Duck! The Carbine High Massacre

Duck! The Carbine High Massacre

DVD cover
Directed by
  • William Hellfire
  • Joey Smack
Produced by
  • William Hellfire
  • Joey Smack
  • Todd Russell
Written by
  • William Hellfire
  • Joey Smack
  • Todd Russell
  • Mick Leo
Based on the Columbine High School massacre
Starring
Cinematography
  • William Hellfire
  • Joey Smack
Edited by Lou Cifer
Distributed by Shriek Show
Release dates
  • October 26, 1999 (1999-10-26) (USA)
Running time
 101 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $3,000
Box office $6,034

Duck! The Carbine High Massacre is a 1999 American black comedy crime film about a fictional school shooting. It was one of the first films inspired by the Columbine High School massacre.[1] Released less than a year after the Columbine event, it was written, produced, and directed by William Hellfire and Joey Smack, who also starred.[2][3] After the film was released, Hellfire and Smack were arrested for possession of weapons on school property. The film is said to have helped pay for Hellfire's legal fees.[4][5][6]

Plot

Derwin (William Hellfire) and Derick (Joey Smack) are trench-coat wearing neo-Nazis from deprived families. They find a website selling top secret missiles and order one with the credit card of Derick's mother. The next day at school they encounter the school janitor who warns them of their unusual wardrobe. They launch the missile the following day, but discover it is a dud. One day Derwin is assaulted by jocks and left in critical condition where the janitor finds him. He and Derick both fail their presentation on the topic of the internet due to Derwin's absence. They then form a plan to kill students at their school and then commit suicide with the principal's offered assistance. The pair buy two shotguns and several handguns from a black market dealer next door to a heavy metal band concert. He also offers them cocaine and sexual intercourse with a girl being held hostage in which they refuse to accept. The next day the school principal arrives first with a propane bomb and leaves it in the cafeteria. Derwin and Derick appear and open fire in the cafeteria, killing several people, before going to the basement, where they simultaneously kill each other. A police officer (Karl Pitt) and the school principal (Larry Wellman) enter the school to find a bomb that was placed there by the janitor (Rodney Sleurtols). While the policeman attempts to defuse it, the janitor is seen running away before the policeman accidentally sets the bomb off. The aftermath involves the parents along with a teacher and the principal sharing their thoughts on Derwin and Derick as well as the victims. A scientist then expresses his theory of alien influence as a motive.

Cast

Production

"Duck", along with other Factory 2000 films was edited in Premiere and shot on consumer-level VHS cameras including a broadcast Super VHS camcorder, a standard handheld RCA (specifically for filming multiple angles of the concert scene), and another unidentified camcorder.The film saw its first DVD release in 2004 along with minor color corrections. The film was produced with $3,000 and an inexperienced cast. Unlike previous films from Factory 2000, this film was based upon an actual event, and not mainly focused on fetishes.[2] People who worked on the film received death threats. Director William Hellfire said that due to the painkillers he was using to treat his cancer pain, "Like I don't remember most of Duck!, I don't remember... I shot all these films in a semi-subconscious, drugged-out, zombified state. I had no remorse nor regard for anything" [sic].[7]}.

Joe Bob Briggs, writing for United Press International, speculated on the filmmaker's motivations, writing "If I had to guess, it was put together by some friends who have spent their whole lives being called "freaks"—punk kids, goth kids, headbangers—and so wanted to point out a few things that might have motivated the suicidal mass murderers". [sic][8] Erin Brown, who had a starring role in the film, said that the film was a "crappy little movie" which "has permanently staked its place in underground cult cinema".[9] It took several years for the film to be distributed, because of the controversial subjects.[10] After a message in the film's beginning mentions how offensive it is, it then says "...it was bound to become a motion picture eventually, or even worse, a 'made for TV' movie. So we decided to do it first".[2]

