Attack of the Demons (2019): An amateur homage to horror fandom, with cut-out animation reminiscent of South Park. And set in Colorado, like South Park. It doesn't sound promising, but as the barrage of Christmas glitz and depression sets in, I'm all for a visit to Halloweens Past. And maybe there will be a Big Gay Al.
Scene 1: A man fishing in the woods at night interrupts a black-robed, yellow-eyed person, who spurts pink blood on him and then "heads down to South Park, to meet some friends of mine." Actually it's Barrington, Colorado ("big things can happen in the smallest places!"), just in time for the big Halloween Festival.
Scene 2: Mega-horror fan Kevin (Thomas Peterson) is at home, watching a horror movie marathon and reading a horror fandom magazine. His Grandma asks him to run some errands, Meanwhile, a carload of fans drives into town for the festival: Two horror punk fans (one played by Eric Power) and their girlfriend Nat, who is more into regular rock. We're getting lots of disparate fandoms for a small-town festival.
Scene 2: Mega-horror fan Kevin at the grocery store/video arcade. He sees Jeff (writer Andreas Peterson) playing a video game. Boy-of-his-Dreams music plays. Holy cow, Kevin is gay!
They go out for sodas, and Jeff dumps some plot exposition: his parents forced him to come to town to visit his crazy paranormal-investigator uncle, but he lives in a creepy cabin in the woods, so Jeff got a hotel room. Hint, hint.
Kevin asks Jeff to a horror movie; he refuses -- not into movies (but if you sit through the movie, you'll get to see Kevin naked). He counters with an invitation to dinner.
Meanwhile, Crazy Paranormal-Investigator Uncle grabs a pickaxe and heads into an abandoned mine.
Scene 3: The three music fans at Betty's Diner. The guys complain about the food, insult the waitress, and leave to hear the Banshee Riders. Nat isn't into them, so she stays behind. Kevin and Jeff come in for their date, and recognize Nat from high school. They politely ask her to join them. They argue over which of their fandoms is superior, movies (Kevin), music (Nat), or video games (Jeff). Kevin and Jeff are nudging each other and sitting on the same side of the table; this is a canonical date.
Scene 4: Music fans Chet and Brandon at the horror punk concert. Kevin goes to the movie; the theater is empty. No one wants to see a horror movie at a Halloween festival? Jeff plays video games by himself, and Nat goes to a deserted bar where a non-horror band, Teek, is playing. Aww -- they can't share fandoms.
Scene 5: Jeff and Kevin being depressed because they're not together (hey, it's your own fault). The last act at the horror punk concert is the demonic being from Scene 1, who starts chanting. Rocks start breaking up and blocking the roads into town. Intellectual Guy (blue eyes, glasses), walking around outside, says "no no no, it must be here!"
Scene 6: Jeff and Kevin reunite at the carnival. They lie about how much fun they had at their respective activities, and continue their date.
Nat is still listening to her band, when a green-eyed zombie comes in and kills or pukes green goo on everyone. Nat hides behind the bar.
At the punk rock concert, the demon explodes, splattering everyone with green goo that makes them dissolve into monsters. He then heads to the carnival. Various shots of carnival-goers getting killed or dissolved. Running away, Jeff and Kevin reunite with Nat. They need to get out of town, but first Kevin has to check on his grandmother.
Scene 7: Kevin forces the others to stay outside while he goes into grandma's house: Grandma has zombified. Outside, Jeff and Nat have a heart to heart: she hates her boyfriend, but is sad now that he's probably dead.
Now what? The only way out of town takes them through the zombified carnival. Jeff suggests hiding out at his crazy uncle's cabin in the mountains.
I'll stop the scene by scene there.
Beefcake: None.
Gay characters: Nat sets up hating her boyfriend so she can dump him for Jeff or Kevin, but nothing comes of it. The guy never treat her as anything but a friend; there is no fade out kiss. They are definitely gay.
My Grade: B.