Auto Shop of Horrors

[StevePulaski]

Auto Shop of Horrors (2016)
Directed by: Glenn Berggoetz and Tim Gallagher

Rating: ★★½

Auto Shop of Horrors, if played at the right theaters, released at the right times, and marketed in the right ways, could very well earn a well-deserved cult following for simply being one of the craziest films of the last year. It takes a completely damning idea and rolls with it for seventy-six minutes, never compromising its purpose nor making it more complex and layered than it needs to be. It's a thoroughly entertaining work that, even as it grows monotonous in spite of itself, still grows and morphs itself into a truly enjoyable film.

A lot of the credit goes to Glenn Berggoetz, the director of the infamous Worst Movie Ever!, the film which complimented its title by earning the dubious honor of being the lowest grossing film in history. The co-writer, co-director, co-producer, and leading man of the project, Berggoetz's renaissance man status on this project makes him the backbone of such a silly and downright outrageous film. His leading man is equal parts fiercely watchable in his helpful nature but despicable and dishonest in his backstabbing nature, and Berggoetz has a lot of fun in his role. He helps usher in the project affectionately and, in turn, creates a film with a great deal of character and interest as a result.

Berggoetz plays Randy, a local repair man at an auto body shop. Each and every day he has a plethora of customers that come to him for some kind of problem with their vehicles. After a brief exchange, he immediately vocalizes what is certainly the problem with their car before getting them to do paperwork and having their vehicle serviced. Randy is also an admirer of the ancient Aztec culture, alleging that the Aztecs believed that the prolific consumption of human eyeballs led to one possessing the ability to see into the future. Randy has been practicing this ritual for a while now, and has made a living off of consuming the eyeballs of his customers and running their dead bodies off a cliff in their vehicles, resulting in a fiery explosion. No matter what vehicle they arrive in at the shop, the same scenario plays out; a blue, mid-sized, classic vehicle careens off the same cliff in the same position, with the same pop song playing each and every time.

Nothing really progresses in Auto Shop of Horrors in a narrative sense. Overtime, while Randy does begin to have vague glimpses into the future, nothing ever seriously problematic or different results. He still outsmarts his customers on a regular basis and manages to get their eyeballs one way or another. The gore-effects - all practical and without the use of computer effects - are actually milder than you'd expect, but for what we see, they work quite nicely. This is the perfect example of a film that has a more reserved nature than its premise would suggest, and it proves through and through that a little goes a long way.

The issue comes with just how little this film manages to be about and how long it manages to be about it. While seventy-seven minutes is really not at all lengthy, for a film that is basically a collection of skits with the same setup, punchline, and outcome - all of which opening with a quote from one of the characters - the inevitability of monotony eventually rears its ugly head. Berggoetz keeps it interesting by continuing to amplify his nice-guy-turned-sinister-monster character, but it can't overcome what is ultimately a limiting script. More variety in the structure comes when Paul Rohrer shows up as Detective Martin, looking almost identical to Dennis Franz in the controversial TV show NYPD Blue, giving a terrific performance alongside Berggoetz, but overall, the film's structure is largely unchanging.

Auto Shop of Horrors is a film filled with eccentric qualities, thoroughly entertaining and humorous setups, and a compelling central performance to top it all off. Its monotony does render it a bit of a trying watch, but I'm almost certain its target audience won't mind. Berggoetz has made a career off of entertaining people in the strangest, most ridiculous ways, and with Auto Shop of Horrors he shows his talent with the horror genre all while making a film that, again, works for the most part in spite of its biggest setbacks.

Starring: Glenn Berggoetz, Paul Neal Rohrer, Maya Grace, and Tim Fegan. Directed by: Glenn Berggoetz and Tim Gallagher.