Angry Mule Films released Killer Piñata on 5 December 2015. That’s 10 years ago that it premiered somewhere in Logan Square in Chicago, Illinois — at The Logan Theatre. It doesn’t seem like it got a proper theatrical release, which isn’t unusual for crowd-funded films.
It is a remarkable film. Much of the humor is laugh-out-loud funny — even watching it alone.
Dark Alley SPFX (Alex Falk) created the excellent special effects. He claims that their driving force is “to create practical effects to eliminate overuse of CGI.” And the cast is quite good despite being comprised mostly of amateurs. The only veteran is Joette Waters in a hilarious but small role.
The writing stands out. Most low-budget films suffer from weak scripts. But this film would have worked because of it even with a weaker production. But the production is not weak at all. Clearly, the producers didn’t have a ton of money. But the film is shot very carefully with a number of techniques that we’ve seen in slashers from the past.
Killer Piñata is part of the Killer Doll subgenre of horror. If you would like to see what can be done with a larger budget, check out Benny Loves You. But even though it has far more blood, KP actually features more realistic gore.
I try to stay positive about films. But the Killer Doll subgenre has produced a lot of clunkers. Filmmakers can use the absurdity of their concept to sleepwalk through the script or even the entire production. But the concept only gets you about ten minutes of screen time. Producers need to bring more to the table.
And the producers of Killer Piñata did that. The principals seem to be Stephen Tramontana (director, co-writer, co-editor), Jennifer Kunkel (producer), Megan MacManus (co-writer), and Paul Summers (cinematographer, co-editor). Vincent Alcarese (credited as Vin Alcerese) created the animated backstory.
I can’t embed the film. But you can watch the whole thing on Plex.
Bride of the Killer Piñata
Seven years after the original film, all the principals came back together for Bride of the Killer Piñata. Eliza-Jane Morris, Joette Waters, and Elvis Garcia return but otherwise it features a more professional cast. (Daniel Hawkes from the first film is also here but with a better part.) Alex Falk is also back with make-up effects. There is way more blood. The puppetry is great. And the production is overall better due to its increased budget. It also looks like the folks at Full Moon provided some help with the production. (Note: it’s a bit hard to square the film credits with what’s listed on IMDb.)
Of particular note is that the screenplay is much more complex. But it fully justifies the almost two-hour runtime. It’s pretty much a perfect script. And it includes a touching homage to the end of Bride of Frankenstein. Overall, I’d say it is more enjoyable. But the two films would make a great double feature.
Again, I can’t embed the film. But you can watch the whole thing on Tubi.
Killer Piñata (2015) poster via Plex under Fair Use.