Dustin Mills' small scale, penniless SOV production feels like amateurish punk rock splatter adoration to "REEFER MADNESS". While its bare-bones technical limitations show, his enthusiasm and ambitions have no boundaries. Luridly trashy with cheap thrills, discount gore, punk tunes and gratuitous titillation, but for such an assembly Mills shows moments of creative style in using experimental animation, slow-mo and camera trickery. There are stylized scenes where the whacked-out visuals (mainly the massacre sequences) look like they have been ripped right out of a comic-book. They do become more prominent the further the film goes along, even the transformation of the central bath salt junkie (Brandon Salkil) over constant use of a newly developed batch of bath salts even stronger than the norm, but with a major side effect; turning users into violent flesh eating zombies. Once the recreational drug has worn off, you return to your normal self, covered in blood, dazed and confused, but your addiction to the substance only intensifies and so does the bloody mayhem.
The concept simply plays around with the Dr Jekyll and Mr.Hyde formula. Even the appearance of the junkie pepped up; large grin, eyes bulging, red face and of the course the wicked laughter managed to add to the craziness. When it wasn't being gung-ho, I found the pacing to stall. Scenes (like with the detective) just seemed to be going around in circles and dialogues (about donuts and good citizens) going through the motions. The payoff does make it worthwhile. At the beginning it starts off with a public service announcement cartoon highlighting the usage of bath salts which was a neat little touch. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of Mills' output after the likes of "EASTER CASKET", "SKINLESS", and this.
