What happens when you cross a bunch of Roller Derby skaters with director Daniel Armstrong, a very minimal amount of cash, and a sense of humour that reeks of Australian suburbs in all the best ways? You guessed it. All hell breaking loose and transforming itself into an action-packed, charming and just a little rough around the edges film that will either have you on the end of your seat, or falling off it from laughter.
Impressive about this little film is the way it has dug itself into a niche and tapped into an undercurrent of strong patriotism for home-grown B-grade horror. This is a film that came from the smallest of small beginnings. Originally intended as a web series, it has to date been so popular in its premiere at Monsterfest in Melbourne that they needed to add another session to the bill, sold out within days of its Australian DVD launch JB HiFi, and is currently doing the rounds screening across the UK in May and later in the US and Canada. As the movie’s Facebook page says, “That’s quite a long way for a part-time DIY film shot on domestic stills cameras with a budget that wouldn’t buy a second hand car to travel.”
Claiming credit as the world’s first slasher film set in the brutal world of Roller Derby, fans of the tough sport will no doubt be impressed by the film’s obvious idolization of the game and its attention to detail. This is unsurprising, given most of the stars are Derby girls themselves, and co-producer Cyndi Lawbreaker, who also provides much of the film’s comical relief through the character Psych, has been involved in Roller Derby since 2010 and used her Derby know-how to make the derby scenes come alive. The opening sequence of a match taking place especially captures the pure essence of a sport which, despite its non-mainstream position, is steadily growing in popularity. Yet even for non-aficionados it’s impressive to watch a film that is shot almost entirely on skates.
In terms of plot, MurderDrome starts by meandering down the well trodden path of boy meets girl. Cherry Skye, the innocent, cutesy jammer of her Derby team (that’s the point scorer, incase you were wondering) falls for scruffy looking Brad. In doing so, she incites the rage of Brad’s ex and roller-skating rival, Hell Grazier, who takes the notion of vengeful ex to the extreme as she and her team mates take to terrorizing the new paramours. Cherry and her friends must evade Hell and her cronies’ violent torment before inadvertently dwarfing this problem by opening up the gates of Hell and awakening a long-dead murdering legend of the local Roller Derby scene set on wreaking bloody havoc and taking Cherry’s soul back to the depths of whence she came.
While definitely gaining points for imaginative ways to die while on roller skates, admittedly from this point on the plot is sometimes hard to follow. The film transitions rapidly between fast skating scenes, ominous and unexplained janitors appearing from no where and offering up exposition, the occasional re-opening of Hell’s gates and the frequent, graphic and very messy blood-letting. This jumping about is likely a side effect of the fact that in its original conception was as a five-part web series, with the decision to turn it into a feature length film taking place after filming had been completed, however, as a result, the film’s fluidity feels a bit cramped towards the second half of the film.
Despite this, the film works. Everything about it – the hammed-up acting, the cameras, the copious amount of fake blood, the mix of questionable and ingenious special effects – slides nicely into that lovely, Australian film heritage niche of terribly good B-grade. Even the uneven pace of the film works in a way to draw you into a state of watching the film where it’s ok to let go and not bother with worrying about what exactly is going on but to instead focus on what’s actually happening on screen at that moment. And whether the lines are deliberately delivered with a touch of tongue-in-cheek self-consciousness that is appropriate to the genre, or if its simply because the film’s stars are, for the most part, skaters rather than actors is irrelevant. If the stilted lines make the characters seem a bit one dimensional and the plot is a bit confusing, this really only enhances the enjoyment of the film, which is at its heart about how much fun, skating, and fake blood you can squeeze into a 75 minute film shot on a budget that was running on fumes alone.
Watch the trailer for MurderDrome below –
