cinema12

David Threlfall is suitably menacing as a psychotic loner who, stuck with the murdered body of his local curry house, has nothing to do but prepare for his regular sexual encounter with a tub of Ben And Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream and a local am-dram actress with a passing resemblance to Julie Andrews. His evening is ruined when a succession of visitors invite themselves in.

What follows is described by the tagline as containing "moments of inoffensive material". The language is strong, the violence is graphic, the sexual content is unseen but highly dubious. Many people will take exception to the depiction of Jesus Christ as a strapping black man with a huge Afro hairdo, who sits benignly through all the various shenanigans, smiling or laughing quietly to himself. Some people may even be offended by the suggestion that Julie Andrews (in her Sound Of Music novice nun role) is the object of a bizarre sexual fetish.

No matter. The film is not, it turns out, as offensive as it tries to be. In particular, the violence fails to shock because we are expecting it throughout. Of course, we know something that the other characters don't, namely, that Donald is a homicidal maniac.

The film is shot on DV and its limitations are clear; the lighting is patchy and the colour balance is inconsistent.

I really wanted to like this film. Its premise is excellent and it has obviously been assembled with more care than the average British independent film. There are a couple of nice touches and special effects that are slightly unexpected in a film of this genre. However, it is only funny in patches rather than humorous throughout and it is difficult to see where much of the budget has been spent. It is also claustrophobic, most of the action situated in only one room. If it had been a play, the critics would have raved; as a film, Chunky Monkey looks set to be overlooked