Taking chances is what movies are all about. From the patron angle, you’re taking a chance going to a movie you may know little to nothing about, hoping to have a great experience. For filmmakers, it’s not much different. They’re trying their best to make that experience memorable. But modern-day filmmaking isn’t what it used to be. Cinemas are filled with reiterations, sequels, and remakes. Movies with infinite revenue strategies through synergized collaborations. What’s a Marvel picture without the action figure tie-ins or video games? However, almost anyone with an idea and a great group of friends can buck the trend these days, and film festivals are the best places to find some of these gems. The WeedHacker Massacre won’t quite scratch a Marvel-sized itch, but it is a far more original experience than I could have anticipated.

Allow me to be upfront: The WeedHacker Massacre is A DIY slasher flick that is as messy as movies get. At ninety-five minutes, it’s probably too long. The acting ranges from inexperienced to exceptional. The limited CGI effects work despite being bafflingly ridiculous, and I’m sure I could go on. Ostensibly, The WeedHacker Massacre is a bad movie. But it’s also kind of a great bad movie.

In the tradition of Shrooms, Evil Bong, and Scary Movie, The WeedHacker Massacre is a drug-infused parody of the horror movie industry and slasher movie remakes that completely misinterpret the movies we love. David Treviño stars as Willie Wonder, an idealistic college pretty boy who dreams of being a star one day, and Molly Sakonchick as Candy Kersey, a reporter covering a local music festival. When Willie and his clown car, filled with a group of female friends, arrive for the concert, they’re stunned to find the place empty. It turns out that the town of Red Eye, Texas, isn’t a great place to throw a festival because it’s secretly the weed capital of America.

Unbeknownst to Willie and his friends, the town is run by the Gunter family, who’ve got a surprise in store for the festival goers by clearing them out with violence and pin the murders on their one-word speaking, mask-wearing and weed-whacker-wielding relative Pokerface (Sean Reyna). With thirteen dead, the event becomes a nationwide tragedy. Ten years and several remakes of the movie later, Candy is traumatized to the point where she’s been convinced that she doesn’t remember what happened, and Willie has amnesia. Plus, he’s been MIA since The WeedHacker Massacre took place, shacked up with Pokerface, who saved him that night, leaving people to assume Willie and Pokerface are the same person.

Ray Spivey, who brought us 2023’s witchy Storage Locker and features much of the same cast, wrote The WeedHacker Massacre and finds strength in the comedic whimsy of his latest screenwriting endeavor. Sure, the film is a little overly convoluted, but the less serious nature of The WeedHacker Massacre helps make it an enjoyable watch.

Spivey seems to step into multiple horror tropes: kidnapped amnesiac, a survivor returning to the scene, and a maniacal Texas family. However, Spivey manages to angle the film with new context. Where kidnapped victims in horror films are typically female for the killer to have a crush on, all Pokerface wants is a friend to hang out and get high with. A Jay to his Silent Bob, if you will. And while the suffering trauma survivor is usually pushed to face the trauma, Spivey angles Candy as being gaslit by her therapist because honestly, who wants to relive their trauma!? And what doctor thinks that’s a good idea? And finally, Spivey and director Jody Stelzig amalgamate the Gunter characters into a hybrid of generational horror renditions, the old-timey HG Lewis’ Two-Thousand Maniacs, Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s Sawyer family, and Rob Zombie’s Fireflies.

My biggest issue with the film is definitely the sharp, drastic transitional changes, particularly at the beginning. Though the parody elements at the start of the film are present in the endless parade of coeds exiting Willie’s station wagon and the catchy folk song playing as they arrive at the music festival, the transitional elements don’t feel like a bit. The film goes sharply from day to night and then sunrise into day during the first killing spree. There’s no atmosphere, but there is excessiveness, which is fun.

Then we go from the day to ten years later, and if you blink, you may miss some of these transitional pieces. I know I did. Though, at first, I thought The WeedHacker Massacre was doing a bit, going from midday to the dead of night, only to go back to midday. Some older horror movies used to film like that, coloring the film so it looked like night when anyone could see the actor’s shadow while he was squinting into the sun. Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie points one out in This Island Earth if you want a great example.

However, as we get into the other sides of The WeedHacker Massacre, particularly the movie set issues, Spivey seems to enjoy setting this in the script, and Stelzig creates an amusing sandbox for the characters to play in. The actor playing the killer (Matthew Pervis) in the diegetic remake has issues with the dialogue. The director (Bobbie Grace) needs a hit to bring back her flailing career, and the producer (Ron Oliveira) is bouncing checks trying to keep the unions out, and their cast and crew keep disappearing. They say write what you know, and the film’s farcical production anxieties are a lot of fun to watch. Plus, there are just a lot of dumb jokes, and while not all of them will serve everyone’s tastes, it’s still really humorous, and I found myself cracking up quite a bit.

Finally, there’s just a love of horror films here, particularly the Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Fans of Tobe Hooper’s original slasher film had high hopes for Netflix’s remake in 2022. The fifth Texas Chain Saw remake and fourth series reboot of the movie in twenty years underwhelmed almost everyone, leaving millions to find unintentional hilarity in multiple scenes. The film even briefly features Allen Danziger, part of the original TCM cast who also serves as executive producer.

The WeedHacker Massacre shows that you don’t need all those resources to make a memorable movie. But, with passionate Kickstarter backers and a growing family of eager creatives, you can make a charming and entertaining experience filled with silly killings, great dialogue, and rich with heart. I enjoyed The WeedHacker Massacre more than I probably should. I guess I caught a contact high. It’s certainly a bit of a guilty pleasure, but I hope others will get a kick out of this delightfully bonkers, albeit rough-around-the-edges, homemade horror flick. Believe it or not, it also has a video game tie-in.

The WeedHacker Massacre held its World Premiere at the Golden State Film Festival on Thursday, February 20. The film will continue touring the festival circuit.