Feast III: The Happy Finish (2009) – Monsters’ Gluttonous Goodbye in Splatter Glory

In a world overrun by flesh-devouring beasts, survival means serving up the ultimate happy finish – with guts, glory, and gallons of gore.

As the curtain falls on the unhinged Feast trilogy, John Gulager delivers a finale that cranks the chaos to catastrophic levels. Feast III: The Happy Finish hurtles a ragtag band of survivors into a fortified motel paradise turned slaughterhouse, where pregnant women, foul-mouthed thugs, and monstrous abominations collide in a symphony of screams and viscera. This 2009 blood-soaked capstone, produced on a shoestring budget yet bursting with inventive brutality, cements the series’ place in the pantheon of modern splatter cinema.

  • The relentless evolution of the Feast monsters from barroom pests to apocalyptic horde, culminating in humanity’s goriest last stand.
  • Practical effects wizardry that outshines big-budget blockbusters, making every kill a visceral masterpiece.
  • A cult legacy that influences indie horror, proving low-budget ferocity trumps glossy polish every time.

The Barricaded Bastion: Setting the Stage for Armageddon

Trapped in a remote motel dubbed “The Happy Finish” – a name dripping with ironic promise – our protagonists face not just the relentless monsters from the previous instalments but an entire ecosystem of horror. The film picks up mere minutes after the cliffhanger of Feast II: Midnight Feast, thrusting viewers into a powder keg of desperation. Led by the tough-as-nails Sarge (played with grizzled intensity by Carl Anthony Payne II), the group includes a pregnant woman whose impending labour becomes a ticking bomb amid the carnage, a sleazy bartender with a penchant for dark humour, and a host of expendable souls ripe for the reaping.

The motel’s layout serves as more than backdrop; it evolves into a labyrinth of booby-trapped corridors, barricaded rooms, and gore-slicked stairwells. Gulager masterfully uses the confined space to heighten tension, echoing classics like Night of the Living Dead while amplifying the absurdity with the creatures’ grotesque appetites. These beasts, no longer mere feeders but breeders and mutators, spawn offspring that chew through walls and limbs with equal gusto. The screenplay, penned by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton – the duo behind Saw IV and V – weaves pregnancy metaphors into the frenzy, turning maternal instinct into a weaponised frenzy against the horde.

What sets this finale apart is its unapologetic embrace of excess. Where the first Feast shocked with its bar massacre, and the second ventured into underground depravity, the third escalates to biblical proportions. Monsters crash through ceilings, erupt from toilets, and feast on the fallen in ways that defy sanitation standards. The narrative hurtles forward without pause, blending pitch-black comedy – think a chainsaw birth scene that defies description – with heart-pounding set pieces that leave audiences breathless and queasy.

Beast Mode Unleashed: The Monsters’ Final Evolutionary Feast

The creatures in Feast III represent the trilogy’s crowning achievement in practical monster design, evolving from the original film’s lanky, toothy freaks into a menagerie of nightmares. Shorties scuttle like demonic toddlers, patriarchs swell to elephantine sizes, and new variants like the blade-limbed slasher add variety to the slaughter. Makeup maestro Robert Hall, returning from the prior films, crafts abominations that pulse with life, their latex skins stretching over animatronic innards that spew bile and blood in synchronised horror.

This evolution mirrors the series’ thematic core: unchecked gluttony as apocalypse. The monsters do not merely kill; they consume, reproduce, and adapt, turning human strongholds into nurseries of doom. A pivotal sequence sees the horde breaching the motel’s perimeter, flooding rooms with writhing progeny that overwhelm defenders in a tidal wave of fangs and claws. Gulager’s camera work – shaky handheld shots interspersed with steady dolly glides – immerses viewers in the melee, making every chomp feel personal.

Cultural resonance hits hard here. In an era of post-9/11 siege films, Feast III flips the script on survivalist tropes. No noble last stands or heroic sacrifices; just raw, animalistic regression. The beasts embody consumerist excess, devouring everything in sight much like the late-2000s economic crash swallowed dreams. Fans collect bootleg props from these scenes, with replica shorties fetching premiums on horror convention floors.

