Strong and Moving!

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

My Bloody Banjo- my bloody nightmare! Managed to get through 30 minutes and it's 30 minutes of my life I will never get back. I'd start with the plot, but I don't think there was one. Instead we are treated with a nostalgic trip back to the days of A Level media. Digi cams in hand thinking we are the next Tarantino. It's all well and good when school is paying for the time and equipment. But to think someone put pen to paper, frames to film, to spend valuable time and money on this is beyond any form of comprehension. In the human centipede two, Laurence pleasures himself with sandpaper, and quite frankly that would be more pleasurable than watching this bird turd again. I can hand on heart say I would rather snap my own banjo and the acting would be superior. Real tears, real blood. Not the bullied at school wet your pants give me your dinner money that Laurence portrays here. Avoid! Go to bed with a partner of your choosing, try not to snap your banjo and have fun. Life is too short!

Banjo is a feature length twisted comedy feature from Liam Regan. It was originally a short film and has now gained a cult following in the last 18 months of festival showings running 82 minutes.What made me laugh about Banjo is that it was based on a personal experience by Regan which plays as a running joke.The lead charter is named after Billy in Gremlins (1984) surname with other in jokes to boot.I felt that I got the references to Regan's film and that was an enjoyable thing to see. Ronnie (The Imaginary Friend) was kinda based on Funny Man (1994) and has hints of Drop Dead Fred (1991).People I saw the film with, also praised the sound and music to Banjo. I have to agree with them credit due to all that worked on the film!Watch out, you might even see Liam Regan's mentor and hero, Lloyd Kaufman in there as a Cameo. It must have been a child-hood dream for Regan.Like I said, the whole film is twisted and should appeal to a cult horror crowd.

Liam Regan's debut film - which screened to a highly appreciative audience at Frightfest 2015 - is a love letter to Troma and the early films of Frank Henenlotter. A low-budget exercise in adoration that often plumbs the depths of bad taste to amusing effect, it's an energetic and gleeful tale that also often reveals a surprising sense of self-discipline and maturity for a first effort. This is clearly a filmmaker whose love for the genre and his film shines through and should hopefully be the start of a promising career. Oh, and if you don't know what the title refers to - or what the film is about - I'm not going to tell you; apart from the fact that the film is about a worm that turns. And what happens to one particular 'worm' made me cross my legs - and may have the same effect on many other male viewers! British exploitation cinema is clearly alive and well and, for that, many thanks Liam Regan!

Banjo is a tale of an unremarkable guy called Peltzer who is bullied by his office boss and whom with his sexy, asset-laden partner is also cheating. Following an unfortunate and rather painful incident, Peltzer's already downbeat situation takes a final plummeting nose dive, leading to an imaginary friend called Ronnie to appear before him; who begins to take the reins, pushing Peltzer's life into vengeful bloody mayhem. Banjo reminded me a lot of the 2013 psychological horror/drama "Dementamania", although Peltzer comes across as more of a victim and loser than Ed Arkham. Quite unlike Dementamania however, Banjo has a fun feel to it, whereas the former is a fairly clinical affair. Banjo is hardly a tour-de-force of modern horror/exploitation cinema but it is a cool demonstration of what a genre-loving director can achieve. I'm a fan of the Troma-style genre of movies which has helped influence aspects of Banjo and, from the outset, does have its fair share of crazy, crude moments which put it in that league. Yet I felt too many scenes and too many moments of dialogue were, whilst all in context, unnecessarily prolonged and lacking the quick-fire MTV sensibility which I would have expected in this sub genre of movie. The other main issue with the movie is, for me, the character Ronnie. He got on my nerves after a while. Some moments, Ronnie was clown-like, then at others a devil on the shoulder or playground teaser. This might have been intentional but I struggled to securely identify with him and as a result didn't really see him as the overwhelming catalyst he should have been for the latter stages of the movie. These points aside, Banjo does have some remarkable, if eye-watering moments and a solid performance from lead actor James Hamer-Morton, who really helps tie the movie together. There is one scene in particular which is likely to get people talking and I, for one, have never winced so badly during a movie. Not ever - and that's after a lifelong diet of horror!Whilst Banjo does have its flaws, the movie is clearly made on a low budget and I applaud the director and crew for an achievement which is clearly going to be an inspiration to other future film-makers. The special effects are surprisingly good and put a lot of bigger productions to shame and the acting throughout was not half as wooden or Troma-esque as I was expecting. Overall, it flows well and is a competent piece of film making. So did I like it then? Well I definitely feel like watching it again to make up my mind, because it was not the kind of watch that leaves you yearning for the finish, which I suppose means that I did. At least next time I'll know the cue for when to close my eyes and cover my ears.