Directed by Jose Zambrano Cassella
Cast: Matthew Nelson, Tara Cardinal, Jessica Karshner, Kevin James O’Neill, Melissa Gruver
Polychrome Pictures / NTSC R1 / Unrated / 1.85:1 Widescreen / ENGLISH Dolby Digital Stereo / 95 minutes
Special Features: Blooper Reel / Trailers / Behind the Scenes slideshow / Director commentary
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Sometimes it’s hard not to think long and hard about life’s monotony, and to try to find a point in it all. One of the more depressing things that occasionally pops up in my mind, is the fact that I don’t have much to show for the work that I’ve done throughout the teenage years of my life and beyond. And to think I’m still transitioning into my adulthood, only to work some more. But for what? To pay an endless amount of bills, only to retire by the time I’m too old to really enjoy myself?
It’s this kind of negative outlook that propels Delivery into effective territory — what I’d call a working man’s horror film. I’m not talking neat and tidy, slicked hair, white-collar jobs. For anybody who has ever worked a greasy, physically draining low-end job for just barely enough to get by, you might just be rooting for this movie’s slasher. Or maybe, to some, the word “hero” is more appropriate. Those who allow themselves to channel their sadistic side, without actually carrying out the acts (!!!), stay with me.
Allow me to introduce Monty, the embodiment of minimum wage aggression. Monty’s a delivery man for “Pie in the Sky Pizza”, but his misfortune certainly doesn’t stop there. He works his ass off only to be verbally (and sometimes physically) abused by not only his coworkers, but the customers he’s delivering to. His story is one that might hit much too close to home for some, not considering the violent flashbacks of his mother being viciously murdered that I may have neglected to mention. Turns out he witnessed his dad not only performing the aforementioned act, but also blowing his own brains out in front of a crowd of bystanders. It’s not difficult to see where this is going.
I asked for no anchovies!
Tormented by not only his own personal demons but also the demons that his family left behind, our protagonist expectedly snaps after a potential love interest leaves him in the dust. I shouldn’t fail to mention that said lovable protagonist is not exactly the average woman’s idea of “attractive”; He’s hairy, overweight and generally unpleasant to look at. He lives out his sexual fantasies strictly in his mind, and when we’re not seeing violent flashbacks we’re seeing erotic daydreams. One can’t help but see a little bit of humanity and normalcy somewhere inside him, and it’s almost difficult to watch this slow process of mental decay.
Monty finds himself stepping in shit so often that you can’t help but cheer when the final act is carried out, because frankly, this is the kind of thing that even the most respectable individual has thought about doing, whether they’ll admit it or not. I was clenching my teeth. I was feeling his pain. Not that the scenarios that he was put in were always entirely probable, but the unjust repercussions of his actions really just had me waiting to see the inevitable outcome.
Shot on low-grade digital video, visually it’s mostly “meh” and the editing is sometimes jarring and nearly tore me out of the experience. This isn’t to say that there aren’t a few beautiful shots, most notable being the shots of Monty stalking his victims, staring into their windows with his dead eyes. Those moments gave me shivers, and along with the sickeningly relatable predicaments he’s put into, is where Delivery finds its footing. If you can see past the occasional poor editing, a soundtrack that was ripped from the playlist of a Hot Topic cashier, a scene of very, very bad CGI and dialogue consisting of frequent fat jokes and an unprecedented amount of uses of the word “retard”, then this is one you’ll definitely have fun with. It’s the schlocky horror fan’s answer to 1993′s Falling Down.
