Lunatic! (1999) (USA)

⭐️⭐️

Big Al Decker (who looks like the product of some mad scientist mixing the DNA of Ray Romano and Fred Stoller) is a vicious serial killer. Bunny also enjoys killing and is a fan of the man. They decide to team up and go on a killing spree. When they aren’t murdering, they’re having boring conversation or enjoying long stretches of butt-numbing silence. It basically serves as a centerpiece for nasty gore which is to be expected when your director is a special effects man. The opening sees Big Al rape a woman in front of her bound boyfriend as he unconvincingly shouts “Hey. Hey. Hey. No. Stop.” It’d be disturbing if you weren’t so busy laughing at this poor dude trying to perform. The violence is excessive as Al repeatedly stabs the woman until her head comes off and then tosses it around the wood-paneled house. Again, it’s the work of a special effects guy so it may not be exactly realistic but it still hits pretty hard. Al and Bunny “meet cute” when he breaks into a house to slaughter some folks and finds her fiddling around with the corpses of her victims in the bathtub. They awkwardly decide to go grab a drink. Bunny sings Hotel California, they drink in uncomfortable silence, make uncomfortable small talk and then finally pull the trigger on being comfortable and murdering together. Interrupting a lethargic striptease, the duo put an end to a hotel hookup with violent efficiency. The poor girl gets her man’s blood rubbed all over her as she’s forced to lay spread eagle on the hotel bed, looking bored the whole time. Bunny puts a curling iron to sadistic use and it may have been put together with the budget of a quick trip to Ace Hardware but it’s still hard to watch… luckily the victim can’t do more than muster what sounds like dull sexual pleasure as a reaction. And that’s just how this thing goes. A character gets introduced, this character gets tortured and then there’s stretches of nothing. Severed breasts, TV watchin’, Bunny’s idiot brother, house cat cameos, a ludicrous amount of cocaine, a severed penis and the only ending that was possible for this troubled couple will stir you from the nap you’re taking. This film would be damn near unwatchable with competent actors but instead the vicious violence is muted by poor performances… thank God for small favors. Instead we have a semi-interesting but mostly boring talent reel for an SFX artist with a mean streak.