Welcome back to Rotten Ink. For this update we will be having another look at a “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” and will be talking about the film Meathook Massacre III and the comic based on it! That’s right, an indie film that was smart enough to understand a comic book is a great way to promote the film and helps add extra excitement for fans and can also add to the lore of the film and its characters. So if you are ready to dive deep into the world of the Meathook Massacre, we should put on a butchers apron to avoid the splatter and see what this killing family and this comic have in store for us, as this will be a first time watch as well as read for me and I am looking forward to both! So let’s sit back and look at the first comic based on Bubba Fleisher and the Meathook Massacre film series.
Let’s first take a look at the Fleisher Family and their ways of killing people off before we get to deep into this review. The Fleisher Family are cannibalistic backwoods hillbillies who kill innocent people in order to harvest their meat in order to eat and survive. Pa Fleisher is a man who cares about his family very much and while he doesn’t like the killing he has to do all that much, he will do what he has to in order to put meat on their dinner table for them to eat. Pa seems to really enjoy his chainsaw when it comes to dealing death to his victims. He also has a short temper and has a killer instinct when it comes to people messing with his family. Sister Fleisher is one mean young lady as she seems to enjoy the killing of others and almost gets off on it. She is also very loyal to her family and will use her stunning good looks to draw victims in and then use her trusty switchblade knife or kitchen knife to end their lives. Bubba Fleisher is simple minded but once he got the taste for killing, he loved it and can not stop, Bubba wears the skinned faces of some of his victims and this tends to freak out people before he makes the kill with his choice to deal death being meat hooks. The Fleisher Family as a whole are very odd people and use their hunting styles in order to hunt, stalk, lure and slaughter their targets and besides Bubba when wearing a human skin mask, none of them look like they are about to cut your belly open. While Ma is a killer as well, she lets her family do most the killing unless she is pushed or feels as if someone has wronged them. The Fleisher Family do have weaknesses as they are just normal humans and can be killed with any kind of weapon from gun to a knife. They also at times seem to be in their own world and if you are smart enough, you can escape them as well as even in return fight back against them. While The Fleisher Family might not be the most dangerous killers we have ever covered here on a From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update, they are hands down still very skilled in the art of killing and should be taken very seriously.
So now that we know about The Fleisher Family and their ways of dealing death, let’s take a look at the film they are from and that’s the third in the Meathook Massacre series…also keep in mind Bubba is the series’ main killer and has been in all of the films. I will be taking the film’s write up from our pals at IMDB and will then write about the film’s production as well as my thoughts on the film. So sharpen your knives and let’s dive into The Fleisher Family tree and try dodging all the knives, hooks and chainsaws coming our way.
Meathook Massacre III (2017)
“Meat the whole family and see where it all began as Pa takes Bubba on his first hunt!”
The indie series Meathook Massacre started in 2015 and was brought to life by filmmaker Dustin Ferguson who was known for his films “The Legacy Of Boggy Creek”, “Terror At Black Tree Forest”, “Silent Night, Bloody Night 2: Revival” and “Demon Dolls” before he made the first film that built a cult following. Dustin would go onto make Meathook Massacre II in 2017 and director Jim DeVault made Meathook Massacre III the same year! What set DeVault’s film apart is that it acts as a prequel and broke away from Ferguson’s style of filmmaking of flashbacks of past films. Jim DeVault was coming off of making such other Indie Horror films as The Sisters Four (2008), Jebadiah’s Axe (2013) and the Blood Reunion film series. Meathook Massacre III was the only film I know of that Jim did with Dustin and this film is well liked among the fans of the series.
The Meathook Massacre series was an indie film series that has always been on my radar as I have seen images of the film as well as trailers and even a NES Video Game based around it, and when finding out a comic was made about one of the sequels I knew I had to track it down and cover here as I have always said more Indie Horror Films need to use comic books as a way to promote their films! I have to say that after watching Meathook Massacre III: The First Hunt I understand why this series has a cult following as its very low budget but has a Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets Wrong Turn feel to it, and you can tell that the makers of the film put their heart and soul into the production. Now a few things that did throw me off is at times the editing was a little off and scenes seemed disjointed as did the story at times, plus characters seem to always make very dumb decisions that always leads to them dying when they could have easily gotten away, but welcome to indie horror. I will also say the digital gore effects are a little off as is some of the practical, but they did not take me out of the film. The acting is your typical low budget fare as at times you can see actresses trying not to laugh or smile as they are talking to each other about murder. The two best actors in the film hands down were Robert Lankford who played Pa Fleischer and the shining star was the beautiful Leah Gradney who played Sister as she was good in the role and just easy on the eyes…I say more Horror Filmmakers should be casting her. I also like that in this film Sister is so good in bed that a young man helps the Fleischer family kill his own mom and sisters…this guy is a goof! Not much more to say about Meathook Massacre III besides it’s a fun and cheesy indie slasher film that makes for a good watch on a late Saturday night.
