Gorno (2003)

Pack: Tomb of Terrors
Disc: 10

Subgenre(s): Drama, Crime

Year: 2003 (IMDb says 2004)

Rated: Unrated
Length: 81 minutes

Directors: Oliver Assiran, Les Norris
Writers: Oliver Assiran, Les Norris
Starring: Lucas Corcoran, Mike Morena, Shannon Ross

Synopsis: Through a series of nightmarish scenes and interviews we meet Kelly Brady, a troubled 15 year old boy who spends his time getting drunk, selling weed and eating acid. Watch as Kelly self destructs, while two idiot documentary filmmakers try to find out who killed his sister.

Screencaps:

Review: Gorno: An American Tragedy is yet another non-horror movie which shouldn't really be part of "Tombs of Terror". There's no terror, hardly any gore apart from one scene, and it's basically a drama about a psychopath and the other almost psychopaths in his environment.

Lucas Corcoran is brilliantly cast as Kelly Brady, the antihero of this story, although his acting isn't anything spectacular. He just looks right for the part and his narration suits the piece. Having said that, the words he uses are a little bit too eloquent and seem lifted from American Psycho even though they aren't.

Gorno borrows heavily from the same half-documentary style used by Gummo and Kids, but it's still fairly original and mean-spirited enough to be entertaining. Due to the inconsistent acting abilities of the cast, some of the characters add too much unintentional comedy and could easily be cut from the film to make it better. Some are just completely pointless in the first place. In particular, the two rednecks pontificating about various conspiracy theories provide nothing but padding.

Everyone in Gorno's world is psychologically messed-up to some extent. Whether this is a parody of American society or just a reflection of the truth is debatable depending on where you live, but it hits quite close to home several times. Somewhere there really are kids and adults who behave like this and it's not a very pleasant thought.

Standouts include Justin Gurazzi as Jak the Satanist who would make a good double for Marilyn Manson, and Billy Marshall as Kelly's homosexual father. The latter creates the creepiest and worst example of gay parenting that I've ever seen.

The circular plot is initially confusing, the slow pace and lack of action make Gorno feel longer than it is, and the background music is vile, but the overall effect could be chilling if you are in the right or wrong frame of mind. It's a pity that the low-budget production values let it down so much.

Most Memorable Moment(s): Vladimir the wannabe vampire getting a phone call from his mother.

Originality: Very much like Gummo (1997), Kids (1995), and even American Psycho (2000) in places.

Best Line(s): "I'm a gay man, and I believe you'll be gay when you get older."
Worst Line(s): "I drink blood, and I am a direct descendant of Vlad the Impaler."

Best Effect(s): Mike the Butcher accidentally chopping his fingers off.
Worst Effect(s): Jen getting stabbed in the eye.

Goriness (out of 10): 2
Sexiness (out of 10): 1
Profanities (out of 10): 7

Hottest Actor/Actress: Erin Kelly as Jen.

Picture Quality: Average
Audio Quality: Average

Rating (out of 10): 4

Trailer:


IMDb or Wiki: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0438065/

Final Thoughts: The final lines are something to think about.