I watched Vicious Fun for the first time last year with one of my closest friends. I had picked it up from a horror convention in Oshawa, after the man at the booth assured me it was one of the funniest films he’d seen in years. After 1H 43 minutes of absurd, strange, and utterly delightful cinema, I agree wholeheartedly.

Once I watched the movie for myself, I was inclined to agree.

Vicious Fun (2020) is a Canadian indie horror-comedy that is brilliantly charming. It’s deliciously cheesy, self aware, and if you’ll excuse me the indulgence, viciously fun. It’s filled with vibrant, strange characters that perfectly encapsulate the 80s era of horror films. Everything the film does is tongue in cheek, from beginning to end. 

Light spoiler warning for anyone who progresses beyond this point. I certainly won’t spoil anything major, but I think this film is best entered blind. It is perhaps my favourite indie film, and I wouldn’t want to spoil even a scrap of someone else’s enjoyment.

Got that? Ok buckle in, this first sentence is a bit of a doozy. 

The basic premise is that a horror-critic stumbles into a serial killer self-help group. Excellent, I know. Joel, resident 80s horror nerd/loser, who writes for the horror magazine Vicious Fanatic, hilariously hijinks his way into accidentally walking into a room filled with people that “are collectively responsible for 12% of all the unsolved murders in North America”. From there, things inevitably fall into chaos.

I cannot compliment the acting enough. All the characters are delightful and eccentric. The serial killers are a rogue’s gallery of tropes and archetypes, from the domineering slasher to the calculating psychopath. Even the cops are fun goofballs, both incompetent and shitty as much as they are funny and believable. 

The patriotic part of me would like to attribute this to the largely Canadian cast and crew. As previously said, this is a Canadian film, and by God, is it glorious. It even happens to have a surprise appearance by David Koechner, ie. Todd Packer and the guy from Anchorman. No matter the role or the scene, I loved all of the self-aware acting and portrayals of the characters. 

My standouts among the cast are Joel and Bill Nice, the lead and antagonist, respectively. 

I love how they play off the loser protagonist trope, making Joel decisively a loser in many ways, but still giving him a bumbling charm. He never does anything terrible or voyeuristic like his progenitors, who would all be inevitably forgiven. The way he is modernized, and the maturity with which he is shown to be a bit odd and silly, but not shown to be a predatory freak, is a lovely touch that sets it leagues above many of the 80s favourite heroes (I’m thinking Indiana Jones’ pedophilia and Revenge of the Nerds’ Darth Vader scene). Somehow in this silly little indie film, there is a real sense of growth in Joel’s character, and despite this growth coming through blood and death, I found it very wholesome.

Bill Nice is probably one of my top 10 best villains. He is so…goofy. In the film’s own words, “ A sociopathic pick-up artist”. A blend of  American Psycho and the average business major at The Social, with a touch of creepy Gene Wilder eccentricity. I love how he goes from stereotypical, all-American douchebag to an intelligent chameleon balancing half a dozen identities. Ari Millen, who plays him, plays him with so much charm and facial expressiveness that I found myself waiting for his next reappearance on screen. 

I wish there was a bit more time to watch him shine, but within the constraints of an indie film I can understand the limitations. 

That would be my only complaint with the film. The dialogue, acting, cinematography, is all so well done that I found myself wishing that there had been more scenery chewing. Contrary to some other reviews I saw online, I thought the film was very lean, which I would wager would be because of the budget. 

Every character, every background character with a voice, were so fun I missed them the moment they left. I wish we had more time to enjoy the various serial killers, more time to interact with Carrie, the leather jacket wearing badass with “a lesbian haircut”. 

All things considered, my major complaint being “I wish there was more of it” is a rather soft blow. The film practically begs for a sequel. Without abandoning my previous promise of no-spoilers it is hard to get into it, but man, between the world-building, the ending, and the delicious quality of the film, there is so much that could be done additionally, especially with a bigger budget. A sequel, a prequel, whatever the hell happened in Utah—if any of these came to the screen, I’d lap it up.  

For any of you I’ve enticed, you can find Vicious Fun on Shudder (not sponsored, but certainly appreciated), and I’ve also been told you can pirate it—although I feel like pirating a Canadian indie horror film is somewhat rude. Vicious Fun is an absurd romp that loves to throw one liners and witty dialogue at you, alongside some decent practical effects and good directing, and I would highly recommend this film to anyone who is cool and can appreciate some silliness in their cinema. 

5/5 Stars, would Vicious Fun again.