The Stink of Flesh Review

Written by: Orphan   

Okay, so, in the American Southwest, there is this place called “New Mexico”. I know, I didn’t even know there was a new one until I moved there. And in “New Mexico” there is a little city called “Albuquerque”. And it is in this city that you will find a living legend by the name of Scott Phillips. He’s the writer of the best damn kung-fu flick I’ve seen in a long time, Drive, and he’s the author of a brand new Friday the 13th book, Church Of The Divine Psychopath, but better than all that he is the force behind the awesome indie-zombie-horror flick “The Stink Of Flesh”. So before I begin kissing Scott’s ass you should know that I live in Albuquerque as well, am an indie-filmmaker myself, and am proud to call Scott a friend.

Now, with that out of the way, let the competitive rectum sucking begin! The movie starts off by introducing us to two very odd people, Dexy and her husband Nathan (Diva and Ross Kelly). She tells him that “she has the itch again” and she needs someone to play with. Unless you’ve been eating retard sandwiches, you know what she meant. So, being the goody hubby that he is, Nathan heads out to find some playmates.

Next up we get to meet the man known only as Matool. Played by Kurly Tlapoyawa, who employs no-foolin’ grit and a steely eyed expression that would make both Eastwood and McQueen cower, it seems that Matool is a two-fisted wasteland drifting, zombie-basher who finishes off those brain eating zombie bastards with a particularly nasty hammer and spike combo. The first time we meet him, he basically beats two zombie to death and rescues a young woman (Tanith Fiedler) from a horde of the flesh eaters.

After the rescue, they head to a nearby shack only to find that it is already occupied by the pedophile, Mr. Rainville, and his two young pleasure bags. Pedophiles and zombie hordes be damned, a man needs to get his swerve on. Unfortunately, seeing one’s brother torn to pieces by the dead can really kill one’s sex drive and the young woman doesn’t put out but that doesn’t matter any way as the zombies break in and the good times end. Matool manages to escape and that’s when he runs into (literally) Nathan. Nathan takes Matool back to the compound, which should have been called “The Lovenasium” but wasn’t, and we learn that Dexy and Nathan are swingers and Matool is there to serve as their latest pleasure toy.

Things go well for a while as Nathan watches Matool put it to his wife while Dexy’s sister sassy smacks Matool’s ass with a Hot Wheels track. That is, of course, until the soldiers arrive. Three soldiers, Vega (Devin O’Leary), Sepulveda (Andrew Vallenoweth), and hard-as-nails Mandel (Billy Garberina), arrive at the compound wounded and looking for help. It seems that they were a part of a special forces unit that got ambushed by a group of hyper zombies. Basically, the fuckers are getting faster and smarter. And while the soldiers view the compound as a welcome sanctuary, Dexy views the boys as buffet and they soon begin taking turns giving her the good love. As you can guess from here, things get wild and weird…and you have no idea just how weird.

Phillips throws the conventional apocalypse survivors story out the window and goes for a taboo-busting, gross out epic. The flick delivers the gore groceries in spades and the zombie effects are some of the best I’ve seen in an indie zombie flick, but what really pulls the movie together are the small touches and the things that we never see coming. From Sassy’s (Kristen Hansen, niece of Gunnar) twin sister, the scene where Vega gets to know that sister a little bit better, and the Zombie Girl (Stephanie Leighs) that Nathan keeps locked up in the shed for you know what, Phillips hits us with a series of events and elements that we’ve never seen in a zombie flick before. There are careful homages to several of the great zombie films that came before and if you keep a watchful eye, you’ll find them all.

While the movie moves along at a quick pace and never lets the viewer get too comfortable, and there are enough twists to keep you guessing, when the ending comes it comes a little abruptly and leaves you wanting just a little bit more. Other than that, though, I can’t recommend this movie enough and if you haven’t seen it yet, then go out and buy it, dammit.