As a subgenre, horror/comedy is one of the more difficult to nail correctly and translate well to an audience. If you lean too heavily to one side, the other may get lost and muddled, making for a confusing viewing experience The Weedhacker Massacre , written by Ray Spivey and directed by Jody Stelzig, makes a valiant (and sometimes successful) go at a story that dabbles in the realm of parody and horror, but gets bogged down by a bloated plot.

The story takes place in Red Eye, Texas, an area that boasts being the marijuana capital of the state. The Gunter family has run the illegal drug trade for decades, but their “business” has suffered since 2014, after several young people were brutally massacred during a music festival in the city. Since then, a string of movies have been made, and subsequently re-made, telling the story of the killing spree, dubbed, as you may have guessed, “The Weedhacker Massacre”. 

Enter Willie Wonder (David Trevino), a young student and wannabe celebrity who has been falsely accused of the murders. In reality, it may have actually been a hulking beast of a man coined “Poker Face”…or it may not. Wonder has been held in captivity by PokerFace for the last ten years, but when a new production company comes in to film another remake of the franchise, all hell breaks loose in an amalgamation of camp, cheesiness, and gore.

If it wasn’t already apparent, this is indeed partly a parody of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, as well as other slashers Thankfully, this is made very pointedly throughout the movie, so there’s not ever a feeling of it simply being a blatant ripoff. After all, this film not only stars Allen Danziger (who Jerry the van driver in the original adaptation), he also serves as executive producer. 

In fact, it’s fairly obvious right away that this isn’t a movie that should be taken very seriously. It honestly relies more on the comedy side than the actual horror aspects, which is fine, but at times, makes for a confusing watch. This is a movie that feels like it has a little too much going on, and begins to drag in the middle, which is concerning considering the runtime is just over 90 minutes.

That’s not to say there aren’t redeemable moments. When the jokes land, they truly land, making for delightfully campy, laugh out loud scenarios that these people find themselves in. There are quite a number of lovable aspects to the story overall, mostly thanks to the outlandish characters, silly one-liners, and catchy soundtrack.

The main issue is that it could have used one more round of editing to help with the lag in the middle, and with not properly conveying just what the heck is really going on. That being said, if you’re looking for a nonsensical movie to sit down, turn your brain off, and have a few good laughs, this could serve its purpose for you.