Jimmy and Stiggs Review: A Skull-Numbingly Silly Splatterpunk Snooze
Joe Begos's latest horror offering, Jimmy and Stiggs, is a DayGlo-hued, heavy metal-spackled film that attempts to provoke nausea through dismemberment and shaky-cam footage. However, with its bright orange "blood" and fake-looking alien creatures, the effect is neither gross-out nor engrossing—it's simply boring and headache-inducing. Viewers are advised to bring painkillers and perhaps a good book for the dull interstitial bits.
A Low-Budget Brainchild with Diminishing Returns
Made over several years in a single scuzzy apartment, Jimmy and Stiggs is the brainchild of writer-director-producer-star Joe Begos, who previously made the marginally better Christmas Bloody Christmas. Begos plays title character Jimmy, a horror filmmaker whose career is in a slump, leading him to spend his time drunk and high in a grimy hovel lit by black-lights. The film opens with fictional trailers of Jimmy's past works, which ironically serve as the high point before a steep decline.
Alien Invasion and Metaphorical Revenge Fall Flat
When aliens invade, Jimmy must fight back, though he suspects mind-control implants. Alcohol proves poisonous to the aliens, a resource Jimmy has in abundance. His friend Stiggs, played by Matt Mercer, is reluctant to help due to sobriety concerns, adding a layer that hints at metaphorical revenge against rehab or AA. However, this potential subplot is executed poorly, resulting in a dumb takedown rather than meaningful commentary.
The film's sensory assault aims high but delivers only visual noise and numbing gore, stretching a weary joke far beyond endurance. Jimmy and Stiggs is available on digital platforms from 16 February, but it's a splatterpunk snooze that fails to captivate or horrify.
