Saturday Morning Massacre - Film Review

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Saturday Morning Massacre is a dark parody of the classic cartoon Scooby Doo. Why make this movie at all? I think the filmmakers put their thesis statement in the mouth of a police officer who reprimands the Scooby gang early in the movie: "F*** your inner child".



Nancy (played by Ashley Rae Spillers) started a team of paranormal debunkers with her best friend Gwen (Josephine Decker). They travel the countryside in their VW van with Gwen's boyfriend (Adam Tate), who owns the van, and Nancy's ex-boyfriend Floyd (Jonny Mars), a scruffy stoner with a dog named Hamlet. Running low on money, the team jump at the chance of a paid job investigating a supposedly haunted mansion, and they would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those meddling... Well, that would be spoiling the end.



The film is an independent production directed by Spencer Parsons and co-written by Kat Candler (13 Reasons Why) and a team of other writers including Jonny Mars. I went into this movie expecting it to be bad, so I was presently surprised by how funny I found it, once I got past all the screaming at the beginning. I enjoyed the deadpan delivery of Paul Gordon as Officer Lance and the gratuitous musical montage that was classic Scooby-Doo. Jonny Mars' Scooby laugh struck the perfect creepy note. And of course, there is an excellent performance from Hamlet the dog, as himself.

I should say in the unofficial Scooby gang's favour that they were better prepared than any of the investigators in the Hell House movies. Nancy even brought a crowbar.


Content warning- There is gore, drug use, a sex scene and I'm afraid the dog does die in this one.

Saturday Morning Massacre is a decent low budget horror flick that will appeal to fans of slasher films, although it may be upsetting to huge fans of Scooby-Doo. It is currently streaming on Shudder.



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