Meet the Feebles

This is probably the strangest, weirdest and one of the most crudest movies I've seen.

Just imagine that Jim Henson, the creator of the muppets, went in his office and then did some crack and cocaine and drank a lot, then you get 'Meet the Feebles'.

This strange movie was directed by New Zealand director Peter Jackson. Peter Jackson made low budget movies before gaining fame with Lord of the Rings or King Kong. Along with 'Meet the Feebles' he made 'Bad Taste' and BrainDead' (Dead Alive was the release name in USA) all of them low budget, bloody, gory and sometimes over the top. Meet the Feebles is a black comedy which also has music so its also a musical. and throughout the movie is literally full of Jim Henson-esque puppets. The puppets are placed in the movie in a comic sattire. This movie contains a lot of sub plot summaries so to explain the main plot, it tells the story of the Feebles theatre troupe. They are a group of performers who, that night, are going on live network TV. If they are good enough, they will get picked up for a syndicated network show and everyone will get rich. The themes throughout the movie contain sex, violence, drugs, back stabbing, date rape and death. So much happens in this film that I can't even begin to explain the story any more than that.

Characters include, but are not limited to, a heroin-addicted frog, an over-sexed rabbit, a hippo with low self-esteem and a short fuse..., a cow and insect porn film-making duo, a sleazy fly tabloid reporter...and a lovable and friendly porcupine. The characters are just plain crazy and outrageous. Not all characters in this movie are puppets. Among those that are played by actors in suits are Heidi (hippo), Bletch (walrus), Cederic (wart hog), Sid (elephant), Daisy (cow) and Barry (bulldog). Some characters looked related to Jim Henson's muppets. For example Sid the Elephant reminds me of Gonzo, not because of his nose. Its due to to the fact that he supposed to have slept with Sandy the Chicken and the baby is half chicken and half elephant. In the muppets, Gonzo is always hanging out with some chickens not I thought Gonzo had a thing or two with chickens. I'm not sure if its a parody or a tribute.

There's a lot of disturbing moments in the film. From a warrus having sexual adultery with a cat, a rabbit chucking up, a fly eating a someone's crap...with a spoon! Believe me I was nearly sick. Moments like these, you have to have a real strong stomach to take it all in.

It also pokes fun at the oscar winner 'The Deer Hunter' russian roulette scene. The strange thing with this, Money ran out during production, so the flashback to Vietnam was quietly filmed separately (with a different budget) as 'The Frogs of War' and then later edited into 'Meet the Feebles'.

Although the characters are all animals, There's one human (puppet) character Abi, an Indian snake-charmer who physically appears to be a parody of Gandhi. During the film he gets his head stuck in his rectum and when he pulls it out near the end of the film, a bed of nails crushes him.

It was according to the Internet Movie Database trivia for the film, the production team could not get hold of blank rounds for the M60 machine gun used in the movie and therefore the gun was firing live ammunition. The moment for that happens right at the end of the movie, Heidi the hippo basically dons a Rambo esque machine gun and guns anyone in sight!

Things I've spotted during the film, when the performance is about to begin, the camera pans over the audience, most the audience are cardboard cut outs, you can also spot a cameo appearance from an alien that was used in the earlier film 'Bad Taste'. The alien was performed by Peter Jackson, so the alien and Peter Jackson made cameo Appearances. The Jesus Christ in the Feebles universe appears to be a Kermit the Frog-like frog. This is shown in the form of a crucifix held by Harry when he is praying to God to recover from his sickness. The music numbers are hilarious. One notable song, Sebastion's "Sodomy Song" and dance routine that is totally warped, you try watching a gay fox thrust it's pelvis at the camera without cracking a smile, its that bizarre!

Upon accepting his Best Picture win, Peter Jackson thanked the Academy for not awarding him for Meet The Feebles or Bad Taste. You know what, I would have loved those films to win oscars. Low budget movies shouldn't be overlooked, just because it was filmed with a low budget doesn't mean its going to suck. Give those movies a chance and hopefully people will give them a chance instead of overhyped, over budget blackbuster Hollywood flicks!

Meet the Feebles is a gleefully twisted comedy that is often shocking and strangely endearing at the same time. Many will be offended so this film IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. So approach with extreme caution.

I give the movie 4 stars out of 5

(5 out of 5 for sick level!)