Alferd Packer: The Musical (1996)

Director:

Trey Parker

Writer:

Trey Parker (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 August 2008 (South Korea)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Horror | Musical | Western

Tagline:

All Singing! All Dancing! All Flesh Eating!

Plot:

The sole survivor of an ill-fated mining expedition tells how his taste for gold was replaced by that of human flesh.

Plot Keywords:

Mountain | Reporter | Lost | Japanese | Rocky Mountains

Cast

Dian Bachar	...	George Noon
Stephen Blackpool	...	Black Cat
Stan Brakhage	...	Noon's Father
Dan Brother	...	Guard #2
Duster	...	Liane
Brad Gordon	...	Mills
Ian Hardin	...	Shannon Bell
Dave Hardin	...	Drummer
Edward Henwood	...	O.D. Loutzenheiser / The Cyclops
Jon Hegel	...	Isreal Swan
Andrew Kemler	...	Preston Nutter
Steve Jackson	...	Sheriff of Lake City
Jessica James Kelly	...	Tiny Tim / Baby Packer
M.K.	...	'The Dropout' (credit only)
Marty Leeper	...	Sheriff of Saguache

Also Known As:

Cannibal! The Musical (USA) (video title)

MPAA:

Rated R for comic gore/violence and some language.

Runtime:

95 min | UK:97 min (video)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | Canada:14A (re-rating) | Australia:MA | Canada:18A | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Black Canyon, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Gunnison, Colorado, USA

Company:

Avenging Conscience

Trivia:

During the first "Lets Build a Snowman" scene, there is a close-up of the tap-dancing. The next shot is a brief wide shot. In the background, the snowman's head is replaced with an alien head.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When the men are naked under their blankets and Humphrey remembers the fudge it is sitting just under the blanket on his stomach so the sudden realization of the fudge's existence is forced. The fudge would have to have been taken from his pack and placed there after undressing and laying down and if the characters are so starving it is unlikely he would have waited so long to break into it.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Title Card: The film you are about to see was originally released in 1954. Upstaged by the overwhelming popularity of "Oklahoma!", it's short lived theater run was canceled, and "Alfred Packer: The Musical" soon fell into obscurity. The original negative, re-discovered just last year, has been painstakingly restored using state-of-the-art color enhancing and computer reconstruction technology. The film's violent scenes have been edited out for your viewing pleasure.

Movie Connections:

References Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Soundtrack:

Shpadoinkle

Absolutely brilliant, though many will not think so.

Yes, I have to say it, I am a South Park fan. I watch the show religiously, and that is the reason why I watched this brilliantly entertaining film. That's probably the only reason anyone ever watches it. This film is one that you either love or hate, and I can't imagine anything in between. It's wildly uneven, poorly paced, poorly acted, and has rather bad sound quality at times. And I love it for all those reasons. It's simply a student project that Trey Parker and his buddies put together over one spring break, and with such a small budget, and limited film-making skills, they created something brilliant, and inspirational.

Alfred Packer (Trey Parker) is a lonely miner who seems to be in love with his horse, Leanne, and has recently been put on trial for murdering his mining crew and eating them. He tells the real story to a reporter named Polly, and it goes like this. One shpadoinkle morning, he is chosen as a replacement guide for a gold mining expedition to Colorado, though he doesn't exactly know the way. With his five crew members, he sets off on the journey. Of course, when his horse runs away, he ends up leading his crew on an agonizing search in the wrong direction, which leads them into the cold, snowy mountains, becoming hopelessly lost. As they fight to survive, they soon realize that they may need to resort to eating each other...

This movie is a hysterical comedy with many big laughs, but I personally think it works better as a musical. A real challenge with this movie is to see it, and then try and get the songs out of your head. The music is so catchy, and if the film was really popular, I wouldn't have to constantly explain to the people around me what I'm whistling/humming. Sometimes, I leave my iPod playlist of the movie's songs running all night as I sleep, as they provide me comfort. Most people won't love the music that much, but you can't say the music isn't wonderfully catchy. "Shpadoinkle Day," That's All I'm Asking For," and Let's Build A Snowman" are my favorites, though I love them all. The first former and the latter would be considered classics if the film had a wide release.

Now, the main problem with the film that most people have is the pacing, which is extremely slow. The thing is, is that Trey Parker had little knowledge of making a film, and with a tiny budget, the film is of poor quality. The acting, sound, and agreeably the pacing, are all bad. But the film's bad quality is one of it's charms. Much of the humor is unintentional, due to some of the funniest, and most obvious errors ever put on film. They are easy to spot if you pay attention, and don't let the pacing get you down. By the way, if you don't like it the first time, try it again with the hilarious, and helpful directors commentary on the DVD in which Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and the rest of the main cast get drunk and watch the film. They point out many things that you probably couldn't care less about the first time, and their insight makes it really funny (not to mention, it helps the pace quite a bit

Cannibal! The Musical is one of my favorite comedies, and everyone should give it a try. It gets an 8/10 in my book.

It is rated R for Comic Gore/Violence and some Language. Sex: 3/10 Violence: 9/10 Swearing: 6/10 Drugs: 1/10