Horror Movie Review: Skinned Deep (2004)

With a level of imagination and madness akin to a classic 80s horror, it might surprise many who see Skinned Deep that the movie actually came out in 2004. Especially because of the way it looks, but that’s what this film does. It surprises, even if a lot of them aren’t good surprises.

Written and directed by Gabriel Bartalos, Skinned Deep stars Les Pollack, Aaron Sims, Kurt Carley, Linda Weinrib, Forrest J Ackerman, Eric Bennett, and Warwick Davis.

Are you ready for one hell of a surreal trip? This low-budget film is wacky as hell.

First things first, when talking about Skinned Deep you must acknowledge that its heavily inspired by the film Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Gabriel Bartalos worked on that film too. Not just because it’s got a cannibalistic redneck family, but because Skinned Deep also has comedic elements. Although it’s fair to say Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 did the dark comedy a lot better.

The story surrounds the Rockwell family. Dad Phil (Eric Scott Bennett), mum Gloria (Linda Weinrib), son Matthew (Lee Kociela), and daughter Tina (Karoline Brandt). They are on a family road trip when they get a flat tyre. They walk to the local town where they meet Granny (Liz Little) who invites them back to her home where her mechanic son is.

A terrible idea, of course, as Granny introduces the rest of the family, alarm bells should be warning but Phil and Gloria are a little, let’s say, dumb. The rest of the Granny clan is made up of Brain/Brian who has an absurdly oversized head (Jason Dugre looks so uncomfortable with this thing on), Plates (Warwick Davis) who has a serious love affair with plates, and the Surgeon General (played by both Aaron Sims and Kurt Carley). Who might be the most terrifying of the bunch.

Of course, it doesn’t take long for the majority of the Rockwell family to be murdered with Tina being the only survivor. She is taken in by Brain, who is smitten with her and hopes that she can becomes part of the family. Will Tina be able to escape the clutches of these psychotic people?

There’s not much of a movie there, so to pad it out, various others groups end up coming across the family and in most cases, ending up dead. The ones that everyone will remember though is the elderly biker gang called ‘The Ancient Ones’.

I’ve written this synopsis as sensibly as I can, but rest assured, Skinned Deep tells its story in a much more haphazard and mentally mind-f**king way. Which is one of the more appealing aspects of it. It’s quite a unique film and doesn’t go in any direction you might think it will. It’s trashy, campy, silly, bloody, and fun. Which should be more than enough to tempt a person to check it out.

That being said, it has some glaring issues that really threaten to derail the good time with the most egregious being the pacing. When this film slows down, it really slows down. There are a few times where the pacing becomes so lethargic, it becomes distracting. This is a film that really could have benefited from a good editor. Especially as the more frantic stuff is cut to hell, and a lot of the kills are ineffective because of this.

The characters are also a bit of a mess, but a very game cast does bring the uniqueness of them to life.

What most will remember about Skinned Deep come the end, is just how weird it is. Think of it like a carnival ride through a rundown ghost train that is barely functional. It’s not impressive, but it is memorable.