Sommerleigh Pollonais, Horror Head Writer
This October I decided to watch and review some of those great horror movies (31 to be exact) that I missed on their initial release. And for Part 28 of my series of the 31 OF THE BEST HORROR MOVIES YOU (MAY HAVE) MISSED we will be checking out horror comedy Get Duked! Let’s get Duked:
Day 28 of 31: Get Duked! (2019)
Director: Ninian Doff
Starring: Lewis Gribben, Rian Gordon, Viraj Juneja, Samuel Bottomley, Eddie Izzard
Plot: An anarchic, hip-hop inspired comedy that follows four city boys on a wilderness trek as they try to escape a pair of hunters.
Review: “I’ve never seen a murder before; I’m homeschooled.” The dialogue, the hip-hop music and the opening credits all scream Edgar Wright but this British horror comedy is actually written and directed by Ninian Doff, whose background is mostly in music videos. Delivering the kind of laughs and crazy characters that can only come from the UK, the story here follows four teenage boys who are tasked with trekking through the Scottish Highlands for burning down their school lavatory (or, as the non-Brits would say, the toilet). Three of the four are basically live action versions of Ed, Edd and Eddy while the fourth wants the added credit so he can attend university. Turns out though there are some crazy aristocrats who believe they have to cull the ne’er do wells in society, and in a parody of The Most Dangerous Game hunt the lads all across the highland plains.
Get Duked! tends to work better as a straight-up comedy than a horror as most of the scenes are the boys finding ridiculous ways to escape their attackers. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t kills here; it’s just that they are played for laughs more than anything else. Hip Hop music also plays a big part in the tone of the story with one of the boys calling himself DJ Beetroot (sorry, that should be BEATroot as he has to correct everyone) having a ridiculous scene where he freestyles to his newly found fan base—all of the local Scottish farmers whose enjoyment of his music is probably linked to their love of eating fermented rabbit poop (it makes you high because the rabbits love to eat “magic” mushrooms).
By now you have a fair idea of what to expect here and I couldn’t help but compare how kooky the characters found here were to the ones found in cartoons like American Dad and Family Guy. As crazy as it all sounds, there actually is a level of social commentary to be found here with the Duke (Eddie Izzard) and Duchess (Gorgie Glen) playing exaggerated versions of the ultra wealthy in society who are totally disconnected from the youth culture of today, and the fact the world isn’t meant to contain just the people who look and act like they do. That said, it’s all painted with a brush of juvenile imagination and just like 2020’s The Hunt isn’t meant to be taken seriously in the slightest.
So if you’re in the mood for a horror comedy that’s light on the horror part, there’s a lot of laughs to find in this satirical send-up to today’s youth culture, society’s prejudices and spiked rabbit poop.
Sommer’s Score: 6 out of 10
You can check out Part 27 of my 31 Days List and my review of Thai creature feature The Pool along with my review of The Hunt.
Sommer’s Score: 6 out of 10
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
Double Tap Baby!