A Most Atrocious Thing – Movie Review (3/5)

A MOST ATROCIOUS THING is an ultra-low budget horror-comedy that had its world premiere at Seattle’s Make Believe Film Festival. A passion project that entertains immensely. Read our full A Most Atrocious Thing movie review here!

A MOST ATROCIOUS THING is a new horror-comedy of the ultra-low budget variety. Let me start by saying that if this is what an ultra-low budget results in, I cannot wait to see what the people in this group of best friends can do with a bigger budget.

My pet peeve (I do admittedly have a few) is when a movie of any kind feels like it’s been made by someone solely for a paycheck. While I recognize that we all need to make a living, art needs heart and passion to truly breathe. That’s what you get with this one. A horror comedy is perfect when the money is tight.

Continue reading our A Most Atrocious Thing movie review below. Currently screening at Seattle’s Make Believe Film Festival where it’s getting its world premiere.

Beware of the deer

In A Most Atrocisous Thing, you shouldn’t just fear the deer that might show up in the middle of the road. No, you should also fear eating them. As the friends in this horror-comedy will discover, there’s something very wrong with the deer.

As soon as they eat the strangely infected deer meat, we know their fate is sealed. They will be turning into crazed, bloodthirsty maniacs. Well, those that ate the deer meat, obviously. And fortunately, not all of them did.

On a very personal note, I appreciate a horror-comedy that pokes fun at the awful cooking scenes in many movies. In this one, it’s very clearly not meant to look like anyone has any clue what they’re doing. This actually results in them looking more capable in every way.

In so many ways, A Most Atrocious Thing is a classic horror-comedy with a plot not unlike Shaky Shivers, Mind Leech, or Blood Relatives.

Hell, even Shaun of the Dead, though for that one, it’s mostly in the way these friends are not acting in the smartest ways, but their actions still keep (some of) them safe in very random and unexpected ways.

So much bang for their buck

The opening scene of A Most Atrocious Thing really sets the tone perfectly. From this moment, you’ll know what to expect in terms of budget restraints in practical effects, but you will also clearly understand that these friends love genre movies. And filmmaking in general.

The budget of just $5,000 definitely means this movie belongs in the “ultra-low budget” category. As a genre film, the production and story are much better than what we’ve seen in productions with budgets that are 100 times bigger. Even a thousand times bigger.

For one, forget about the easy and cheaper CGI. These guys opt for practical effects that aid the comedy elements as well as help stretch the budget. Also, shooting the film in a place owned by one of the writer-directors helps. It’s shot in “Christian’s Cabin”, and I presume Christian refers to Christian Hurley.

Watch A Most Atrocious Thing when you can!

As mentioned already, A Most Atrocious Thing was made by a group of friends on a tiny budget of just $5,000. The friends did, of course, take on various specific roles during the filmmaking.

Christian Hurley and Ben Oliphint are co-directors and screenwriters, but Dylan DeVol and Max Shepardson also took part in writing the screenplay. And all of them also participate in front of the camera as stars of this little horror-comedy craziness.

If you enjoy the classic zombie (or other virus-themed) horror comedies, then you’ll want to check out this one when you can. A Most Atrocious Thing is enjoying its world premiere as the festival centerpiece of the second edition of Seattle’s Make Believe Film Festival on March 22, 2024.

We’ll update this review when we know more about a wider release for A Most Atrocious Thing.

Details

Directors: Christian Hurley, Ben Oliphint
Writers: Christian Hurley, Ben Oliphint, Dylan DeVol, Max Shepardson
Stars: Ben Oliphint, Dylan DeVol, Christian Hurley, Will Ammann, Matthew Wassong, Bryan Taira, Max Shepardson, Grant Oliphint