Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Reviewed by Kevin Scott, MoreHorror.com
Bad Milo (2013)
Directed by Jacob Vaughan
Written by Benjamin Hayes, Jacob Vaughan
Cast: Ken Marino (Duncan), Gillian Jacobs (Sarah), Mary Kay Place (Duncan’s Mom), Patrick Warburton (Phil), Peter Stormare (Highsmith), Kumail Nanjiani (Bobbi), Stephen Root (Duncan’s Dad)
Here lately, Magnet Releasing carries the same clout with me as Cannon Films, New World Pictures, and Vestron Video. That’s not a slam. It’s a compliment of the highest order. Whenever I saw those monikers before any film, I knew I was in for some kind of genre masterpiece. Whether it be action, horror, or science fiction, it would be a movie that I and a several others (you know who you are) would harbor a clandestine love for until the internet and horror cons came along. That’s when we could go public and find kindred spirits that were states and countries away. Fortunately, a great film like “Bad Milo” can get the love and exposure it deserves right now.
It’s a horror comedy that blends equal parts of both into a smooth concoction that goes down really easy. I have very high regard for anyone that gets the horror comedy right. Get the mix wrong, and one genre overpowers the other, and cancels them both out. I really can’t adequately describe all the influences that “Bad Milo” touches on, but think Cronenberg’s “The Brood”, “Office Space”’ and “Basket Case” all rolled into one.
Duncan (Ken Marino) can’t catch a break. He has a soul sucking corporate job with an unscrupulous boss (Patrick Warburton), a cougar Mother (Mary Kay Place), a wife (Gillian Jacobs) whose biological clock is ticking like crazy, an absentee father, and stomach problems from Hell. His stress level doubles when his office gets relocated to an old bathroom, with an annoying cubicle mate, and he gets saddled with handling the latest rounds of downsizing firings.
When he comes to the next morning, after a Dumb and Dumber” style bathroom session, he discovers that his cubicle mate is stone cold dead. He reconsiders the recommendation to see a therapist, and enter Peter Stormare. A bead wearing, left over hippie that discovers that Duncan has spawned a creature of unquenchable wrath (wait for it) out of his anus. Yep, you heard me. The sixth grader in me loves all the bathroom humor here, and there is plenty of it. Anyone that annoys or stresses out Duncan, runs the risk of being the next victim of the big eyed, fanged little monster affectionately known as Milo that comes out of Duncan’s butt. Apparently, Milo is mild mannered Duncan’s ID. He can’t kill him, because he is a crucial part of his subconscious. He’s got to learn to control his stress to keep Milo at bay.
The two greatest gifts that this film gives us are Peter Stormare, and Stephen Root (Mr. Red Stapler himself from “Office Space”) as the two most memorable characters in this film, but they’re not the only ones. A really skeezy sex therapist, and a stepdad that volunteers way too much carnal knowledge about Duncan’s mom make this movie a recommend for your mainstream friends who can accept all the killing, blood and horror because it’s so smartly written and paced. Any horror comedy should be able to cross either genre fan base effortlessly and seamlessly. If most people can love a movie about a monster coming out of a guy’s backside, and appreciate the gore right along with the humor, the filmmakers did something right.
