The older you get, the more you realize that the possibilities of your life going horribly wrong greatly outweigh the chances that you’ll live to experience a happy ending. Not to bum you out in the first sentence of this review, but it’s true- and it’s that exact existential adult fear that writer/director Joel Potrykus (Buzzard) explores in his newest feature Vulcanizadora. described by Potrykus as “my most heartfelt and personal, […] but also my bleakest
and most haunting,” Vulcanizadora is a grimly comedic story that could just as easily have been titled “National Lampoon’s Faces of Death”.
Frequent collaborator Joshua Burge (Relaxer) and Potrykus himself star as best friends Martin & Derek, going for a hike in the Michigan forests to follow through on a dark pact. The details of what they plan to do slowly become apparent but there’s a dark cloud over the entire proceedings from the get-go. For starters, their provisions include junk food, Jägermeister & weed, homemade explosives, and head gear that look like prototypes for a Jigsaw death trap. It’s a heavy metal camping trip for the criminally insane, and nothing about it feels reassuring.
“A grimly comedic story that could just as easily have been called National Lampoon’s Faces of Death“
Potrykus delivers a double-edged performance that’s kinda heartbreaking when it’s not disarmingly hilarious. Burge’s Marty is stoic and cold as they both trudge through the Michigan forest toward their final destination but Derek is straight out of an early 2000s indie comedy. Highlights include: getting drunk and spending a painfully funny amount of time trying to set up a pair of speakers, performing blursed karaoke with glow sticks, and (my personal favorite) relishing every uncomfortable second it takes to unzip his cargo pants into cargo shorts.
Vulcanizadora is a dark tale about two men coming to the realization that their lives are no longer ahead of them. Every regret, every failure, every mistake is pressing down on them with the compounded weight of a future even a Magic 8 Ball could predict. It’s one of the most depressingly honest movies I’ve seen in a while but equally one of the funniest. It’s a comedy so black that even light can’t escape it!
Potrykus is a master of lo-fi filmmaking and Vulcanizadora is far from the bland, boring junk of the modern studio system. There’s an uncompromising punk rock quality to his movies and, despite being pretty fucking merciless, Vulcanizadora is a natural evolution of his unique brand of wild ‘n’ weird. Again, pulling from Potrykus’ own words, “One of my biggest concerns about fatherhood is that I’d soften up and start telling stories of hope and inspiration”. Let just say, I feel pretty confident after watching Vulcanizadora that this will never be a problem. Simply put, Vulcanizadora is a good time for people who love a bad time.
Joel Potrykus’ Vulcanizadora celebrated its Canadian Premiere at the 2024 Fantasia Film Festival. Click HERE to follow our continued coverage of the fest and let us know if you’re excited to see this pitch-black comedy in the Nightmare on Film Street Discord!Â
