Alfred Packer: The Musical

Let's get the inevitable out of the way: the movie looks absolutely horrible. There's a reason most of Trey Parker's work has been in animation. Then again, it's Troma, so we can be a little forgiving. It's not so much the budget as general incompetence in the film-making that's a bit annoying here, but it's still a Trey Parker cannibal Western musical comedy from Troma based loosely on the true story of Alfred Packer.

Yes, it's as silly and ludicrous as it sounds, and although it's not quite up there with the best Troma has to offer ("Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead", "The Toxic Avenger", "Tromeo and Juliet", and a less well-liked favorite of mine, "Troma's War"), it's still absolutely demented and crazy throughout, the songs are still good, and the movie has a lot of fun with Western conventions.

This is really Trey Parker's movie through and through, it's his excellent performance as Packer which carries the movie, and it's his songs that immediately made me forget about all the jokes which fell flat in the preceding scene. This movie is far from perfect, and I think I laughed a bit harder at "Orgazmo", but this is still one of Troma's more worthwhile movies, and interesting as an example of the work of a very young pre-"South Park" Trey Parker.

7/10