James Hawley's highly enjoyable low-budget independent creature feature Sewer Chewer.

A simplistic plot that pays homage to Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968), consisting of a downed satellite landing in a rural area that begins radiating the local wildlife, creating a grotesque mutant monster that seems to have an insatiable appetite for humans. An unknown and unnamed government agency dispatches a special agent to dispose of the satellite, the monster and anyone who knows about it.

Hawley does an immense job of culling the best from a cast of complete unknowns, from what I would imagine none of them have stood in front of a camera before apart from a humorously over-acted cameo by Troma President and co-founder Lloyd Kaufman. The design of 'Chewer' is great, as are the other grisly makeup effects created by Hawley.

The images below are based on a downloaded screener copy.


The bizarre and often disorientating soundtrack coupled with frantic cinematography does an adequate job of amplifying tension. The build up sequences to a character's eventual demise felt overly drawn out, however they do eventually payoff with some hysterically brutal over-the-top gore. Oh yes, there's face ripping, jugular tearing and tentacle raping-a-plenty in Sewer Chewer. A squelchy picture that marks the new era of grindhouse cinema and I for one welcome it wholeheartedly.