Argh!
Two years! Two years I spend looking for a DVD-R of Matt Devlen’s Ozone! Attack of the Redneck Mutants! You know, the sister movie to The Abomination? I finally find one that’s affordable. I buy it, and what do I get? A cheap zombie movie that’s not funny, not scary, and just downright gross. The sleaze bucket has hit the deck again and this time it got broken, spilling its floppy, slimy contents over everyone involved.
The premise is actually relatively simple—the ozone layer is being destroyed by pollution. Without the ozone layer, radiation from space turns people into pukey-faced ball-o-slime mutant zombies. We meet the cast of characters: Kevin, the rich, whiny teenager whose dad is polluting the atmosphere (Cody from The Abomination); Arlene, Kevin’s love interest, a neo-hippie trying to protect the environment from being turned into a paradise for mutants (Cody’s girlfriend from The Abomination); Wade, a fat annoying hillbilly who likes to burp and shoot pumpkins; Wade’s mom, who likes to force-feed people fried chicken; and the rest. We get some hillbilly making-out, some hillbilly flossing, some hillbilly standup, all played for laughs. There’s way too much profanity. We do get a cool mutated coyote, made from latex and papier mache. And, we get the mutants.
The mutants are a triumph of the zombie-makeup industry—the actors are completely slathered in black, green, or purple goo, and I assume are now dead from being forced to swallow and then puke up large amounts of industrial paint—which ends up everywhere. Yes, people who are afraid of moisture or dampness (like me) beware; these mutants like to dribble, drip, drool, and generally just make a mess. It ends up everywhere; on furniture, on corpses, in fishtanks, and in someone’s mouth. And yes, I’d have to say that the scene that really did it for me was the scene where one of the mutants tries to make out with one of the girls while disemboweling her, dribbling zombie slime and all. In the end, everyone ends up zombified or dead, so it doesn’t really matter.
I suppose this movie had something to prove. I like the environmental message that they put in—in the wake of the BP disaster, it actually leaves an impact. Unfortunately, the problem is that everyone ends up becoming a caricature—Arlene’s a liberal freak, and Kevin’s so rich and conservative he’s never really lived. Both sides will end up becoming offended, even if they get away with a sneaky smile.
Gross-out wonder or tragic mindflayer? I choose both. Ozone is no Abomination, not by far, and I think I speak for those of us who have seen it when I say that gurgling slime and purposely-bad standup do not a good movie make. Still, the tumultuous chaos that makes up most of the movie does make it worth at least one viewing. Otherwise, feel free to avoid.
- Adam "Mudman" Bezecny
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