BIG MEAT EATER (1982)
Article 5019 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-15-2015
Directed by Chris Windsor
Featuring Clarence ‘Big’ Miller, George Dawson, Andrew Gillies
Country: Canada
What it is: In a class by itself

Aliens hatch a plot to get hold of a supply of radioactive balonium located under a block of a small town that features a butcher shop in which a homicidal obese Turk has been newly hired by the mild-mannered butcher and a house inhabited by Russian immigrants including a savant who is trying to become the first man in space. It’s a musical.

You know, there are some movies where the question of whether it’s any good or not seem irrelevant because you’re still marveling over the fact that the movie even exists. There’s something about the tone of this movie that suggests parody, but of what? Alien invasions, serial killers, small-town life, corrupt politicians, ethnic stereotypes, the cult of progress, amateur talent shows, blues and new-wave music….all of this gets fed into the mix at one point or another, and if it hangs together at all, it’s probably only by dint of the fact that it’s all in the same movie. The overall rating for this on IMDB are 5.1, but the individual ratings are all over the map, ranging from those who think it’s a brilliant piece of regional film-making and those who think it is pure dreck. I will say this much, though; it’s not obvious and it’s not predictable. It’s also most likely not sane, either. And in its own freakish scattershot way, I must confess to having been somewhat hypnotized by this one; I couldn’t tear my eyes away. It’s a question mark, but sometimes I like question marks.