Customer Reviews

Peter Rottentail

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This movie's a complete joke on every level from the shoddy script to the lame performances. It's obvious that this doesn't work as a horror film, but this sorry excuse for a movie doesn't even work as a comedy. I'm sure the Polonia Brothers are great guys. I can see, even from a movie like this, that they have some talent. Check out Among Us. It's a terrible movie as well, but at least there you can see that some effort went into the making on it. This looks and feels like it was made over a couple weekends. I love micro-budget flicks. These are movies made by people who have to overcome massive obstacles to tell their stories. I can overlook shaky production quality and wooden acting as long as I can tell that an attempt is being made to make a good movie. Sorry. It didn't happen here. I wish the Polonias would take more time when they make their "movies". Maybe then they would make something worth watching. Unless you're a connoisseur of bad movies, or you're looking for something to screen at your bad-movie night, avoid this at all costs.

What do you get when you put the Polonia Brothers, Executive Producer Ron Bonk, and an audibly flatulent magician's rabbit together and make a movie? Sadly this isn't a joke (well, I guess it is in a way,) but rather an introduction to "Peter Rottentail," another in the series of micro-budget grade-Z cinematic mayhem from directors Mark and John Polonia, men previously responsible for atrocities such as "Preylien: Alien Predators" and "The Dinosaur Chronicles."

I don't think that "Peter Rottentail" is better than any of their other movies, but I had to give it two stars for a great title if for nothing else. The film starts off with the world's worst magician and his gassy carrot-eating friend being repeatedly booed by children at a birthday party. So distraught is he that he commits suicide, coming back as Peter Rottentail (John Polonia) to haunt those who mocked him. The plot is pretty thin: killer rabbit chases humans and kills them with laughable special effects. There were many grating things about this film, not the least of which was the soundtrack's endlessly repeated instrumental music. Perhaps the single most irritating part of the viewing experience, though, is the onomatopoeic "boing, boing, boing" sound effect repeated every single time the killer bunny hops. It was mildly amusing the first few hundred times, but then it wears out its welcome.

Typical of Polonia Brothers fashion, the acting is extremely poor, the dialogue is ridiculous, and the horror movie is not horrifying. At all. I do give them a credit for trying to enter the world of satire, which can be extremely difficult to do well. There are many filmmakers who have risen from obscurity and have become greats, there are many more who made low-budget films that were not well made in a conventional sense but which were so startlingly unique that they have a very loyal group of fans (such as the late, great Ray Dennis Steckler, or the dark and utterly bizarre Coleman Francis.) Perhaps the Polonia Brothers will one day be cult director heroes of some sort as well. "Peter Rottentail" is a laughably bad film that's part comedic spoof and part cleaver-wielding splatter film. It doesn't succeed at either, but it's better than most of the Polonia catalogue (not that that's an endorsement, mind you.)

First off, I am a fan of micro-budget, DIY art. I think the creativity and resourcefulness exhibited by the producers of this movie is commendable. With a distinct lack of budget, they ended up making a fairly enjoyable movie.

Prior to watching I suspected that this movie would fall into the "so bad it's good" category. But to it's credit, that wasn't the case. It's a compliment to the filmmakers that the movie was at it's best when it took itself seriously but at it's worst when it didn't. Some of the dialogue toward the beginning (between two stoner dudes) was funny and charming on it's own merits. Whereas the slapstick, three stooges-esque fight scene toward the end was one of the low points.

While ostensibly a horror movie, Peter Rottentail managed few real frights along the way but at least it kept me engaged throughout and managed to keep me wondering what was going to happen next. I spent some time distracted by wondering what IS the key to creating the typical jump-out-of-your-seat scare in a horror flick? Maybe it was the music and sound effects that fell short of the mark?

A high point was the acting of Brice Kennedy. Although often presenting awkwardly written dialogue, he managed to draw you in and make you forget that he was acting. I could see him being a pretty good character actor in mainstream movies or TV.

Oddly, it's the flaws and amateurishness of the movie that make it endearing and impressive. You don't necessarily walk away from a mainstream hollywood movie marvelling at the component parts that went into it. But watching Peter Rottentail you find yourself thinking in terms of how difficult it would be to pull off every individual scene and special effect. It's easy to criticize, but a lot harder to come up with specifics on how you would do it better.

So, go buy Peter Rottentail, watch it and enjoy it. If you don't like it, make your own damn movie.

This movie is truly a rare gem. The plot, characters, and dialogue are superb, and I want to watch it again and again. Up and comer Tony Spagnoli has an amazing performance and brings his character to life beautifully. I can't wait to see him in another role soon.

This is easily the best, most outrageous movie about a huge killer rabbit I've ever seen. Harvey ain't got nothing on this bunny. Be sure to check out the unforgettable performance by Tony Spagnoli. That guy sure can bite it in style.