The Banana Splits Movie is a 2019 American horror film directed by Danishka Esterhazy (Level 16) from a screenplay written by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas (My Super Psycho Sweet 16).
The Blue Ribbon Content production stars Dani Kind, Steve Lund, Maria Nash and Finlay Wojtak-Hissong.
Plot:
A boy named Harley and his family (brother Austin, mother Beth, and father Mitch) attends a taping of The Banana Splits TV show, which is supposed to be a fun-filled birthday for young Harley and business as usual for Rebecca, the producer of the series.
However, things take an unexpected turn and the body count quickly rises. Can Harley, his mom and their new pals safely escape?
Reviews:
“A couple of gruesome deaths that would be at home in a SAW film really change things up and should satisfy the gorehounds, but you might say the film has some tonal problems as it reaches its climax, not quite able to decide if it’s really going full bore into straight horror territory. Of course, it’s hard to take things too seriously when it’s a big smiling dog doing the slicing and dicing…” Arrow in the Head
“Once the movie establishes that the Banana Splits really are engaging in a splatter-fest, it expands from outright gore into the arena of genuine, if campy, terror. Yes, it’s actually scary in parts. And that’s just fine. After all, what else can be done with four characters faced with a choice of simply being forgotten, or going out in a blaze of gory?” CBR.com
“Based on the premise alone, you inherently suspend disbelief simply by pressing Play in the first place. Plotting makes next to no sense, yet the overall atmosphere remains so delightfully dopey, there’s no incentive to be irritated by tropes like ridiculous reasons for everyone to continually split up as the studio becomes slice-and-dice central.” Culture Crypt
“The Banana Splits builds to a satisfying climax and it truly does have some of the most creative death scenes I’ve seen in horror for a while […] The Banana Splits is a whole lot of fun and it breathes a new, and unexpected, life into the classic characters.” Entertainment Focus
Release:
The Banana Splits Movie will be released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Digital on August 13th and on Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD on August 27th, 2019.
Buy Blu-ray + DVD + Digital via Amazon.com
Cast and characters:
Dani Kind … Beth
Finlay Wojtak-Hissong … Harley
Romeo Carere … Austin
Steve Lund … Mitch
Maria Nash … Zoe
Naledi Majola … Paige
Richard White … Stevie
Sara Canning … Rebecca
Celina Martin … Poppy
Kiroshan Naidoo … Thadd
Keeno Lee Hector … Jonathan
Lia Sachs … Parker
Lionel Newton … Karl
Daniel Fox … Andy
Lily Spangenberg … Sloppy Time Girl / Ashley
Filming locations:
Cape Town, South Africa
