BA_Harrison
Despite an engaging central performance from April Monique Burril as sexy schizophrenic Sally, the goth girl with a penchant for power-tool mayhem, this low budget trash horror didn't quite cut it for me, never attempting the true horror one might expect from a film that frequently references The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, nor delivering the gruesome graphic splatter from one that features a cameo from none other than the 'godfather of gore' himself, Herschell Gordon Lewis.Director Jimmyo Burril, lucky spouse of leading lady April, clearly has a great love of the genre, and his script throws up plenty of suitably warped and offensive situations, but the full potential of his delightfully deviant material is often left unrealised: Sally's early murders are frustratingly gore-free, her severing of a guy's tally-whacker remains strictly out of frame (although the addition of the sparkler to the wound was a nice touch), the splattery demise of a woman forced to consume acid is regrettably brief, and some nail-gun action towards the end really could have been much nastier.Whilst the absence of in-your-face, gross-out effects can probably be put down to budgetary restraints, no such excuse can be applied to the low standard of acting from all but its attractive star or the weak stabs at dark humour.4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb (although I was tempted to round it down to 4 to counterbalance the suspiciously high proportion of over-enthusiastic reviews here on IMDb).
misfitsmonster
First of all, let me just say that Chainsaw Sally is not your average, forgettable new horror flick. It is a must see for die hard horror fans, and will sit comfortably on the cult classic shelf someday with the likes of Evil Dead and Rocky Horror Picture Show. Sally is a fun, new face in horror iconography, mild mannered and conservative librarian by day, wild and bloodthirsty freak by night, hacking and slicing her way through the creeps who hang out at bars, bitches who make nasty comments, corporate bigwigs, and generally unpleasant people who lurk around ruining everyone's day. Visually striking sets and wardrobe complement our heroine/psychotic killer, Sally (April Monique Burril, wife of director Jimmy O. Burril) as well as a great supporting cast, (especially drag queen brother Ruby played by Alec Joseph). It sports some creative killings, interesting dialogue, a sense of humor, and even has an engaging plot- a device that's often not given enough attention to in slice and dice flicks like this one. Gore fans will enjoy cameos by Herschell Gordon Lewis, and Gunnar Hansen. You can tell the cast and crew must've had a lot of fun making this movie, and you'll have a lot of fun watching it.
pippsta
This movie is wonderful not only for the original murder scenes, but for the well developed relationship between Sally and Ruby. You can almost find yourself saying, "if I was in that situation, I'd do the same thing". There is also the "superhero" element - needing to chose between one world and the other and setting your priorities. This movie has a great feel and a wonderful flow. As Sally goes through her day and visits the different places that make up her world, you can sense the change in her mood. April Burril makes these changes seamlessly.Hats off to JimmyO and April. This is a movie that will be around for a long time to come. As this movie nods in the direction of TCM, someday others will be watching a new horror flick and find themselves thinking back on Sally...
snackerwizard82
Chainsaw Sally was amazingly great! I was so surprised with the star quality of the film. From start to finish Sally was extremely entertaining, the acting was wonderful, locations and set design were superb. The story is of a woman who loses her parents at a young age to 3 escaped mental patients. This sets her on her path of "killing the bad". The shiesty villain in this film is Harvey Benton. He's wanting to build what he calls "Benton's Quest" but the one thing he needs to get his plans underway is a 200 acre plot of land, on this land is the little farmhouse that Sally once called home. Benton calls in the owner of the land, Steve Kellerman, to convince him to sell the property so that he can go about launching his renovation, and modernization of the town, that's when things get messy. Sally and her brother Ruby set out to rid themselves of the troublesome Harvey Benton. Sally stops to right some wrongs along her way, taking care of an asshole boyfriend, and a really nasty bitch who "needs spelling lessons". I found that the story for Chainsaw Sally was original using the idea that Sally could, in a way, be considered a super heroine. Chainsaw Sally's viewers are most certainly in for a treat when they pick up this film.
AD
