DON’T MESS WITH GRANDMA is a vivid and fluid black comedy written and directed by Jason Krawczyk. JT (Michael Jai White) works delivering meals to seniors, which is sometimes easier said than done.
But a bunch of his time is taken up with elder care: being a dutiful grandson taking care of his Granna (Jackie Richardson) who lives alone in a remote location. Following the death of her husband–a big game hunter–she is surrounded by shocking taxidermy and has the company of a spirited canine companion. She’s more than a little hard of hearing.
It’s all mystery soup and fiddly household chores and trying to talk gram gram into going to an assisted living facility until their bucolic domestic ideal is broken by some inconsiderate thugs in pig masks. That’s when it becomes clear that JT just might have some practical skills beyond fixing sinks and schlepping his grammy’s taxidermy around the house.
The incompetent thieves are led by Stan (Billy Zane) and Pam (Ess Hödlmoser). JT throws them out before his Gramma notices. But they are so determined and unwilling to give up that the person handling medical concerns for the thieves starts running low on gauze and popsicle sticks for broken fingers.
JT isn’t trying to kill anyone, he just wants the criminal crew to skedaddle before his granny finds out about the fools trying to invade her house, when she just wants to have a nice quiet evening reading her racy novels and taking a nice relaxing bath …once her bathroom sink is finally fixed–a task JT just might finally be able to get around to doing once he finally get those thugs to give up and go away.
The film’s original title was SUNSET SUPERMAN, a title that Krawczyk would strongly prefer was still the title of the film, as the lyrics of the Dio song of the same name relate to the film. Yet the title was changed by TUBI. The Dio song of the same name is still used in the film to great effect!
This tight film isn’t overly gorey for a genre picture, and is reminiscent of the black comedy SEAN OF THE DEAD, in that the characters are fully fleshed out and vivid and the situations they find themselves in are novel.
DON’T MESS WITH GRANDMA is coming to TUBI in December. This is one of the many films playing in this year’s Fantastic Fest. For more information point your browser to www.fantasticfest.com!