Mayhem (4/5)

Mayhem is a wonderfully crazy horror movie. It’s action-packed and features a virus and a video game style that suits the story really well!

Mayhem is a very welcomed return for Steven Yeun. If you, like me, have missed seeing Steven Yeun as Glenn on The Walking Dead, then you should love Mayhem.

And yes, there’s more to Mayhem than just getting to see “Glenn” again. The story is actually pretty solid in the entertaining and over-the-top way.

I was definitely entertained from start to finish. And especially the dynamic between Steven Yeun and Samara Weaving is amazing.

If you’ve seen the brilliant horror-comedy The Babysitter on Netflix, then you’ll recognize Samara Weaving. She had the title role in that movie and is quickly becoming a Heaven of Horror favorite!

Not too innovative, but very entertaining

Look, let’s be real; Mayhem isn’t something new and exciting. You’ve seen a lot of it before, but still, it definitely brings something new to the mix. For one, it doesn’t run too long and also, it’s damn entertaining.

There are various interesting characters, and yes, many of them are crude stereotypes. However, a movie like Mayhem can easily pull off that style.

While I would definitely describe this movie as a horror-action, there are lots of elements with comedy. And since Samara Weaving of The Babysitter is playing the biggest supporting role, it’s simply perfect!

In fact, I’d love to see Steven Yeun and Samara Wiley team up for a horror-comedy in the future. They clearly both have the chops for horror and awesome comedic timing to boot.

Violence and mayhem in spades

The title pretty much says it, but it serves to mention: There is a lot of violence in this movie! It’s not that it doesn’t make sense or isn’t entertaining. In fact, I think it’s used in a brilliant way.

However, the virus doesn’t make people violent per say. It “simply” lowers the inhibitions of those infected. Therefore there is also a lot of sex in the movie. And once again, it’s often portrayed with a dash of satire to get the comical side of it all.

You don’t need to take this movie seriously or start analyzing it. Just sit back and enjoy the mayhem. Literally!

The forces behind Mayhem

The director of Mayhem is Joe Lynch. He started his feature film career as a director by making Wrong Turn 2: Dead End which starred Erica Leerhsen and Henry Rollins.

In other words, he started with horror. And as straight-to-video sequels do, this isn’t too bad. It might actually be one of the best! Maybe that’s why they ended up making an additional 4 Wrong Turn movies. Not by Joe Lynch, though.

In fact, that movie even won Joe Lynch an award for “Best Direct-to-Video Film” at the 2008 Gérardmer Film Festival. The Grand Prize that year went to J.A. Bayona for The Orphanage and the Special Jury Prize was a tie between Teeth and the original Spanish version of [REC]. That should tell you that he was in damn good company!

Mayhem was written by Matias Caruso, and this is actually his feature film debut. He’s written a handful of short films before this and a few since.

Hopefully, we’ll get more feature films from him in the future. Matias Caruso clearly knows how to write an entertaining plot!

Mayhem is out in theaters plus available on digital HD and VOD from November 10, 2017.

Details

Director: Joe Lynch
Writer: Matias Caruso
Cast: Steven Yeun, Samara Weaving, Steven Brand

Plot

Derek Cho (Steven Yeun) is having a really bad day. After being unjustly fired from his job, he discovers that the law firm’s building is under quarantine for a mysterious and dangerous virus. Chaos erupts throughout the office as the victims of the disease begin acting out their wildest impulses. Joining forces with a former client (Samara Weaving) who has a grudge of her own, Derek savagely fights tooth and nail to get to the executives on the top floor and settle the score once and for all.