Uncle Peckerhead (Horror Movie Review)

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

PLOT: A punk band's friendly, middle-aged driver/roadie turns into a man-eating monster every night at midnight.

REVIEW: Writer/director Matthew John Lawrence's horror comedy UNCLE PECKERHEAD (WATCH IT HERE / GET THE BLU RAY HERE) claims to be based on a true story, and while a lot of it feels about as realistic as THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (another horror comedy that mixed a "true story" claim with man-eating ghouls), some of this does ring true. The film follows a punk trio called Duh as they embark on their first tour, and the way Lawrence handles the "small time band on the road" aspect makes it seem like he and/or people he knows are very familiar with that life. The interactions members of Duh have with other bands they encounter and people who run venues feel like they were inspired by real experiences. If they weren't, well, Lawrence certainly presented them in a believable way.

Duh consists of Judy (Chet Siegel), the most driven-to-succeed of the bunch, ready to fully dedicate herself to getting the band a deal with a record label; downbeat and deadpan drummer Mel (Ruby McCollister); and Max (Jeff Riddle), who is really awkward and dim when he's not on stage, and isn't good at addressing the audience when he is on stage, but lets loose when it's time to belt out vocals. Riddle also had a hand in creating a lot of the songs featured in the film, so it makes sense that his character is most alive when the music is playing, even if it is surprising to see that from Max. I found the performances delivered by all three of these actors to be very entertaining, and enjoyed the time I spent watching the characters.

The fourth lead performance comes from David H. Littleton as the title character, a middle-aged man who – as far as we know – really is named Peckerhead. That's what his daddy always called him, but friends can call him Peck. The title UNCLE PECKERHEAD is an attention grabber, but I did not have high hopes for the movie when I first saw what it was called. Thankfully, the person it's named after is a very likeable guy, someone who seems to have a good heart. Littleton makes Peckerhead fun and endearing, which is good, given that he's also someone who causes a lot of trouble. He's a homeless man who lives in his van, and Duh just happens to be in need of a van to tour in after their own vehicle is repossessed. Peckerhead agrees to be their driver and roadie, but he has some dark secrets that are revealed while they're on tour.

Greg Maness and Ryan Conrath make memorable appearances as members of other bands Duh crosses paths with on the road. Duh's first impressions of these guys are polar opposites; Maness is lusted after, while Conrath's amusingly pretentious singer/songwriter is instantly despised. Conrath's character gets even more unlikeable when you see his band perform one of their "deep and meaningful" songs.

Throughout UNCLE PECKERHEAD's 97 minutes, I kept having the thought that this movie would have been perfectly fine if Lawrence had just made it a quirky comedy without any horror elements. The humorous story of Duh's seven stop tour could have sustained a movie on its own. But if a filmmaker wants to mix some creature attacks and gore into their quirky comedy, I'm not going to complain. You see, every night at midnight Peckerhead transforms into some kind of ghoulish creature that feeds on human flesh. There's no explanation for why he becomes a monster, the "why" of it is irrelevant, all we know is that he has this affliction and now the members of Duh have to deal with it, as he keeps killing people in front of them.

Although it's not a Troma release, the movie does have a bit of a Troma-esque sensibility. It's tamer than the average Troma movie, but it has a good sense of humor, goofy characters, blood spray, some cool gore effects, vomit, and explosive diarrhea. It's made clear that Lawrence was aiming to make something along the lines of that company's output when he includes a moment where the Toxic Avenger is glimpsed on a TV – and it's not a nod to the original THE TOXIC AVENGER, which is usually the case. This movie features a clip from THE TOXIC AVENGER 2. Troma fans are the viewers I would most strongly recommend this movie to, along with anyone who's familiar with the world of struggling musicians.

If you like horror comedies but you're put off by the title of this one, I would encourage you to give it a chance. It's a fun movie, better than I thought a movie with this title would be. UNCLE PECKERHEAD is worth a look.

UNCLE PECKERHEAD is set to reach select theatres on August 7th, with a VOD/Digital release to follow on August 11th. It will then get a Blu-ray release on August 25th.