Hungry Hungry Bigfoots
At the center of Feed the Gods’ drama are two brothers, looking for their biological parents in a small town that can only exist in a horror movie – the ones where weird locals live in fear of something that eats people, but they never actually tell anyone.
That’s all routine… too routine. It’s most of Feed the Gods’ runtime. Family bickering and in-fighting between two admittedly well-established personalities only takes this story a limited distance.
Feed the Gods forms itself around the comfortable genre ideals
Feed the Gods forms itself around the comfortable genre ideals
What’s lost is the creative concept of people forcibly sacrificing outsiders to a man-beast they view as their god. It’s compelling, with a just a tinge of humor to acknowledge the absurdity, and a fearsome mean streak. There’s a unique angle about how citizens escape the town, and how their desperation led them to this point. There’s a prequel waiting to sprout that’s more interesting than this dry indie horror effort.
Feed the Gods instead forms itself around the comfortable genre ideals, with young kids traveling into the unknown place, biding time until the action picks a few of them off. That typical last act doesn’t happen, the kills accidental, the gore low, and bigfoot’s reveal satisfying, if limited.
It’s a question of whether Feed the Gods can carry itself on Shawn Roberts (far better than his stint in the Resident Evil series) and capable Tyler Johnston. It’s can’t. Smart scripting finds their characters defined almost immediately, as if Feed the Gods were in an appropriate rush to its creature rampage.
Then, nothing, just a derivative mystery with more engaging questions than eventual answers. In that, it’s a frustrating movie in need of another writer to take this concept further. Imagining small town hicks worshiping their legendary killer and the toll it takes on all aspects of their lives is a brilliant parallel to the norms. Not hooking onto the possibilities is criminal.
Video
Comfortably clean with its digital video source, noise is limited, making room for clarity galore. It’s pristine. There’s no loss of definition and the resolution is stable. As such, fidelity remains high, the only softness a cinematography decision.
Tight black levels and crisp contrast both keep up their end. Strong highlights give Feed the Gods energy under the daylight sun, and shadows drive the horror mood come nightfall.
Color grading varies scene-to-scene, but firmly displaying primaries where intended. Forest settings hit dense greens galore. Glowing flesh tones add a spark without losing their natural quality. It’s attractive all around.
Audio
Differences between the DTS-HD 5.1 mix and PCM stereo are few. Being on a budget, the stereos take on most of the work. Insects chirp across the fronts. The score takes prominence where needed. LFE makes the tiniest presence, but without significant action, Feed the Gods doesn’t have much on offer.
Extras
Director Braden Croft joins producer Travis Shewchuck on a commentary. MVD then includes a 13-minute featurette and a trailer.
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Feed the Gods
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Video
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Audio
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Extras
Movie
Feed the Gods is sitting on potentially interesting lore, but an uneven tone and dreary pacing leave the material flat.
User Review
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