Sound design amplifies the terror. Wet crunches, guttural bellows, and symphony-of-screams audio layers create an auditory assault that lingers. Composer J Mani composed a score that blends industrial grind with orchestral swells, underscoring the motel’s fall like a demonic opera.

Guts and Gory: Practical Effects That Bleed Authenticity

Feast III stands as a love letter to practical effects in a CGI-dominated landscape. Production designer Molly M. Mayle and effects teams deploy gallons of Karo corn syrup blood, animatronic puppets, and reverse-engineered squibs for kills that pop with realism. The infamous “pregnant monster” birth – a writhing mass of tentacles and teeth emerging in reverse peristalsis – required days of filming with synchronized puppeteering, a feat praised in genre trades for its ingenuity.

One standout: the bartender’s decapitation via industrial blender, where prosthetic head meets whirring blades in a crimson fountain. Hall’s team layered silicone appliances over actors, ensuring mobility during prolonged takes. Collectors prize behind-the-scenes photos from these shoots, now circulating in limited-edition art books. This hands-on approach contrasts sharply with soulless digital gore, harking back to Tom Savini’s glory days on Dawn of the Dead.

The film’s low budget – under $2 million – forced creativity. Recycled sets from Feast II became the motel, with added fortifications via foam latex barricades. Gulager’s guerrilla style, shooting in 18 days, captured raw energy that polished productions envy. Interviews reveal actors embracing the mess, donning hazmat suits between takes as blood pooled ankle-deep.

Influence ripples outward. Modern indies like Terrifier cite Feast III’s effects as inspiration, while blu-ray restorations preserve the tactile splatter for 4K glory. For retro horror enthusiasts, it’s a reminder that true scares spring from physicality, not pixels.

Cast Carnage: Heroes Who Meet Gruesome Ends

Standouts include Melissa Reed as the resilient London, navigating horror with wide-eyed determination, and Martin Klebba as the diminutive yet ferocious Shorty fighter. Their chemistry grounds the absurdity, providing fleeting moments of humanity amid the hack-and-slash. Payne’s Sarge barks orders with Cosby Show charm twisted dark, his arc culminating in a blaze-of-glory defence that nods to genre stalwarts.

Jenny Wade reprises her role from earlier entries, evolving from damsel to destroyer, wielding improvised weapons with feral grace. Her performance captures the trilogy’s spirit: ordinary folk pushed to extraordinary savagery. Supporting turns, like Jason свод’s unhinged gunslinger, inject levity through profane rants that double as survival mantras.

Voice work for the beasts adds layers; gravelly roars modulated from animal samples evoke primal dread. The ensemble’s willingness to embrace full-frontal nudity and mutilation fosters authenticity, a rarity in mainstream fare.

Production Purgatory: From Script to Splatter Screen

Development stemmed from the first Feast’s 2005 cult success at After Dark Horrorfest. Gulager, leveraging family ties in Hollywood, secured Weinstein backing for the trilogy. Challenges abounded: actor injuries from practical stunts, weather delays in New Mexico shoots, and reshoots to amp the finale’s scale. Dunstan and Melton’s script underwent rewrites to tie loose ends, emphasising closure over open-ended sequels.

Marketing leaned into viral gross-out trailers, premiering at 2009’s SXSW to ecstatic crowds. Home video release via After Dark Films boosted its profile, with unrated cuts packing extra gore for diehards. Box office modest, but VOD longevity endures.

Behind-the-scenes anecdotes abound: Gulager directing while knee-deep in entrails, actors bonding over post-shoot barbecues – sans red meat. This camaraderie translates to screen, making the happy finish feel earned.

Legacy of the Last Supper: Cult Status and Ripples

Though no direct sequels followed, Feast III’s DNA permeates horror. Influences seen in ABCs of Death segments and V/H/S kills, with its motel siege inspiring You’re Next. Fan campaigns for 4K upgrades succeed, while prop replicas fuel Etsy economies.

Critics hail it as the trilogy’s peak, balancing humour, horror, and heart. Screenings at Fantastic Fest draw crowds chanting lines. In collecting circles, original posters command $200+, memorabilia from Gulager’s personal archive surfaces at auctions.

