DRAINIAC

An enjoyably silly pre-credits prologue sets the scene as two transients break into an abandoned house in the woods one night to shelter from the snow. Almost immediately, unwisely they tamper with a water pipe that leaks oozing green slime onto one of them.

His mate flees screaming as the slime spreads across the other's arm and face, ultimately melting his skull. Welcome to the lo-fi gorefest that is DRAINIAC!

After visiting her mother's grave and wishing that she too had the courage to escape life by committing suicide, troubled teenager Julie (Georgia Hatzis, THE ELEPHANT KING) returns home to her hectoring father (Steven Bornstein).

Dad has bought a knackered old house in the woods - yes, the house featured in the prologue - in the hope of doing it up and selling it on. And he's roped the reluctant Julie into helping him clean the shithole.

Julie is almost saved when three of her friends - Jake (Ethan Krasnoo), Tanya (Samara Doucette, THREE CARD STUD) and Lisa (Alexandra Boylan, THE STRAIN) - turn up asking her to join them at the mall. But alas, dad is a real bastard who insists Julie, who he delights in mocking as "useless", must stay and help him.

Julie starts working on the house and is appalled by the shocking state it's been left in. It doesn't help that she's prone to hallucinations too (an EVIL DEAD-type rape; something nasty lurking in a muddy bathtub). She's understandably miffed then when dad says she must stay and work alone while he goes into town "on business" (which we later discover translates as getting drunk in a bar).

Fortunately for Julie her friends turn up offering to help. Unfortunately for all of them, volatile jock Wade (Rob Gorden, DANNY'S STORY) follows them and attempts to rape Tanya.

A fight ensues, leaving Lisa and Jake on the floor and Wade in the bathroom, fuming that his nose has been bloodied. But there's much worse in store for him, as he becomes the first victim of the strange monster living in the building's water system.

With dad having disappeared and no transport to escape what they now accept to be a haunted house, Jake, Lisa and Julie must fend for themselves against the dreaded Drainiac - with only the unexplained arrival of a mysterious plumber to offer a beacon of hope …

DRAINIAC has, as you can see, a nonsensical plot. However, the synopsis and title (not to mention the DVD cover art) possibly don't do this film justice.

Shot in the late 1990s on 16mm, it's not as silly as all the above suggest. Yes, it's silly, but it's played largely with straight faces and is blessed with a surprisingly sharp script from first-time director Brett Piper (who of course went on to helm the likes of BACTERIUM and SCREAMING DEAD).

Its visual look and feel are reminiscent of EVIL DEAD and BASKET CASE, not only in the dark and claustrophobic 16mm rawness but in the excellent use of old fashioned stop-motion animation for several FX sequences too. It's hard not to smile fondly during these moments.

Performances are largely solid, with only Bornstein grossly overplaying his part as the bastard. Hatzis is an engaging lead and the sub-plot concerning her mental fragility following her mother's suicide is an intriguing one.

The subtle score helps immeasurably when it comes to building atmosphere during the film's first half, but unfortunately it can't help save the final fifteen minutes from ill-fitting melodrama and silliness.

Still, overall DRAINIAC is short, fast-paced and fun. The ending and ill-advised computer effects aside, it's well worth a watch for fans of no-budget horror. Dare I say it, it's also my favourite Piper film.

The Shock-O-Rama disc is up to their usual fine standards.

First up we get the film fully remastered with a new colour-corrected transfer overseen by Piper and producer Michael Raso themselves. Uncut, the film looks very nice indeed. Somewhat dark and grainy at times, you can tell this was shot on 16mm - but it's a quite sharp and clean transfer regardless.

The English 2.0 is a solid affair.

Although there is no scene-selection menu, the film can be remote accessed via 12 chapters.

Extras kick off with an involving commentary track from Raso and Piper, moderated by Greg Conley. It's a good listen, with Raso speaking almost as breathlessly as Piper. For any aspiring indie filmmakers, you could do a lot worse than cribbing a few notes from a Piper commentary track. He reveals how the film was made for $10,000 in just 7 days, and speaks frequently of the HD-DVD version of the film which ultimately never saw the light of day.

Elsewhere we get a trailer for DRAINIAC, along with trailers for 15 other films including FEEDING THE MASSES and SINFUL.

Finally, there's a nice 6-page fold-out booklet with colour photographs and informed, interesting liner notes from the aforementioned Conley. Piper's waited a long time to finally revisit his directorial debut and give it his own redux treatment. I've not seen the version originally released several years ago, but this new release is an enjoyably cheap, accomplished affair with plenty of gore to offer.

Review by Stuart Willis