Parts Unknown focuses on a family of wrestlers; huge-ass Hermann (William DeCoff), annoying-as-fuck wimp-ass Harvey (Alexander Hauck), crazy-ass Kitty (Sarah Michelle), Kitty’s rival/best friend Lacey (Lizzie Havoc), and hunky outsider Karl who’s hobbies include getting wasted as all fuck and bitching about their now non-existent wrestling careers.
That would all be fine-and-dandy, but life becomes hard for these folks when Harvey kills a cop… and Karl shoots himself and undergoes a body melt. Okay, pretty dicey territory, but I’m sure they can survive this.
Oh, but I forgot to mention… that ex-cop mentioned above was tossed into a nearby swamp by our “heroes” and is soon back in revenge-bent spirit format… oh and there’s a lizard headed swamp demon that Lacey decides to appease via dopey dudes she lures to their doom. Yeah, we got a wickedly weird one here cats n’ creeps.
Let’s get the obvious and negative horse shit shoveled right quick, shall we? First things first, in the obvious department; this thing is ultra-low budget, so expect some dodgy sound here and there, and the Grindhouse influence is all-over this, so expect some fake-ass 42nd Street “artifacting”.
In the negative department, this film runs way too long at nearly two hours in length, so expect more padding then the top turnbuckle of the squared circle. Lips flap, people shout and shout, and wrestling matches go on and on.
Despite all of this, Parts Unknown is imaginative as all-fuck, with it’s heady blend of ‘rasslin’, demons, the undead, and some choice bargain basement (read : fuckin’ over-the-top awesome) gore that manages a surreal dose of (seemingly apocalyptic) world building while presenting one inexplicable and delightfully insane concept after another!
Adding to the fun is a game cast, and some genuine heart and earnestness displayed by writer/director Richard Chandler towards our beloved horror biz (not to mention our equally loved exploitation biz)!
All in all, I’d easily recommend Parts Unknown to you horror hounds that like ’em totally batshit insane, but I can’t help but think this could have been even better with some cuts n’ snips…
