Trailer Park of Terror (2008)

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Trailer Park of Terror review!Reviewed by Paul McCannibal

Starring Nichole Hiltz, Trace Adkins, Ryan Carnes, Lew Temple, Jeanette Brox, Ed Corbin

Directed by Steven Goldmann


If you enjoy low-brow redneck settings, lots of violence and loud music and zombies, this is your kind of flick. We got all kinds o’ beer swillin’, teen skinnin’, car smashin’, rockabilly blastin’, devil-deal-makin’ mayhem goin’ on here in a lil’ trailer park just south of the Mason Dixon line.

The plot centers around the character of Norma, a buxom blonde who has her hopes for a better future with a sweet loverboy dashed by the jealous sleazebag males she shares her trashy trailer patch with. Them boys don’t like to see the hottest thing they’ll likely ever have in their midst taken away by some pretty boy Billy Ray Cyrus wannabe. So that whole escapade is brought to a quick, violent end.

And who is waiting to be the grief counselor for Norma but a tall man in black played amusingly by country star Trace Adkins. He’s got the aura of someone you really shouldn’t be making deals with, no matter how sweet they might seem. But Norma, feeling like there’s nothing more to live for anyway, is easy prey. Fixin’ her up with the means for a quick and swift revenge, the tall man in black sets Norma off and she does some merciless dispatching of those who done her and her loverboy wrong. Right there, we could have an entire movie, a southern spin on the old revenge framework in the sleazy 70’s.

Trailer Park of Terror review!But that’s just the beginning! Enter a busload of various addicts courtesy of Trinity Ministries, a mission out to save souls and rebuild lives. You got sex addicts, drug addicts, compulsive liars, kleptomaniacs; the whole shebang. And wouldn’t you know it, off the road they go in a backwoods locale. Right near the trailer park where Norma’s broken heart led to a bloody mowdown hoedown not too long ago.

From here, we’re in redneck zombie territory. The pack of woebegone youths roll in to trailer-town and all kinds of crazy shit ensues. One of the trailer zombies plays guitar and collects explosive munitions. Another is a master of makin’ beef jerky. One creepy old guy likes making homemade porno. There’s an Asian Madame who runs a whorehouse. You can imagine the trouble that lies in wait for a group of kids who are trying to suppress their demons; this place is a landmine of low-life, corruption, sex, and intoxication.

Trailer Park of Terror review!The film feels very much at home alongside Rob Zombie’s pre-Halloween catalogue. If there was a 3rd film required to fill out a triple bill with House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects, you couldn’t find a better fit than Trailer Park of Terror. Director Steven Goldmann doesn’t hide his influences, he just gets on with making the most fun and ratty trailer park horror film he can. Considering his meager budget and ridiculous schedule (he did everything you see in only 18 shooting days) he did a pretty fine job if you ask me.

The lack of pretension and straight-up no-nonsense approach of Trailer Park of Terror was a great counterpoint to some of the other dreck I saw at Fantasia in the past couple of days. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before, but if you like what Rob Zombie did with the aforementioned films, there’s no reason to not grab a six pack and a like-minded genre pal and have a blast watching Trailer Park of Terror. In fact, if your sister is free tonight, why not take her out to a movie that might get you some action afterwards!

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3 1/2 out of 5

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