Presented as horror but way too deliberately comical to belong in that genre. Sort of like Toxic Avenger and films like that. Low budget, no big name stars, and this is all good . Movies like this are the one's that take chances and play with ideas. It is serious film making that does not take itself too seriously.
It absolutely holds up to criticism but to attack it on almost any level misses the point. It is a very entertaining flick for what it is. It is guileless and unpretentious and works at the limits of its resources and is a total success.
I went through a phase back in the VHS video store days where for a few years I devoured every film I could get like this. So John Waters and the Troma Team stuff and any and everything cause there was always some great ideas or lines
and occasionally like with Combat Shock something that had a very intense vibe to it that effectively could be taken seriously.
If I had 1000 dollars to make a movie and had a great idea then that is what I would try and do.
Anyway, this one stands on its own feet. It isn't boring at all. Ultimately, less then literature, movies are meant to entertain. Sometimes they can teach but even then, if they don't entertain they won't pull an audience. On that basis alone, again, I think this movie accomplishes everything it sets out to do and is a big success.