Film Review: Sadomaster Locura General (2011)

SYNOPSIS:

Mauricio Beccar Varela is now the president of Argentina, this means the triumph of a savage and oppressive capitalism, which reaches unsuspected extremes of torture, but the anarchists always be there to meet them, perhaps using the same methods questionable

REVIEW:

Picking up right where 2005’s Sadomaster left off, German Magarinos’ 2011 film, Sadomaster Locura General (aka Sadomaster Total Mayhem), once again explores the depths of depravity and bad taste and manages to find a new level that the previous film didn’t quite reach. For the most part the two films’ plots are very similar, with a big enough handful of differences to set them apart, but one thing that for sure stayed the same was the micro-budget. If you couldn’t handle the look of the first installment of Sadomaster, with its grocery store gore effects and amateurish camera work, then you still won’t like part two. However, if you don’t mind a little cheese in your gore, then by all means, please continue reading.

Our film begins with a montage of war footage and protests, setting the scene for the fascist regime that is in control of Argentina, and also no doubt pointing out that, while some will write this film off as offensive and ultraviolent, look at what happens in the real world. We see our mysterious masked avenger come onto the scene to fight some bad guys, then instantly shot by an almost cartoonish CGI robot, which we later learn is called the Gaykiller 1500 (I did mention this movie is offensive, but this is only the beginning). President Beccar Varela (Francisco Perez Laguna) and his right-hand man, Noriega (Ezequiel Hansen), are still running things, and are currently working on eliminating all of the homosexuals, Jews, blacks, and communists from their community, clearing the way for the rich white people. However, a group of anarchist punks led by Zainus (co-writer Vic Cicuta) is trying to turn the tide. If only there was a way to bring the now-deceased hero from the first movie back from the dead…

Sadomaster Locura General is pretty much ridiculous all the way through, with a little bit of social commentary underneath a whole lot of sadistic, gross-out visuals. Lots of people get killed in this movie, mostly disposed of in one of two ways: 1) stabbed, then disemboweled, or 2) shot close-range with an accompanying CGI explosion of smoke and blood and sometimes fire. But when Noriega and his masked crew, which resembles a mix of the Road Warrior and GWAR with a little professional wrestling sprinkled in, get ahold of people, those victims suffer a different fate. There’s quite a bit of oral rape in this film, and some anal rape as well, with very fake “members” taking up quite a bit of screen time and sometimes covered in maggots as well. Overall, this movie is kind of the film equivalent of the notebook doodles of that angry heavy metal kid in the back of your 8^th grade classroom.

There’s a whole lot of other craziness going on here as well. We can’t forget the couple of brief moments where Troma founder Lloyd Kaufman appears as a CNN reporter and reads off goofy news. At one point, for no apparent reason, we get a full song from a heavy metal band called Zoofilia playing live at a club. A dog gets killed with a sword, a guy in a wheelchair gets orally raped, and a sick person in a hospital bed get shocked with a cattle prod on a TV news broadcast, and this is just a taste of some of the very non-politically correct stuff that goes on here. Oh, and at one point, for no reason at all, two girls start making out, but Noriega leaves the room and masturbates watching a guy in a hula outfit dancing and is then super-imposed with his business in his hand over a shot of a baby crying with a wide open mouth.

Sadomaster Locura General is vile and disgusting and pretty funny and entertaining, to be honest. Obviously a lot of this is tongue in cheek, much like Troma films (think Toxic Avenger IV: Citizen Toxie and Terror Firmer for starters) or the work of filmmakers like Petter Baiestorf (Zombio and Arrombada – Vou Mijar na Porra do Seu Tumulo). Just look at the list of pseudonyms director German Magarinos has made movies under: J. Rollin, Sean Cunnington, Pier Paolo Marzolini, Bruno Martell, (sound familiar?) and at least a couple of Alan Smithees in there too. It’s obvious this is all done with a sense of humor, so let’s take it for what it is. This is a super low budget gore fest that will offend a good amount of its audience and entertain a good amount as well, those two groups possibly overlapping. While it may be far from perfect, there is a lot of heart (and guts) evident on the screen, and in my opinion, that counts for something.