Directed by: Jonathan Doe
ABOUT THE FILM:
I would like to give Jonathan Doe a big thank you for providing me with a screener copy for review! This review is based on the "Fetish-Gore Cut" of the movie.
Jonathan Doe is a filmmaker and is the mind behind the Cinema's Underbelly YouTube channel, as well as the Uneasy Terrain Explorers Club Podcast and many other creative endeavors. Barring a few short films he made over a decade ago as school projects, Jonathan has only recently gotten into producing and directing short and feature films. Barf Bunny is not only Jonathan Doe's first (barely) feature-length film, but it is also the first entry in what will become his "Erotic Grotesque Nonsense" series.
Barf Bunny stars Felicia Fisher, a fetish-gore actress known for her roles in various A Baroque House films, as the eponymous barf bunny. We join the bunny in the garden as she endlessly stuffs her face full of berries, carrots and grapes, and then pukes everything back up on the table, all the while teasing and attempting to seduce us. She doesn't like to play by the garden rules however. She tells us she doesn't like being told to play with her food and disobeys orders, thinking she's not being watched. But unbeknownst to the little barf bunny, she is being watched and she's about to pay...
REVIEW:
Barf Bunny is Jonathan Doe's love letter to grotesque fetish cinema along the lines of Lucifer Valentine's Vomit Gore series and the notorious Terrible Meal. Not once does the camera shy away as Felicia gorges herself on fruits and veggies, gags herself with a huge rubber carrot and pukes up everything she eats into jars. At some points she even picks up food from the jars with her toes, sucks on them and then eats them. Occasionally she spouts a funny line of dialogue, but the first 30 minutes is just puking and carrot deep-throating. So with that said, if you have a vomit or a foot fetish, you will enjoy this. I don't care for puke, snot or feet however. Although I have seen far worse things with vomit, this movie was pretty gross at points. My biggest complaint (and this is just a pet peeve) is the sound. Felicia constantly talks with her mouth full and smacks on her food a lot, which I personally can't stand. If I'm in public and someone is loudly enjoying their food, I'm quick to plug my ears and/or move away. But obviously grossing the viewer out was the point, so good job there.
The entire film takes place in one setting. Felicia sits at a table before what looks to be a hand-painted background of a garden, which looks quite nice. The colors are also very rich and the scene is lit well. The camera work is all handheld and is very smooth and steady, intently focusing on the grotesqueries unfolding before us. And the camera man isn't afraid to get in the splash zone, if you will. Speaking of splash, let's get into the gore effects. The gore and make-up was done by legendary make-up artist Marcus Koch and Jesse Seitz. Alongside James Bell, Marcus Koch is one of my favorite indie make-up artists and once more, along with Jesse Seitz, knocks it out of the park with Barf Bunny. The gore is incredible, it's detailed and gooey and the blood shines a beautiful, brilliant deep red as it sprays from the Barf Bunny's open neck cavity. The gore is all shown in slow-motion, which is made even better by the choice of music. Barf Bunny's soundtrack consists entirely of classical music, which I'm a huge sucker for. The ending of the Fetish-Gore Cut is amazing , and it made wading through all of the puke and snot worth it.
This film is definitely not for everyone, as it fits into one of the smallest niches possible. But if you're a lover of vomit, or gore, or both, then I highly recommend Barf Bunny. After seeing this I'm excited to check out new films from Jonathan Doe and the rest of the Erotic Grotesque Nonsense series. In the meantime, I highly recommend you check out the Cinema's Underbelly YouTube channel and Jonathan's podcast as they offer tons of great content!
RELEASES:
-Barf Bunny was released on DVD by Vile Video Productions in 2021. The movie comes in a very high-quality 2-disc set with amazing cover art from Martin Trafford. This set comes with both the Fetish-Gore Cut and the Emetophilia cut of Barf Bunny. Both cuts are mostly the same, but each one has a different ending. We also get a Making-Of featurette, interviews and a few trailers.
-The 2-disc set also comes in the Barf Bunny bundle, signed by the cast and crew. In the bundle you also get an exclusive Barf Bunny barf bag signed by the director, a piece of the table cloth used in the film, and also an 11" by 17" poster. If you're interested, I recommend checking out the Putrid Productions website here!
-The film was also released on limited runs of VHS and Blu-Ray in the United Kingdom by Dead Format Films.