It’s now time to have dinner with the Fleisher family and I heard they have meat on the menu…wait I am sure the meat they are serving is not the kind we would want to eat! So maybe we should just order a Pizza. But I want to thank Creamy Rat Studios for having this comic in stock and would like to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready, let’s hang out with Bubba as its suppertime!
Meathook Massacre: First Hunt # 1 **1/2
Released in 2017 Cover Price NA Creamy Rat Studios # 1 of 1
Pa Fleisher, the owner of a Gas Station, is talking to his young son Bubba who is a mongoloid that the family is running very low on meat and that today he will be come a man as it will be his first kill! Pa gets out all types of weapons used to slaughter and Bubba grabs himself a meat hook as Sister Fleisher is in the background hurling insults at her younger brother and his intelligence. The family heads to a lake and Pa tells Bubba not to attack anyone if there is a group of more than two people, and Bubba with hook in hand heads into the woods looking for a kill. A young woman is naked near the lake as someone is watching her, she calls out and Bubba comes walking out with a goofy grin on his face and he also shows off his two meat hooks! The woman then knocks Bubba to the ground and starts beating him up when Pa comes from out of nowhere and helps his son and they kill the woman as Pa goes to get the truck Bubba skins the woman’s face and wears it like a mask. Pa returns and is proud of his son and they load her into the back of the family pickup truck. When they get home Sister Fleisher has captured a man who was sneaking around the station and they decide to keep him as meat for the future as well as to allow Sister to have some fun with him.
The story of Bubba and the Fleisher family comes alive in this comic that also acts as the first part of the movie…well give and take a few moments that is. The comic’s plot is that we get to see the first kill that Bubba ever made as well as get to see his family and understand why they are they way they are. This Indie Horror Comic based on a Indie Horror Movie is a super fast read and is sure to please fans of the film. The differences between the comic and the film is that the first kill is a naked white lady in the comic and a bathing suit wearing Asian lady in the film also Bubba in the comic his more deformed and in the film he is just a strange acting kid. Bubba in the comic is a young kid who enjoys pain and likes to kill once he gets the taste for it, he also likes to wear faces and eat human meat. Pa Fleisher is a man who takes pride in his family and wants to keep his family feed and the only way he knows how is by hunting humans and turning them into dinner. Sister Fleisher is also very sinister and loves killing and also likes picking on her younger brother. The comic has some pretty gory moments as chainsaw and meat hooks slaughter the woman who becomes meat and the blood pours out from her wounds. The comic does a great job of capturing the characters of the film and just the whole universe in the Meathook Massacre film series. The one thing I will say as well is that I wish it was a bit longer and almost a full 22-36 page comic that was a full adaptation of the film as it reads so fast leaving you wanting more, but on the other hand it does a great job of making you want to see the film…so I guess it did its job! The cover is pretty eye catching and has the family posing with a person they caught by a lake as if they are a fish, the interior art by Joe P. is good and has a cool raw style to it making it feel truly like a indie comic. This comic feels like a true promo comic that does what it can to add to the world of the film its based on and for that I would say check it out if like the Meathook Massacre film series. Check out the artwork below to see they style of Joe P.
While Meathook Massacre III might not be a household name when it comes to Horror Movies it proves that even cult films and low budget ones can benefit from having a comic book or series based around it! I am sure when Dustin Ferguson first created Bubba and The Fleisher Family, he never fully dreamed it would become a shot on video cult classic series that has entertained thousands of people all over the world. And something also has to be said for director Jim DeVault who made a great sequel that helped build the story of Bubba. But our time with The Fleisher Family has come to an end and supper is over, so as we make our way out of the house I should tell you all that the next update we will be staying with the From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update and will be taking a look at Snakes On A Plane! Also before I sign off I want to once more stress that if you are a Indie Filmmaker and are working on a Horror Film and want a great way to help promote your film do a comic book…I can not stress this enough! So until next time read a Indie Horror Comic or three, watch a Indie Horror Film or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next time for a trip with some damn snakes on a damn plane.
UPDATE: I was told by Creamy Rat Studios that the comic came before the film and that the film was really based on the comic! Very Cool!
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