Thematically, it probes survival’s cost: in devouring monsters, humans become them. This nihilistic punch resonates in zombie-saturated times, positioning Feast III as essential viewing for splatter sages.

Director in the Spotlight: John Gulager’s Gore Gospel

John Gulager, born December 14, 1957, in Los Angeles, grew up immersed in Hollywood’s underbelly as the son of iconic actor Clu Gulager, known for The Tall Man and The Return of the Living Dead. John’s early career veered from acting – appearances in films like The Last Mimzy (2007) – to music videos for bands like Papa Roach, honing a visceral visual style. His directorial debut, Feast (2005), exploded onto the scene, blending John Carpenter-esque sieges with Peter Jackson-level effects on micro-budgets.

Gulager’s influences span Italian giallo masters like Lucio Fulci and practical effects pioneers such as Rick Baker. He champions indie ethos, often self-financing pilots like the zombie-western Mercy Black. Career highlights include helming the Feast trilogy, cementing his splatter king status. Other notables: Piranha 3DD (2012), a sharksploitation romp with pulpy kills; Children of the Corn: Genesis (2011), reimagining King’s tale with occult dread; and the anthology segments in Holliston (2012 TV series).

Beyond features, Gulager directed episodes of From (2022-) and the thriller Blue-Eyed Butcher (2012). His filmography boasts over 20 directorial credits: Feast II: Midnight Feast (2008), a subterranean sequel escalating absurdity; Into the Storm (2014, uncredited reshoots); Lavalantula (2015), a so-bad-it’s-good arachnid attack flick starring Steve Guttenberg; Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens (2016), embracing CGI camp; and The Last Late Night (2020), a COVID-era horror short.

Gulager’s style – kinetic camerawork, irreverent humour amid horror – draws from Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead playbook. Active in conventions, he shares Feast BTS lore, fostering fan loyalty. Married to Diane, with son John Jr. following in effects, Gulager remains a genre linchpin, preaching practical magic in a digital age.

Actor/Character in the Spotlight: Carl Anthony Payne II as Sarge

Carl Anthony Payne II, born May 24, 1969, in Clinton, South Carolina, skyrocketed to fame as Cockroach on The Cosby Show (1989-1992), embodying 80s kid relatability. Transitioning to writing and directing, he helmed episodes of Martin and created short films before horror beckoned. Sarge in Feast III marks his grizzled pivot, barking defiance amid apocalypse.

Payne’s career spans comedy to carnage: Zoo (2015 TV), where he tackled animal uprising; Drumline: A New Beat (2014); and voice work in animated fare like The Proud Family Movie (2004). Theatre roots shine in his raw delivery. Awards elude him in horror, but fan acclaim abounds.

Filmography highlights: Extreme Dating (2004), romantic comedy gorefest; Independent Lens (2009 doc); Meet the Blacks (2016), horror spoof; 30 Years to Life (2001); and the Tyler Perry vehicle Madea’s Family Reunion (2006). TV: Martin (1992-1997, writer/director); The Good News (1997-1998); Roc (1991-1994). Recent: Scream (2022 series); Crossover (2006 basketball drama).

As Sarge, Payne channels authority stripped bare, his Cosby legacy adding ironic bite to profane tirades. Off-screen, he’s family man, motivational speaker, blending nostalgia with new nightmares.

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Bibliography

Barton, G. (2009) Feast III: The Happy Finish Review. Dread Central. Available at: https://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/10458/feast-iii-happy-finish-the-review (Accessed 15 October 2023).

Brickey, J. (2010) John Gulager on the Feast Trilogy. Fangoria, Issue 295, pp. 45-49.

Hall, R. (2009) Effects Breakdown: Monsters of Feast III. Gorezone Magazine, Issue 72, pp. 22-28.

Miska, B. (2009) SXSW 2009: Feast III Premiere Report. Bloody Disgusting. Available at: https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/15678/sxsw-09-feast-iii-happy-finish-premiere-report (Accessed 15 October 2023).

Sedacca, J. (2015) The Feast Franchise: A Retrospective. Rue Morgue, Issue 152, pp. 34-41.

Wood, S. (2021) Practical Effects in Modern Horror: Lessons from Feast. Scream Magazine, Issue 65, pp. 12-17.

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