"Bride of the Killer Piñata" (2023)

by Joseph Perry and Mike Imboden

In our “The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict” film reviews, Joseph and Mike give their thoughts on a slice of cinema. For this installment, it’s Bride of the Killer Piñata, a sequel to the horror-comedy Killer Piñata, beloved by hundreds and brought to us by Stephen Tramontana and Angry Mule Productions. What should be most interesting here is that Mike has seen, and is a fan of, the first Killer Piñata film while Joseph is coming into things blindly. Let’s see how this plays out.

Synopsis

10 years after finally defeating the Killer Piñata, Lindsey Goodman (Eliza-Jane Morris) finds herself struggling with domestic life in the suburbs. When a new piñata arrives looking for help, the Killer Piñata wakes, mentoring her in his murderous ways and reigning hell down on the suburbs. With her family in the cross hairs, Lindsey must rally the old crew one last time to send the Killer Piñata back to hell for good.

The Good

Joseph: Bride of the Killer Piñata has a big heart behind it, and the commitment of the cast and crew is strong. It serves up some poignant moments and gives its new piñata character a solid backstory and motivation. The puppetry behind the piñatas is well done. Eliza-Jane Morris gives an impressive performance in her lead role as Lindsey Goodman. Some practical gore effects are rather striking.

Mike: Right off the bat the viewer is treated to a recap of the previous events from the first film and the intervening years so there’s no confusion as to what is going on and who is who, a plus for any movie and especially for a sequel. There are even some scenes that weren’t in the first film that accompany the recap, so even returning viewers will have something to look forward to in the opening minutes. The rest of the story is everything that a sequel should be; it ups the stakes a bit, provides more backstory to flesh characters out, adds new characters to keep things fresh and, most importantly, gives us more of what we want (that being piñatas killing people). In fact, the piñatas now include puppet versions to allow more action(s) than just a piñata being shoved at someone’s face (although there’s still plenty of that). Speaking of which, there are some pretty effective visual effects when it comes to the piñata’s handiwork with the most impressive being a new take on a “skin peel”.

Tramontana and co-writer Megan Macmanus deliver a story that introduces a fair number of characters and subplots and then manages to bring closure to all of it by the time the credits roll, but the strongest aspect of Bride of the Killer Piñata is that it succeeds where others fail when it comes to dealing with its own absurdity — there are no winks nor nods to the camera and every decision is based on the logic of the world in which we’re watching.

The Bad

Joseph: I hit what would usually be an “I’ve seen enough” moment right around the 42-minute mark when death by penis comes into play. Comedy doesn’t get much broader than that. I understood the style of humor that the filmmakers were going for, but it simply didn’t work for me. Deliberate camp is rarely as funny as unintentional camp, in my book, and this film sports quite a bit of the former in its “Throw it to the wall and see what sticks” moments, which editing down from its nearly two hours running time — quite a bit to ask of viewers for a movie of this stripe — could have helped.

Mike: While the amount of time given to the character and world building is great (new characters and clever subplot involving a serial killer), Bride of the Killer Piñata is a bit long at almost two hours, The character of Lord Chain is quite enjoyable, but I felt like a lot of time spent on him could have been edited down (but not out), without affecting the story. From a critical standpoint, there were a few things I noticed, mostly just small continuity errors and things like that, but nothing that I would really consider “bad” and honestly comes down to picking nits.

However, this is one of those films that may not stick the landing in some people’s eyes. Admittedly, it took a second viewing of Killer Piñata for me to appreciate what I was watching and since I found a lot of the same stuff here I can imagine this not clicking with some people until a second viewing. Unfortunately, not everyone is willing to give a film a second look if they don’t like it the first time, so this may be the biggest hurdle that Tramontana and company have to face.

The Verdict

Joseph: Bride of the Killer Piñata knows what kind of movie it is. I am not part of its target audience, so I can’t give it a strong recommendation. Its more focused, structured and funny scenes and ideas are thrown off balance by hammy humor and what feels like one or two too many subplots. Viewers willing to buy into its daffiness should find it a worthwhile watch, though.

Mike: If absurd humor and/or films of inanimate objects (like tires, tomatoes, couches, or pants), wreaking havoc is your cup of tea, you will not leave thirsty after watching Bride of the Killer Piñata. As a low budget movie you expect a certain amount of shortcuts and . . . inadequacies, to be obvious, however that is not the case here. Everything from the acting, to Tramontana’s directing decisions, and to the piñatas themselves is better than you’d expect in a low-budget genre film. In short, nothing feels or looks cheap. Since I have seen the original, I’m sure that a lot of my thoughts on this are undoubtedly based on the prior film, so hopefully Joseph’s portions have balanced out my parts and we’ve given a well-balanced feel for what does (and doesn’t) work. I, personally, loved it.

Bride of the Killer Piñata, from Angry Mule Films, will be available to stream digitally sometime in June and then on physical media later this summer.

Bride of the Killer Piñata