Directed by: Tom J. Moose
THE MAKING OF A BRITISH TRASHTERPIECE:
Tom Moose, Adrian Ottiwell and Robert Taylor began making films together in 1989 when they all met in their teenage years in school. They made a few amateurish comedies and short films together, some about chickens and superheroes. But it wasn't until 1992, when Tom was brewing his own homemade white wine, that he came up with an idea for a feature-length film; a film we would come to know as Zombie Toxin, but it was originally named Homebrew. Tom pitched his idea to Robert and Adrian, and they wrote a rather complex story. What started off as a simple yet absurd comedy would later devolve into a convoluted tale about Nazis, zombies with diarrhea, horse slaughter and killer, sentient wine bottles. Tom and crew never intended to make a "sick" film so they employed as much humor as possible when making the movie to keep it from being too dark.
A script was never written for Homebrew. The filmmakers would literally make up the dialogue and scenes as they went along, but this made for very confusing and tedious shoots. On top of the movie's ultra low budget, there were a few special effects and pyrotechnics involved that made for dangerous times on set, which resulted in a lot of the effects having to be done with computers. Homebrew began shooting in 1993 and wrapped up in 1996, and it was around this time that Tom and crew were really spreading the word about their movie. Tom wrote in to multiple zine publishers looking for help finishing the movie.
Steve Lawson, a filmmaker and the author of the underground movie zine A Bag of Sand wrote a few articles about Homebrew in different issues and not only promoted the film, but also chipped in on production. Tom gave Steve ideas of what the film was like and Steve ended up making all of the music up without seeing any of the movie. Steve used an Amiga computer and a program called Pro-Tracker to score the film, and then sent the score to Tom via a computer disk for mixing. The film was shot entirely on SVHS and was edited together using video mixers and computer graphics, with the titles and effects being done at a video company where Tom worked at the time. After years of hard work and stress, Homebrew was finally completed later in 1996 and was lucky to get international distribution and a reputation as one of the most ambitious and sick amateur movies to ever emerge from the underground.
Now that's all well and good, but I've rambled plenty about the behind-the-scenes details. What is the movie about? Well it's very hard to say exactly, but I'll give you my best plot description possible. Two Satanists (who look more like KKK members) that run a torture and shoe-repair business employ one Mr. Nasty to slaughter a horse for a ritual they're planning. When the procedure gets too bloody and messy, Mr. Nasty is infected by the horse's innards, which spread a deadly toxin that will turn anyone into a flesh-hungry zombie. Mr. Nasty's goofy, unlucky assistant Benny dumps the horse's innards into the river. But things get worse when a farmer drinks from the river and turns into a zombie with chronic diarrhea. His diarrhea infects his yeast crops, which two Nazis harvest to make homemade wine in an attempt to take over the world. But the plan backfires, and the wine bottles come to life and start attacking everyone. Who will stop the reign of the evil wine bottles?
REVIEW:
So... yeah. Homebrew is a shot-on-video splatter comedy from Britain. It is also one of the most batshit insane movies I've ever seen, even to this day. This movie is pure non-stop madness, but it's one of the most hilarious indie movies I've ever seen. It's the greatest thing Troma never released! The plot is by far the most ridiculous and convoluted thing about the movie, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't love how stupid it is. The story is so nonsensical and we are constantly introduced to characters who get hastily killed off or only exist to be running jokes. Every character's motivations are paper-thin and lack explanation, which would normally kill any other film. But in a comedy like Homebrew, you're so engulfed by its insanity that you're too entertained to care!
The acting ranges from laughably bad to over-the-top and hammy like bacon. Every actor seems like they're using everything in their power to not burst out laughing, which makes things even better. I can't blame them when half of them are running around in ridiculous costumes, gaudy wigs and fake mustaches while singing corny songs (yes, there are songs) and spouting great one-liners about shitting their own innards out.
Speaking of shit, there's a lot of it in this movie. There are multiple scenes where we get graphic closeups of (obviously fake) shit spewing from zombie's asses, as well as a lot of green, glowing chunky vomit. Without meaning to spoil, one of the best and nastiest scenes in the movie involves two zombies, a lot of shit, vomit, and some really messy gore effects. For an amateur production, the camera, editing, and special effects are especially impressive. Granted, we do get a lot of very cheap looking digital effects that were clearly made with a low-grade computer. But the gore, makeup and other practical effects are pretty well done considering the obviously ultra-low budget. The camera work is very inventive and there are some very creative shots, such as a scene involving a character being run over by a train, POVs from the killer wine bottles, and so much more. The editing and sound mixing, while rough in some spots, is mostly well-done, and even the score is pretty cool, if cheesy and rough around the edges. So while this movie isn't ultra-polished or smart, it's a hell of a lot of fun and there's plenty of gore and dark humor for horror fans to enjoy!
I love this movie. It's one of my favorite shot-on-video flicks, and is also one of my favorite British underground flicks. Tom Moose, unfortunately, didn't do too much later in his film career. After Homebrew, Tom and crew began working on a parody of government-conspiracy movies called Viva Las Venus, but that project was never finished. Tom made a few smutty sex-comedies in the mid-2000's that did get distribution in America, but he never made anything else in the realm of horror-comedies, which is a shame. I'd love to see him and his crew take on making one more absurd dark comedy. But I'm at least content knowing he made this masterpiece of trash. Absolutely check this movie out!
RELEASES:
-Homebrew was originally self-released by Viscera International Pictures in 1996 on VHS.
-Homebrew was later re-released on VHS in the UK by Screen Edge.
-Finally, Homebrew was released on VHS in the USA by Alternative Cinema under its old sub-label Shock-O-Rama Cinema, but the name and title card were changed to Zombie Toxin for the American market. There's also another VHS edition from Shock-O-Rama with the name Zombie Brew on the box, but the opening credits have the original Homebrew title card. Alternative Cinema has teased a DVD re-issue of the film for years now, but the release has yet to materialize. Which really sucks. I would kill to see some bloopers, behind the scenes or interviews!
MORE PICTURES:
CREDITS:
Pictures and stills courtesy of Ross Snyder of Saturn's Core Audio and Video, Michael Raso of Alternative Cinema, John Bentham of Screen Edge and Steve Lawson of Creativ Studios.