‘Pure evil. Bite-sized.’
Ghastlies is a 2016 Canadian science fiction comedy horror feature film directed by Brett Kelly (My Fair Zombie; Homicycle; Jurassic Shark) from a screenplay by Chris Bavota (shorts: Never Tear Us Apart; Attack of the Brainsucker; After Ate).
The movie stars Kim Valentine (Monster Pool: Chapter Two), Kendra Summerfield (Raiders of the Lost Shark), Jessica Huether and Julie Racine.
Three sorority sisters plan an initiation for their nerdy friend during a weekend getaway. Things don’t go exactly as planned when they accidentally stumble upon a craft containing a trio of extraterrestrial ghastly ghouls! Armed with only their boyfriends and brains, they resolve to send these pint-sized gatecrashers back to the edge of the universe—or die trying…
Reviews:
“Ghastlies is not just a low-budget film, but an ultra low-budget film that attempts to impress without the proper resources to actually look legit. For example, the alien creatures are so cheaply made that it feels as if someone ran to Toys R Us and then grabbed whatever exotic villains they had on sale that could get the job done. Then there are large bits of the ‘acting’ that really look like screen tests…” Svet Atanasov, Blu-ray.com
“The cartoonish hand puppets, the implausible effects, and the technical inconsistencies can all be overlooked as campy charm, passed aside to enjoy Ghastlies for what it’s worth, but what can’t subside is the wonky connection between the cast that doesn’t favor well that’s diluted at the end by the starkly questionable and abrupt editing…” Stephen T. Lewis, It’s Bloggin’ Evil
“The effects are about as lo-fi as you get can, of course, with felt puppets serving as the title monsters (complete with actors flailing around trying to hold the inanimate critters to their heads) and lots of practical gore effects, some of them surprisingly squishy and others deliberately fake and ludicrous (such as a torn spinal cord).” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital
“There is a sufficient body count, blood, and gore contained in this to satisfy horror fans, the major issue is its quality. Yes, it is all practical effects, but they are done rather poorly. And not in a fun campy sort of way, but in a that was disappointing way. The puppet monsters have to be the best part of the picture. They are fairly crude, yet fun.” Raul Vantassle, The Movie Sleuth
“If originality isn’t a strong point, the movie has a lot more going for it –pretty girls, goofy characters, a good sense of humor. The aliens are all puppets, which gives the film some retro charm (even when one of those puppets proves to be a little rapey!) and the movie is fairly gory as well. All of those effects are done practically, another feather in the picture’s cap.” Ian Jane, Rock! Shock! Pop!
Ghastlies was released as a Blu-ray + DVD combo and HD digital on November 11, 2017 via Camp Motion Pictures. The disc special features are:
- Audio commentary by director Brett Kelly and actor Trevor Payer
- “Going Ghastlies” FX featurette
- “Tomb Talks Tubular Toonage” music featurette
- “They’re Ghastlies” music video
- Double-sided cover art
Main cast:
- Kim Valentine
- Kendra Summerfield
- Jessica Huether
- Julie Racine
- Eric Deniverville
- Joel Elliot
- Kyle Martellacci
- John Migliore –The Drownsman; Bite; Poltergeist Encounters; et al
- Janet Hetherington
- Peter Whittaker
- Jurgen Vollrath
- Kyle Martellacci