below. And the intensity elevates right to the crash up ending.
Ultimately the film ends up growing on the viewer. Well it grew on me. Check your brain at the door, it’s just entertainment of a sort. It was funny in parts, and well made. I might watch it again.
