The mayor of Sommerton is out of favour in the recent polls. What better way to win back his popularity this Halloween than to organise a fright fest for the town? The 'deadbeat;, alcoholic, misanthrophic and drug-addled horror director Spencer Crowe (Dylan Walsh) is recruited to set it up and run it for the town. The mayor has the connections to get him off his latest DUI, so Crowe needs to deliver. Crowe sets himself in the control room of the local abandoned asylum, puts his minions to work, and opens the doors to Sommerton. But a bus transporting the criminally insane ends up on the side of the road outside the town, and a vicious killer ends up at the fright fest and runs amok...
Cheap gore, over-the-top characters and performances, sharp dialogue and an absolutely insane atmosphere, make this a very enjoyable film. I really enjoyed Dylan Walsh's performance, and thought that he really made the film. The writing is the film's strongest point, at least when it comes to the dialogue. Not that it is by any means Oscar-worthy, but for what it is, "American Fright Fest" more than delivers. It is typical low-budget fare; there are plenty of kills and enough going on to make the film run nicely. The gore is cheap but plentiful. The ending is a let down, as many others have stated here, but I really enjoyed it for its dark humour and the misfit characters.
Cheap gore, over-the-top characters and performances, sharp dialogue and an absolutely insane atmosphere, make this a very enjoyable film. I really enjoyed Dylan Walsh's performance, and thought that he really made the film. The writing is the film's strongest point, at least when it comes to the dialogue. Not that it is by any means Oscar-worthy, but for what it is, "American Fright Fest" more than delivers. It is typical low-budget fare; there are plenty of kills and enough going on to make the film run nicely. The gore is cheap but plentiful. The ending is a let down, as many others have stated here, but I really enjoyed it for its dark humour and the misfit characters.