Looking for something to fill that annual Troma slot, I found Rabid Grannies and thought I had found an easy win. What I found was a movie that went harder than the candy in Grandma’s purse.
The families of Helen and Suzie are gathering once again to celebrate their birthdays. On the outside, it appears as if the family is getting together out of love and devotion to their elderly aunties. When in actuality the families are only here because the Aunties are rich and old. This means that when they die they want to be part of the will so that they will inherit loads of money and land that will make them rich.
As Helen and Suzie sit down to a fine birthday mean, everyone is there except one nephew who was already cut out of the will years ago for going astray and worshiping the occult. However, this year he has sent along a present that he hopes, according to the attached letter, will get him back in the Aunties’ good graces. This is, of course, a ruse and the nephew has learned a new way to punish his family for leaving him out and ostracising him.
When I found this movie on Amazon and added it to my watch list, I did so thinking it would be another cheesy, boob-filled, gory, dopey Troma movie like so many of the others made during the 1980s. I was NOT prepared for how grim and dark this movie was. Most of their horror movies are filled with scenes of gore and the deaths are usually something that are so over the top they make you laugh, but this one… this one was different.
Almost from the very beginning, the deaths are off the charts in Rabid Grannies. At no point do they do the usual wink-and-nod to the camera letting you know they are in on the joke. Somewhere in the slaughtering line is a young, innocent girl, maybe nine years old. I thought to myself that this is a red herring they aren’t actually going to murder this sweet little girl in a horrendous way. Well, that was wrong. She got it maybe worse than the rest and the monsters on screen celebrated in it. It wasn’t something that was too much, but it was unexpected to be certain.
I guess I can recommend this one for the folks that are used to the ridiculous over-the-top schlocky horror that Troma produces, but just know that Rabid Grannies pulls no punches and has zero fucks to give. This is not a movie to show kids and not one that is likely to please folks playing in the background. Save it for a dark night with some popcorn. Also, not sure if it is the transfer that Amazon got but it was extremely dark. Like not dark in the way of “moody” just literally dark and hard to see.
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