Bad Chicken (2013)
Directed by: Carter Mays
Written by: Carter Mays
Starring: David Jordan, David Schweizer, Isabelle Gardo, Joseph Lallement, Michael Palaniuk
BAD CHICKEN (2013)
Written and directed by Carter Mays
Fame-hungry Norah is selected to star in a reality television series, along with her boyfriend Isaak, produced by Charlie Chicken. Along with his director of photography Caeser Chicken and dim soundman Carl Chicken, Charlie takes the duo out to the Joshua Tree desert where he orchestrates his plan to break the couple up, keen to get his claws into ditzy Norah. Suspicious of the producer, Isaak hires a private investigator to find out who Charlie really is and what he’s capable of…
Written and directed by Carter Mays, BAD CHICKEN is a comical, surreal tale highlighting the lengths people will go to for fame or celebrity culture. With our own newspapers filled to the brim daily with which Z-list has done what last night and television channels popping out reality television programmes by the minute, we can definitely see that the obsession with celebrity culture is making some people a little bit delusional.
In this Spaghetti-Western type film, the director/producer and the crew are played by chicken puppets. Whilst we may think it’s a bit weird, the human characters in the movie are not alarmed, consolidating the fact that the species are part of their reality. Being puppets, the chickens, specifically Carl and Caesar, provide some wicked humour. Where else will you find a chicken puppet sniffing through a knicker drawer, or two chicken puppets having a “lightsaber” duel with vibrators? The puppetry is awesome and each Chicken has his own unique look, with sociopath Charlie (voiced by David Schweizer) having quite a long, arched beak, Caesar (David Jordan) has a longer head and shorter beak and is the most sensible of the group, and Carl (Joseph Lallement), who has a shorter, rounder head and is a bit dim, not to mention has a fascination with stealing ladies panties. The chickens are quite fun and I would have liked to have seen more comedy scenes from them like the intial bedroom scene short after they’re introduced.
The bulk of the story which unfolds is quite a slow process and though Charlie Chicken has a cunning plan up his sleeve, it’s not quite enough to keep the viewer interested at all times. The story jumps at different parts as Charlie recounts his meeting and subsequent working relationship with Norah (Isabelle Gardo) and Isaak (Michael Palaniuk). This is definitely the Charlie Chicken show, with most scenes featuring the character and his sociopathic ways, from scheming to split the couple to killing Kardashian the cat.
One of the most stunning things about BAD CHICKEN, apart from the puppetry, is the cinematography. The visuals of the desert and the sunset are some of the most stunning I’ve ever seen and bring a raw beauty to this movie. Put it this way, the Joshua Tree National Park, located in the South-East of California, is now on my “to visit” list because of this film.
If you want to see a movie featuring subjects such as drugs, death, and inter-species sexual intercourse, as well as one’s relationship with reality TV, led by a group of chicken puppets, then BAD CHICKEN might just be the dark comedy for you.
Rating: 
wow. this film looks amazing. buying a dvd right away!