Before I get into this review, I want to comment about an embarrassing memory that sent me on a brief trip to Mortville when I was a teenager. You see, I was at this girl Josie's house who was the sister of a high school friend. There were a few of us there and for some reason I was drinking a lot of lemon gin (which I have not done before or since). Anyways, we then decided to smoke an illicit substance and this did not combine well with the drink of choice for the evening. The end result was me feeling really sick and heading for the nearest window. Unfortunately, I did not get as far as opening the window before all of the gin and a 7-11 burrito erupted from my mouth. Needless to say a mess was made and I was put in the bathtub with all of my clothes on. Why am I telling you this? Well, friends, it is because in the first few minutes of this flick, someone does the old "window vomit" and this sets the tone for the splatstick smorgasbord that is served. It also brought me back to that moment all those years ago and managed to recreate the overall feel of my high school experience. The main difference was that there was not an outbreak of a flesh-eating virus at my prom. In any event, 2010 marks the 20-year anniversary of my graduation and this movie made me feel a little nostalgic.

Noah Segan (Deadgirl) stars as John, a cool-in-a-nerdy-way high school student who has the hots for his childhood friend Cassie (Alexi Wasser). Cassie, of course, is dating the biggest asshole in the school (Marc Senter), which frustrates John as he wants to express his love. Keeping him grounded is his best friend Alex (Rusty Kelley) who is sarcastic, crass, and would be right at home in a Kevin Smith movie. While this typical teenage love triangle sets itself up, we are privy to the fact that the school's bottled water supply has been infected with a terrible virus that causes people to ooze fluids from every orifice, have their skin peel off, and is very infectious. As this is all happening on the eve of the prom, one can only imagine the mayhem that ensures. Things get even more out of hand when a mysterious group of men show up in trucks and quarantine the school so that nobody can get out. John steps up to play hero and rescue his friends from the growing mass of infected classmates and find a way to escape from the hot zone.

This is a gorefest through and through. I have not seen so much blood, puke, and pus in recent memory and it seemed like someone was projectile vomiting at least once a minute. From the opening gag where a person explodes a la Paul McCrane in Robocop to what a girl spits up after an impromptu blowjob, I quickly realized I was in for a movie where nothing is forbidden. We also get people drinking blood-piss punch, open sores, a head bashing that pays homage to Irreversible, a cleverly animated opening credits sequence, a fingernail gag that is still making me cringe, and a close-up of an infected penis that you should never, ever show your girlfriend. In addition to all the make-up gags, genre fans will get a kick out of supporting roles from Giuseppe Andrews who reprises his role as Deputy Winston from the first movie, Mark Borchardt (the subject of American Movie) as Winston's friend, horror director Larry Fessenden (Habit) as the water truck driver, and Michael Bowen (Nicolas Cage's enemy in Valley Girl) as the principal.

Overall, this is a fun homage to 80's high school movies that piles on the old-school gore in a way that fans have been waiting for. Director Ti West is an up-and-coming talent who has since made the acclaimed House of the Devil as well as The Roost. West has already developed a unique style that can be seen throughout the flick and he clearly delivers the goods. That being said, there is a major problem with this movie in that there is an ending in a strip club that suspiciously looks like it has been tacked on after the fact. It is no secret that West attempted to get his name taken off of this movie as he claims that the studio tampered with his vision before the final release. Although it is obvious as the last fifteen minutes are completely out of place and awkward. I am not sure if this is what made West so angry. Up until this point, however, I was having a lot of fun but then things became weird. It made me think that Josie has a similar feeling when she recalls our night from all those years ago. Sorry for the mess, kid. (Josh Pasnak, 9/8/10)

Directed By: Ti West.
Written By: Joshua Malkin.

Starring: Noah Segan, Alexi Wasser, Rusty Kelley, Giuseppe Andrews.