Horror-tober 2: Melvin

Three years after horror-nerd Melvin is killed by some school bullies he comes back, and with the involuntary help of Norton Pinkus, he gets revenge on the bullies and all those that did him wrong in high school.

Even though a friend of mine stars and was involved in the production of this film, it took me awhile to get it on the list. Now it is available on Amazon Prime streaming and can be rented through the digital streaming service, Hoopla, which I have raved about in previous posts.

Melvin is a zombie comedy flick from the independent Oregon production company, 531 Productions. It satisfies the classic zombie itch but does break some "rules". Mainly, Norton is bitten by Melvin when he comes back, but Norton does not become a mindless, flesh-eating zombie right away. In fact, like a werewolf, Norton only becomes a zombie at night, minus the full moon. 

This whole scene was my favorite and the funniest in the movie.

The production quality isn't great (531's more recent productions are quite a bit better), but it is a lot of fun. Especially when the zombie action starts. The gore and makeup effects are actually impressive. Plus, Lloyd Kaufman of Troma Entertainment, has an awesome cameo in this as an actor in the Night of the Driller horror movie. The full trailer of which 531 Productions includes during the end credits. It is a great homage to horror movie trailers of the 70s and 80s.

Actually, I feel like there may be some Troma influence in the thematic elements of Melvin. When the prank the bullies pull on Melvin goes wrong they make it look like he was kidnapped and raped which is a bit messed up, especially how they pull it off. Not exactly Troma-esque but there is a taste of grotesque and disturbing there. In the end, we get the gruesome and satisfying deaths of the three main bullies and Norton finds true love in the afterlife.

Death by mop

MORTAL KOMBAT! 

This movie had my father-in-law in stitches even though he only gave it 2.5 skulls for "some good jokes." Overall, I liked it because it is short and silly with all the carnage and gore you could hope for in a zombie film. 

Michael's rating:

Aimee's rating:

Joey's and my rating: