Back in the early 1990’s when we were a little kids we have a very strong memory of randomly turning on HBO or Cinemax and seeing a cartoon woman riding a giant hairless bird and welding a sword. We had no clue what this was and instantly had to keep watching.
Then this warrior babe took her top off and we never locked a bedroom door so quickly in our lives. We never knew that cartoons were allowed to have nudity, sex and violence. Then “Heavy Metal” from Sammy Hagar started blasting and we instantly thought whoever made this movie must be the coolest person on Earth.
This film was of course 1981’s Heavy Metal. An absolute feast for the eyes of an eight to ten year old who was just discovering horror and metal in equal overdoses. So when a film comes along that invokes a similar feeling, you know we got something special.
Enter Writer/ Director Zach Passero, the mastermind behind some amazing horror films like 2002’s “May” and 2011’s “The Woman”. For eight years Zach has been self animating a passion project in the same vein as “Beavis and Butthead” and “South Park”. An animated tale of teenaged brothers and friends going on a wild 24 hour adventure into the desert called “The Wild Kidz”
Breakdown
In the Wild Kidz, you have three preteen friends Dug (Voiced by Tess Passero), Fatt (Voiced by Brian Ceely) and Mel (Voiced by Glenn Bolton) hanging out at the local mini mart playing a DigDug arcade machine waiting for Dug’s brother, Wyatt (Voiced by Ellar Coltrane) to pick them up for an impromptu camping trip in the desert.
To the kidz surprise, when Wyatt arrives he also invited a girl, Mary (Voiced by Sydney Wharton), who he wants to hook up with during the trip.
As payment for this camping trip, Wyatt forces the boys to somehow acquire beer, buy snacks and condoms. They stop at a gas station on the way and Dug talks to the attendant, Diana (voiced by Angela Bettis), to distract her while the other two boys steal the beer. As Diana rings up Dug, she asks where they’re all heading. Dug tells her on a camping trip. She then warns Dug of the legend of The Night Child.
Once every 25 years The Night Child returns to the desert and abducts unsuspecting campers. In most cases, the only remains found at the camp sites are blood and severed body parts. She warns him to make sure they steer clear if they see something in the darkness of the desert.
Once they arrive at their camp site the group proceed to start their night of drinking, jamming to tunes and eating smores. As the night moves on, Wyatt and Mel “go to bed” in the only tent, and the boys are left outside to sleep in sleeping bags. Soon after, they realize the legend may be more than just a story and suddenly their fun night of drinking and hanging out has turned into an unbelievable nightmare.
Final Thoughts
First off, I want to address the crude art style of The Weird Kidz. It’s obviously intentional, because no one animates a movie for eight years and makes a mistake like that. For the tone of the film, I think the art style fits really well. It’s that harsh hand drawn look that most adult animated films have lost over the years. It compliments the film really well.
Now for the “meat and potatoes” of the film; the story. I really enjoyed the story. I have vivid memories of being that punk kid hanging out with my older sister and her friends getting drunk and acting stupid. Having a crush on her friends that were just a bit too nice to me, but still treated me like a little kid. Pulling pranks and pissing my sister off. It was just pure dumb fun at that age.
The Weird Kidz evokes that same feeling. Obviously I never had to deal with a giant ant creature dismembering and murdering everything in sight when I was 12, but we still dealt with problems the same way. Stupidly.
As always I won’t get into any spoilers here. Lets just say the legend and mystery of The Night Child goes further than I thought it was. The climax of the film ties it all up nicely and the film’s message of growing up and figuring it out as you go is ok. Sometimes even the worst things aren’t that bad.
I give The Weird Kidz 3.5 Severed Hands Out of 5
Watch The Trailer