Critical response

Joe Bob Briggs of United Press International wrote that although he had read multiple editorials bemoaning the filmmaker's poor taste in beginning production of their satirical comedy parody within four months of the Columbine massacre, he had difficulty in finding a copy. When finally tracking it down, and finding the acting horrible and the soundtrack shaky, he wrote it was "eerie and powerful -- IF you can get through it". He found the film's gore effects to be "outstanding", and wrote that the film shared "a final sequence that is gruesome, shocking, sad, frightening, bloody as hell, and -- at the moment of truth -- beautiful."[8]

From the Arthouse to the Grindhouse offered that this film was the pinnacle of the filmmaker's achievements at that time in that it was a "kick in the balls" to the "media hypocrisy" surrounding the Columbine events. They also noted the filmmaker's having been arrested shortly after the film's release for taking guns onto school property.[3]

Peep Shows: Cult Film and the Cine-Erotic offered that the film was "deliberately provocative and controversial,"[10] while Arkansas Democrat-Gazette called the film "blatantly exploitative", noting further that it was a "low budget direct-to-video 'spoof' thrown together mere weeks after the massacre".[11]

DVD Talk referred to the film as an "ultra-controversial Columbine satire",[12] while Film Threat both panned and praised the film, writing "by conventional standards, the entire project is in incredibly bad taste. And most people are going to be repulsed by the comedic treatment of such gut-wrenching subject matter. But, these dudes just don’t care! And they score big points on attitude alone."[13]

Jason Buchanon of AllRovi offered that the film wasn't "nearly as offensive as one might imagine" and that "the sub-Troma quality of the production and performances by the majority of the cast ultimately prevent Duck! from being taken as seriously as it could be with a bit more polish, this is also what makes it infinitely less objectionable than it could be had the filmmakers went for a grander scale."[14]

Release

The DVD was released by Shriek Show, a division of Media Blasters, in 2004. The disc includes special features — deleted scenes, Court TV footage, a concert, interviews, a production gallery, trailers, and others.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Laura Finley, ed. (2011). Encyclopedia of School Crime and Violence. ABC-CLIO. p. 660. ISBN 0313362386. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Headpress: The Journal of Sex, Religion, Death: Bad Birds. Volume 22 of Headpress #22 Series: Headpress. 2002. p. 45. ISBN 1900486156. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  3. 1 2 John Cline, Robert G. Weiner, ed. (2010). From the Arthouse to the Grindhouse: Highbrow and Lowbrow Transgression in Cinema's First Century. Scarecrow Press. p. 256. ISBN 0810876558. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  4. ↑ Andy Vuong, Andy Vuong (January 20, 2000). "N.J. pair arrested for gun possession after making Columbine-themed movie". Denver Post. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  5. ↑ Bortnick, Barry (March 27, 2000). "New Jersey video makers face charges in parody of Columbine massacre". The Gazette. Retrieved July 26, 2013. (subscription required (help)).
  6. ↑ Ettinger, Art (2003). Duck and Cover! How to Shoot a School Shooting Without Getting Shot: A Conversation with the Creators of Duck! The Carbine High Massacre. Ultra Violent, Vol. 5. pp. 31–33.
  7. ↑ Headpress: The Journal of Sex, Religion, Death: Bad Birds. Headpress. 2002. p. 91. ISBN 9781900486156. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
  8. 1 2 Briggs, Billy Bob (July 27, 2003). "Film review: 'The Carbine High Massacre'". United Press International. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  9. ↑ William Hellfire's October 31, 2013 Interview on The Strange Dave Show on YouTube
  10. 1 2 Xavier Mendik (ed.). Peep Shows: Cult Film and the Cine-Erotic. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231502893. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  11. ↑ Martin, Philip (June 7, 2013). "Hello Herman". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  12. ↑ Gross, G. Noel (January 18, 2001). "Misty Mundae: Girl Gone Wild". DVD Talk. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  13. ↑ Parcellin, Chris (November 15, 2000). "Review: Duck! The Carbine High Massacre". Film Threat. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  14. ↑ Buchanan, Jason. "review: Duck! The Carbine High Massacre (1999)". AllRovi. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Duck!: The Carbine High Massacre DVD". TCM. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
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