Cult movies aren’t made, they just happen. At least that’s the way it usually works. Films like Tommy Wiseau’s The Room or anything by Ed Wood weren’t intended to be so bad they’re good. They’re just the perfect shitstorm of ambition, imagination and zero talent. Their gratuitous shittiness made them great and they became cult hits after the fact. Movies that ended up on the midnight circuit were generally accidents of a demented and sublime nature– when artistic failure meets huge entertainment value.

The Greasy Strangler is ripe with cult film bonafides. Low-budget, transgressive, tasteless, hermetic, cheesy and nauseating, it’s a one-of-a-kind, jaw-dropping hilariously over-the-top mindfuck with a terrific soundtrack by Fuck Button’s Andrew Hung. The rare “cult” film that manages to conceal its self-consciousness under a barrage of laughter and inspired hideousness.

The poster art (see above) for the The Greasy Strangler pays homage to the Velvet Underground’s debut album - substituting a slimy hot dog for a banana - and the movie definitely has a punk rock vibe and a Warholian appreciation of pop culture trash.
 

 
In the guise of a slasher film, The Greasy Strangler is really a warped domestic comedy that deals with lots of issues–issues in the big “psychological” sense. Daddy issues, mommy issues, sex issues and explosive gastric issues. But whatever the subtext it’s all marinading in pools of vomit, jism, grease and blood. The Greasy Strangler belongs in the same bizarre world of John Waters, David Lynch, The Kuchar Brothers, and Ted V. Mikels. Movie-making that comes directly from the id to you. The meaning is in the mayhem.
 

 
Directed by British filmmaker Jim Hosking and starring Sky Elobar, Michael St. Michaels, and Elizabeth De Razzo, The Greasy Strangler is an unapologetic puke fest with a spastic lower intestinal tract and a heart of gold. Imagine a family sitcom shot deep in the bowels of Hell and you (kind of) get the picture. The Greasy Strangler puts the cleaver into Leave It To Beaver. It’s the feel bad feel good film of 2016. Murder means never having to say you’re sorry.

The Greasy Strangler opens today in theaters and is available to stream here. Please do check it out. “Grease” is the word. And I’m no bullshit artist.