Fried Barry

Those who really know me personally, know how much i love odd films. I love films that have no boundaries, who dare to go in any direction, and you have no idea what will happen. Sometimes we need a film to dare not to follow the usual pattern, and just go absolutely crazy. That kind of film could be hard to find sometimes, since most film are very similar to other films. There are a collection of films though i could easily mention, but let us dig into one title, that i am pretty sure not many of you have seen. And that is the 2009 film known as The Revenant from director D. Kerry Prior. This is one wild mix of action, horror and comedy, all thrown together in a very strange story. This film is about Second Lieutenant Bart Gregory ( David Anders ) who has been killed under mysterious circumstances in Iraq. After his friends and girlfriend Janet ( Louise Griffiths ) attend his funeral, Bart awakens in his grave. Not knowing why he have awaken from his deah, Bart go out to see his best friend Joey Leubner ( Chris Wylde ) to get some answers. The Revenant is one of my personal favourite crazy films, because this film really go off the rails with some really crazy shit. The acting performances are really good, especially from the lead characters. Director Kerry Prior threw in everything in this film, both delivering comedy, action and horror, in a very effective way. This is a must pick up on DVD if you have not seen it, i have a feeling it will be a cult classic in the future. Another film i need to mention, that you should see is the 2012 film John Dies At The End, from director Don Coscarelli. A very bizarre mix of sci fi, horror and fantasy, where a new street drug called Soy Sauce, can send drug users across time and dimension. Throw in some very bizarre moments, and John Dies At The End deliver some really fun, but odd moments. Definetely worth checking out, if you want to experience something completely different. Nice to see fantastic actor Paul Giamatti in this film as well, who always knows how to deliver strong characters. I have been hearing a lot of buzz about the South African film Fried Barry, especially among some film critics online. Aliens, drugs and violence, isnt that all we need in a real cinema experience? I just had to check this film out, since it seemed to be my kind of film. Is this one of the best films i have seen this year so far, or is Fried Barry nowhere close as good as i was hoping it would be?

Barry ( Gary Greene ) is a drug-addled, abusive bastard, who is abducted by aliens. An alien visitor takes control over his body and takes it for a joyride around Cape Town. Wherever Barry ends up on this journey, there are no boundaries of what could happen.

I am pretty sure that you won´t see any film like Fried Barry this year. This film have some of the most crazy scenes put together, i can´t imagine we will see anything like it in quite a while. How do i describe Fried Barry? Imagine if you took the atmosphere of Trainspotting, mixed it together with the 1987 cult film The Hidden, and threw in a slice of The Revenant in there, and you have Fried Barry. This is film based on the short film of the same name, and if you have seen that short film, you recognize the style and the amosphere in this full feature film. This film starts off really good, in fact i found myself laughing several times to some of the crazy shit that happens. Barry goes completely insane on drugs, while he is later probed by aliens and become even more strange. And this is where the film really works, when you see Barry being taken over by an alien. He begins to have sex everywhere, even get a blow job in the mens room by a guy, how often does that happen? It´s the drug overdoses that makes Fried Barry really fun at moments, when the crazy shit happens around town. So here we come to a problem with this film. The runtime is almost 1 hour and 40 minutes, and that is a long time for a film like this. And you can feel that they run out of ideas in certain scenes, almost like they just added certain details to keep this film that long. A perfect example is the chainsaw scene, a fun idea, but when you see that the chainsaw isn´t even running, it becomes a bit silly. It´s a shame, because if they would have kept the playtime at 90 minutes and kept the best scenes, this could have been one of the funniest films of this year. But let´s get back to what i enjoy about this film. Lead actor Gary Greene as Barry is really good, i just love seeing him go completely insane on drugs, and i can´t imagine anyone else who could have played this character as good as him. Actress Chanelle De Jager is also good as the character Suz, a depressed mother who wants a different life. Fried Barry is definetely a film you should see, if you love odd films. This film does not follow the typical Hollywood pattern, but focus more about being a drug trip. Director Ryan Kruger have definetely made one of the more interesting films this year, if you want to experience something out of this world. If you don´t mind wild drug overdoses, and very odd personalities in a city full of misery, Fried Barry is definetely a film that will please you.

Rating: DDD