With a title like this, you know you’re going to be in for a wild time, don’t you? Well, what you get from Pat Higgins’ latest indie film is all that and much more – including being a musical.
Emily (Charlie Bond) is waiting tables at a British American-style diner. After an altercation with a customer (Dani Thompson), she reveals to her boss that she has a phobia of cheerleaders. He encourages her to embrace her fears, so she puts together a cheerleading squad to enter a TV talent contest. They are up against a boy band that includes Emily’s ex (James Hamer-Morton). All’s going well until she finds her grandmother’s pendant, which can grant wishes. When she jokingly wishes the boy band dead, it comes true with horrific and fun consequences.
Mixing humorous horror with song and dance moments isn’t new – 2017’s Anna and the Apocalypse proved it could be done well – Higgins’ film isn’t as slick as that one, but instead embraces the lower budget, which gives it a charm of its own. From the lesser singing abilities of some of the actors to fourth-wall-breaking commentary on the plot and making the most of the cheap-looking effects like poor back projection with a knowing wink.
Writer/director Higgins clearly has a sense of humour in and about his work (he’s briefly seen drowning his sorrows in a bar wearing a T-shirt that says ‘sorry for Strippers vs Werewolves’, which he wrote) and this lack of pretension emanates from the screen. The songs – written between Higgins, Phil Sheldon, and Hamer-Morton – are catchy and fun with the right amount of added cheese.
If you’re after a serious horror film, look elsewhere. Powertool Cheerleaders is a bloody romp that will have your foot taping while you await the bloodshed.
POWERTOOL CHEERLEADERS VS THE BOYBAND OF THE SCREECHING DEAD is available on Prime Video, to rent and buy on YouTube Movies, and Tubi in the US.
