"Murdercise" (2023) [GenreBlast]

by Mike Imboden

Normally here at “The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict”, both Joseph and Mike give their thoughts on a slice of cinema. However, here and there they will be taking the reins in a solo outing. For this installment, it’s Mike with a solo review of Angelica De Alba and Paul Ragsdale’s 80’s aerobic throwback, Murdercise.

Synopsis

Phoebe is an obsessed fitness nerd who gets her big break on a sleazy workout video. After being ridiculed by her co-stars, Phoebe befriends a mafia princess wild child, who teaches her how to murder her way to the top.

The Good

Angelica De Alba and Paul Ragsdale set out to make an 80s throwback horror movie and not much more says 1980s than an aerobics-themed story. Murdercise does an admirable job at capturing the era with its neon-colored outfits, legwarmers, and hairstyles. There are some decent effects on display including a grand finale involving a chainsaw that will knock your socks off.

While the low budget is fairly evident, everyone involved gives it their all and sure seems like they were having fun making this. Most notable among the cast was Kansas Bowling who is tasked with having to almost play two characters after her character Phoebe makes a couple of decisions that force her into some heretofore uncharted territory. Drew Marvick is another standout with his performance as Chuck, the production’s jack-of-all-trades. I’d actually love to see a feature following Chuck as he follows his dream of one day becoming a director.

I also have to toss a compliment to whomever provided the sunset and palm tree shirt to Bryan “Gino” Hurd who plays the video’s director. I have that very same shirt.

The Bad

This is one of those movies that makes me feel bad for saying anything negative about it, but I also don’t want to be like that meme of the dog sitting in the middle of a fire saying “Everything is fine”. Obviously Murdercise is working with a micro-budget and has the production values to prove it with its bare-minimum sets and and some questionable performances. The story itself is a bit basic and, while it serves the story being told, does seem to have a little bit of padding to get the runtime up closer to what a lot of people expect a feature film to be.

There’s also the matter of the humor which worked for me, but might not land with everyone. While not throwing jokes left and right there are a couple of back and forth tonal shifts in the laughs department ranging from biting satire to just plain silly. It might have been a better choice to settle on one type. Your mileage, as always, will vary.

The Verdict

There’ve been a lot of 80s throwback horror over the past few years and as someone who came of age in the 80s I can’t endorse this trend enough. Murdercise has a lot of parts that all add up to what it wants to be which can be a tough task to accomplish a lot of time when it comes to very low-budget films. It successfully captures a bit of its intended 80s tone mainly through some wardrobe aesthetics, but struggles a bit with everything else. Some of the performances are either lackluster or over the top, but a couple - notably Bowling and Marvick - save it from being a complete mess.

All in all this is a fun movie and would probably best be enjoyed with a few like-minded friends, however even those people who - like me - watch it alone should still find it entertaining, if for no reason other than to admire the “little engine that could” feel emanating from the screen.

Murdercise, from A & P Productions, screened as part of GenreBlast Film Festival 2023, which ran August 31–September 2, 2023, in Winchester, Virginia. For more information, visit https://www.genreblast.com/.

Murdercise