Redneck Absurdity: A Pictorial Journey

Very rarely do I ever find a movie that is so bad that not only is it good, but also highly enjoyable, highly entertaining and forces you to take an LSD trip into dimension that you never knew existed. So, naturally I had to look into the 80’s and I stumbled upon a Troma Release movie named Redneck Zombies and apparently it has a huge cult following. It’s considered schlock at its best but I’d go further to say that it’s absurdity and insanity at its best. To properly describe that level of wackiness wouldn’t do it justice because some things you’d have to see to believe but I figure I can do some justice as to how ridiculous this film can be.

First, you gotta love how they portray hillbillies or Southern folk in this movie. It’s absolutely ridiculous, over-the-top and stereotypical… but it’s funny as hell. Every country person is either fat, dumb or missing teeth and what’s better is that one of the country bumpkins might be gay, so now you have a dumb hick who likes to wear his shirts bunched up into a knot. Surprisingly, he seems like the more intelligent one of the crowd.

Also, for some reason there is a scene that has really oily, greasy breasts getting fondled. I can’t remember but I think this was part of a porno that somebody was watching but either way, when the movie cuts directly do this you’re sort of left in awe. It’s disgustingly laughable.

If I had a dollar for every video filter that they use, I’d have enough money to eat a five-star restaurant. However, there is an upside to using programmed video filters, it makes the movie seem really dated and really corny… which, I’m sure, is what the director was going for. The scene where all the country hicks are drinking the contaminated waste (thinking it was alcohol) is so trippy that you actually feel like you’re on LSD. So, in a way, the filters are very affective.

There’s also a random scene with a woman with missing teeth, an orange plaid dress holding a baby pig in one hand and a skillet in the other. Why is she holding these things? Does it really matter?

Oh, and I love the people that end up buying the toxic waste because they are so random and they’re obviously doing something wrong but nobody really acknowledges it. For example, one woman seems to be washing her baby in a laundry machine.

In another house, the guy who buys the contaminated alcohol is a butcher with blood smeared all over his smock and his son or partner is sitting on the couch with a hostage. All he does is sits there on the couch smiling, giggling and licker her while she pleads for help yet nobody does anything. I guess it’s really common in that neck of the woods.

And we can’t forget the 2001: Space Odyssey-like dimension that we enter half way into the movie. It’s like a rainbow nightmare and only serves one purpose, to whack us out of our heads and maybe show that one character is going crazy.

Who is this character that is having this colorful hallucination? Why, somebody who has been exposed to powerful hallucinogens and thinks that the dead body in front of him is some kind of treasure chest. Harhar! Yeah, he ends up pulling out the guy’s organs thinking they’re regular objects but doesn’t realize that he’s disemboweling him.

And obviously care nobody cares about it. They just look at him like he’s crazy.

Oh and it all leads up to one gory, disgusting, blood-soaked finale that reminds me of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So, if there is anything you should take from this post it’s to find and watch this movie. It’s hysterical for all the wrongfully right reasons and it certainly is one of the strangest zombie movie’s I’ve seen since The Video Dead. If a movie like this came out today, and if it was shot on video like this one, it would never make it and people would slam it instantly. Fortunately, you could get away with this in the 80’s and thank God Troma was around to showcase it. It’s bloody fun for the whole family and worth a watch but you must leave your brain at the door.