‘Deathgasm 2’ Review: A Resurrection Well Worth It [Fantastic Fest 2025]
I stumbled across Deathgasm about 5 years back on a whim during lockdown. I liked the name and pressed play, and I was pleasantly surprised by the humor and sweet guitar riffs. Although the budget was a tight $200K, it didn’t shy away from the blood, guts, and ass. The first movie has a lot of charm that keeps me rewatching. I was completely out of the loop about the second movie. Once I saw Deathgasm 2 on the docket for Fantastic Fest, I knew I had to be in the theater!
Jason Lei Howden returns to direct the sequel after backers crowdfunded over $300K for the project. With Howden at the helm, the sequel is comically interwoven with the first. It has the same tone, returning plot points and characters, and the consequences from the first movie are still in effect. This flick is ultimately for fans of Deathgasm, but there’s plenty to love for horror fans and metalheads.
Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon follows Brodie after he resurrects his bandmates for a battle of the bands, and things take an apocalyptic turn. The sequel is infused with blood, laughs, and Trivium nods. While the production value has increased, it still possesses its small-budget charm. It’s worth checking out as soon as it hits the streets.
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Deathgasm 2 has many of the elements found in rock’n’roll horror movies. There’s usually some kid into the genre against the best wishes of their caretakers. Then, the kid links up with a bad influence, which leads them down a path directly to hell. Many of the films released in the 80s and 90s had direct mentions of demons, hell, or portals to hell. There’s often a running theme of cursed music or hidden messages that are revealed when the music is played backwards. There are also aspects of being a musician that often mingle with the horror themes in interesting ways. Also, be prepared for cameos from famous bands and wrestlers.
Deathgasm and Deathgasm 2 round up these details from the rock’n’roll horror subgenre and utilize them hilariously. The actors fully commit to their roles, which allows the humor to feel natural.
The characters are one of the strongest aspects of the Deathgasm movies. The core band returns, although some of them died in the previous movie. Brodie, Milo Cawthorne (Guns Akimbo, Wolf Man), hasn’t changed in a decade. He hasn’t accomplished much since nearly starting a demon apocalypse in the last movie. He can’t hold on to a job, his bandmates are dead, and Medina (Kimberly Crossman), has moved on. His guitar even gets repossessed! Pushed to the brink and feeling powerless, much like the first movie, he turns to the dark magic of metal to revive his bandmates.
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Giles (Daniel Cresswell) is always down for a bad idea, even if he complains about it first. Dion (Sam Berkley) returns from the dead to be the punching bag again. He has a subplot of him fighting back, which I appreciated, but he always takes things a step too far. Zakk (James Joshua Blake) is still hellbent on going against the status quo. Deathgasm gears up for the battle of the bands, but Dion and Zakk’s undead diet lands the crew in several sticky situations. This plot creates plenty of opportunities for jokes and sight gags, as the undead band members try to acclimate to the mortal coil.
Meanwhile, Medina has landed a spot in the rival band. In the first movie, we saw her break into metal music and learn her way. Now she’s fully a metalhead, trying to make a name for herself in a new band. Unfortunately, the band’s leader always places himself ahead of the group.
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These returning characters and their current situations lead to plenty of laughs. A lot of the jokes are offhand comments or hilarious interactions between the characters. Much of the humor relies on knowing the first film, but the undead subplot adds new flavor to the group dynamics. The aspects of the rival band remind me of Uncle Peckerhead (I highly recommend). The music is great, plus playing the guitar while blood sprays is a visual I’ll never get tired of.
Deathgasm 2 dedicates care to the special effects, and I love a movie that knows what the fans want. There are beheadings, exposed entrails, and tons of penis mutilation. A granny even gets devoured during a church meeting. Deathgasm 2 turns into a mini zombie apocalypse when one of the band members gets a knack for raising the dead. This leads to a lot of humans getting eaten alive and zombies being dismembered. Brodie uses the power of heavy metal and guitar riffs to save the day, but the Black Hymn ultimately gets the last word. Aside from the bleak ending, Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon is a blast and is sure to be a fan pleaser.
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Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon
Summary
Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon is a blast and sure to be a fan pleaser.
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