Deathgasm II: Goremageddon review
Getting the band back together.
In US/Canada theaters September 29th
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Deathgasm II: Goremageddon
Directed by Jason Lei Howden
Written by Jason Lei Howden
Starring Milo Cawthorne, Kimberly Crossman, James Joshua Blake, Sam Berkley, Daniel Cresswell, Kiernan Charnock and Harrison Keefe
Deathgasm II: Goremageddon Review
Deathgasm is one of those movies. A 2015 independent film from New Zealand that people sort of just…found. It was a real “cream rises to the top” scenario. I don’t remember where or when I saw it…probably the recommendation of a random twitter account or message board post. But I did see it…and then I had to tell everyone that they should see it too. I was already a big fan of horror by the time Deathgasm came around…but it was one of those movies that makes you expand your horizons a little bit. I wasn’t well versed in independent horror…but that movie made me seek out more. The last thing I would label myself is a fan of death metal music…but its frantic soundtrack was such a perfect fit for its B-movie mayhem that I walked away from it more open to it.
Which left the obvious question. Would there be a Deathgasm II? That’s the thing with movies like Deathgasm…just because the right group of people eventually discover it…it doesn’t mean it’s going to bring in a big profit. Talk of a sequel has been around since I found that first entry…but time passed and Deathgasm II became just another idea you figure will never come to fruition.
Flash forward to 2026…and Deathgasm II: Goremageddon is a reality. Heading to theaters for one night only before landing on Video on Demand this October…Goremageddon is a clear love letter to the people who found the original…to the people the original mattered to. And it tackles that concept in the right way. By acknowledging the passage of time, respecting the deaths of major characters in the original film…and bringing the whole band back together anyway. Hey…it’s always been about the power of music and its ability to summon otherworldly things anyway, right?
We catch up with Brodie (Milo Cawthorne) and find him very much in the same place despite the world moving on around him. Half of his band didn’t survive the first movie…and he’s still chasing that music dream despite no success to show for it. When I say they get the band back together…I mean that literally. Zakk (James Blake) and Dion (Sam Berkley) are brought back from the dead through the power of music. The problem is they aren’t brought back alive. Resurrecting zombies has some drawbacks.
Deathgasm II: Goremageddon retains all the humor, kickass music and over the top gore of its predecessor. But that passage of time lets you look at it in a new light. Your life not being what you want it to be as a teenager feels a lot different than your life not becoming what you wanted it to be in your late-20s. Brodie has lost his girlfriend Medina (Kimberly Crossman), half his band is in the ground, and he’s found no life path worth following. Being a slacker in your late teens is a lifestyle. Being a slacker in your late 20s is a life.
Through all the music (which rocks), wild scenes (of which there are plenty), moments of gore (which also rock) and comedic beats (which land at a high rate) it’s that passage of time that I kept going back to. It’s a shared experience. Something we can all relate to. We can’t all reanimate our dead friends and have to deal with the results of that…but we would probably choose to if we could (and were honest with ourselves). That’s Brodie’s path in Deathgasm II: Goremageddon. He, once again, finds himself having to clean up a mess of his own making…but it opens the door to opportunities to do something he hasn’t done since the first Deathgasm. Enjoy life.
Now…I’m sure that a meditation on aging to the point where life choices start becoming permanent wasn’t the main intention of the story…but I thought it really added something here. It’s not a new concept…even in horror comedies. Shaun of the Dead builds its world on top of that very thing. But, if you’ll allow for this statement in a movie where a metalhead resurrects his bandmates in zombie form, it feels more real here. Brodie exists in a heightened world of supernatural hijinks, wisecracking cohorts and a banging metal soundtrack…but he is an incredibly relatable character.
That’s something that wasn’t as true in Deathgasm back in 2015. Unless you, yourself, were a metal musician who stumbles into some occult business. In 2026, Brodie might as well have any interest you have. The real world claws at that passion and tells you to grow up so that you can have the life you never wanted. As a teen the defiance feels cool. As an adult it suddenly feels inspirational. Whether intentional or not, Deathgasm II: Goremageddon taps into something that has become increasingly relevant to modern times. The will to resist becoming a part of the machine that spends its days crushing you isn’t an annoying teenage whim anymore. It’s a rallying cry with a fantastic soundtrack.
Of course, you’re probably more interested in the true selling points of Deathgasm II than the midlife crisis metaphor that stuck with me. I’m happy to report that fans of Deathgasm should love Deathgasm II. It seems to be made with them in mind. It feels like the reunion it is meant to be. Funny, wild and full of great music. Everything that made the original standout feels right at home in this belated sequel. It turns out that the wait wasn’t just worth it…it added a lot to its success.
Scare Value
Deathgasm II: Goremageddon manages to be both a successful sequel for fans of the original and a surprisingly relatable movie for most others. Not being able to get this movie off the ground for a decade might be the best thing that could have happened to it. The passage of time provides space for something extra to seep into its supernatural story about metal and gore. Reality. The world keeps getting more oppressive and less magical. It could do with its own Goremageddon.
4/5
