From the cleverly childish minds that made the heavily medicated 2018 thriller Lääkekoe (review here), their new film, Kuningasmies (2020) or “The KingMan“ is similarly action-packed, but this time, with a lot more shooting in a lot less time with a runtime of about 25 minutes. Written by, directed by, and starring Tapio Kauma, the Cala Company crew hit another fun action movie out of the park with this next-to-nothing budgeted, Finnish-language thriller.

Kuningasmies employs the classic horror-movie setting of a cabin in the woods as well as the classic zombie horror-movie monster, however, this movie is far from horror. Whatever Kuningasmies lacks in scare-factor and budget, the movie more than makes up for in comedy and style — Kauma’s distinctive blend of comic book-esque action, witty but cheesy comedy, with a dark premise of immoral scientific research is slowly but surely growing on me. Kuningasmies does not look like a typical action movie as it is a very low budget production quality, however, it is still shot well with framing that shows without telling and makes the audience laugh without being obvious. Kuningasmies is a prime example of a bad movie done well.

Two friends — Raimo (Tapio Kauma) and Osku (Niko Hill) — drive to Osku’s family a cabin for a weekend of boozing and fishing, however, their normal booze trip quickly turns into a slasher party when they discover the cabin overrun with long-toothed, hazmat-suited, ghouls who seem to be attacking them. After taking out a few with his bare hands, Raimo calls in his friend Pentti (Harri Kankaanpää) for reinforcements in taking out the creatures. Their male bonding begins to falter, however, once the violent escapades boil over into a toxic stew of masculinity and a science experiment gone terribly awry.

The cast, as in other Cala Company films, were caricatures of American action heroes, the lead character was even named Raimo, which seems suspiciously close to the USA’s own beloved woodsy killer, Rambo. Surrounded by comparatively less masculine men, Raimo’s blood-seeking stunts quickly make him king of the mountain, so to speak. The way this movie displays masculinity is a tad problematic, with Raimo littering, shooting first and asking questions never, and stealing his friend’s lady interest. The character meant to be the “unmanly” counterpart to Raimo is made to be passive, at his wife’s beck and call, and chooses sauna time over fighting. Hopefully, it is meant to be a satire about how toxic masculinity can wear one down to the bone — literally and figuratively — but even if not, Kuningasmies is still funny when not looking so deep into its silly antics.

Kuningasmies is a bit of a weird one — to me, it is off-kilter in an enjoyable way, however, others may find its silliness over the top and poo-poo its efforts. I, for one, am able to enjoy B movies, and this film in particular now has one of my new favorite lines  — “Don’t you know how to stay dead”; like their other projects, Kuningasmies is full of similar cheesy but golden one-liners. I am not sure if I should appreciate the Cala Company crew for their brevity in making this story a short, or if because I enjoyed it so much that I actually do want more, but in any case, Kuningasmies (The KingMan) is worth a watch for anyone short on time and looking to be tickled to the bone with dark humor powered by a chainsaw.

MOVIE RATING — 7 out of 10