The Haunted World Of El Superbeasto (DVD)

Rob Zombie ventures into animation and adds yet another entry into his ever growing hall of stinkers with this, a strictly adult animation that promises laughs and shocks aplenty, but mostly fails on both counts. The film follows the once legendary wrestler El Superbeasto (Papa), now a washed up nobody, his sexy sidekick Suzi-X (Moon Zombie) and a colourful ensemble of friends and foes as they set off to do battle with the dastardly Dr. Satan (Giamatti).

Visually, the film looks okay. The animation doesn’t scale new heights, but Zombie seems content with the limitations. It’s a colourful enough affair, complete with some strong character designs and some great looking set pieces, but ultimately it’s an animation that seems better suited to the small screen and is very much at home on DVD. 

Unfortunately the humour, which should have been the real lynchpin here, rarely pushes for anything above basic profanity. Of course the occasional bit of bad language can raise an unashamed smile, but here it’s swearing for the sake of it and the gags get old all too quickly. Admittedly there’s a few funny parodies thrown in that’ll probably get the biggest laughs. An early scene sees numerous Hollywood greats lampooned as El Superbeasto screen tests for a leading lady. Elsewhere, there are countless nods to exploitation cinema, which anybody with a passing knowledge of the genre should enjoy.

The voice performances are on the whole rather strong, with Tom Papa particularly good as the titular character. Unsurprisingly, Sheri Moon Zombie has once again elbowed in on her husband’s film career and bagged herself another leading role, but to be fair she puts in a decent enough performance. It’s a cast packed with Zombie regulars, so any fan of the director will no doubt enjoy the familiarity of things.

There’s worse ways of killing 77 minutes than sitting through this, but it’s a shame Zombie’s vision doesn’t quite come together with this venture into animation. El Superbeasto would have worked better as an animated series, where it would have had time to develop and season its style. Although going by its graphic nature and adult material, it’s doubtful any television executive would touch it.

Overall Verdict: This is cheap and nasty juvenile comedy, packaged under a so-so piece of animation that should appeal to those who aren’t too fussy where they get their laughs.

Special Features:
Deleted/Alternate Scenes
Full Length Animatic
Stills Gallery
Trailer

Reviewer: David Steele