Reviews
‘MEAT’ (2025) Review: Slow-Cooked, and Worth the Wait
It’s been a hot minute since my interview with director Roger Conners talking about his feature film Meat. Armed with three thousand metallic spikes and a burning desire for revenge, the instantly iconic design of its killer stood out as the horror villain I was most excited to see in 2023. Unfortunately, like most horror projects I get excited for, it got caught in traffic. But after two years of waiting for Meat to escape crowdfunding and post-production purgatory, The Stud has finally arrived.
A Story of Revenge and Redemption
After four long years of wrongful imprisonment, Noah (Cody Steele) is back. Taking the fall for his friends and being charged with the manslaughter of a young gay man named Paul, he returns to his hometown in hopes of rebuilding his life. Vilified by the media and locals, it’s a slow climb back to normalcy that at points feels impossible.
But when Noah is reunited with those so-called friends, the predatory it-boy Dante (Anthony Covatta) and his gang of lackeys, it’s not long before things go sideways. A masked serial killer has come knocking to collect on the people that actually killed Paul. Coated in silver and black leather, The Stud is out for blood, and no one is safe.
Meat: Exploring Queer Culture in Horror
One of the strongest aspects of Meat is the approach it takes to depicting a cultural space, the queer club scene, that is often sanded down for consumption. In almost every piece of media they’re depicted in, they’re sanitized to the point of being unrecognizably squeaky clean or maligned as one-dimensional hell holes. Meat instead takes a look at the people in these spaces, good, bad, and ugly, and examines them for a good long while before the film runs headfirst into the sleazy slasher territory its second and third acts inhabit.
Addressing Abuse in Safe Spaces
Meat is a film that confronts a harsh reality: in places where people are supposed to feel free to be themselves, and where a lot of queer people go to begin their journey of expression and self-understanding, there are inevitably going to be people who want to take advantage of that. Meat offers a measure of catharsis for those who have had to witness awful people infest their third spaces, with The Stud annihilating those who try to steal that space away from others.
An Uncompromising Story With an Uncompromising Vision
Meat is, as to be expected from most pieces of queer media, an uncompromising slasher.
Roger Conners’ vision here is the kind of counterculture cattle prod that will ruffle feathers. Especially among the people who can’t tolerate that it’s unabashedly a film made by, with, and for a queer audience.
It’s clear down to every shot, scene, and editing choice that Conners has gone all in on crafting the film from frame to frame. Sometimes that presentation rubs up against my personal preferences, with editing choices, and some minor visual kinks being my main gripes. I bring these up not to nitpick at the film, but to emphasize that the blemishes that would usually bother me much more with the indie horror films I watch are peripheral problems here.
Themes of Anger, Love, and Catharsis
It’s what Meat is trying to say that interests me more. Meat is designed to buck up against most sensibilities to tell a raw story with some especially difficult subject matter. It’s a story about abuse, the kind that happens on a community scale. It’s about anger first and love second; it speaks on indignation and affection for people coexisting inside of someone, and the conflicting feelings that arise from traumatic situations. In that department, Meat tells an excellent story centered around its main character Noah.
Steele’s performance as the burnt offering that saved the friend group is teeming with a good amount of believable resentment. I like how angsty his character becomes, and how he conveys that experience, as it really fits the film’s themes well.
Grimy, Gory, and Hard Not to Have Fun With
As Conners himself said, this is a film about mean gays doing shitty things and getting their deserved comeuppance. And that comeuppance can only come in the form of some very brutal kills. In how the film concocts its deaths, Meat’s recipe is simple: The Stud is channeling part Ghostface, part The Prowler, and just a dash of Frank from Maniac. He’s mean, lean, and no nonsense. He’s here to get the job done.
The practical effects here as The Stud cuts down his targets is the most obvious highlight, with some genuinely surprising prosthetics and makeup coming from a production this small. The first kill in the film especially sets the tone right, letting you know that no punches will be pulled. It’s not on Terrifier levels of grotesquery, but it’s enough to make you wince.
A Cast That Shines With Charismatic Villains
Despite the majority of the characters in this movie being awful people, the cast is very charming, in a way that made me conflicted; I’m supposed to hate these characters, and the film is clear about that, but some of the actors are too fun on screen to dislike and cause some mental dissonance. A standout performance comes from Matt Kane, playing the meathead himbo Vinny, truly inhabiting the role perfectly. There is also a near perfect death scene in the film, that I won’t spoil, which results from the culmination of a very camp chase sequence that feels ripped straight from the dailies of an 80’s Corman horror film.
While some of the cinematography is rough around the edges, the amount of genuine enthusiasm you feel throughout it and the topics that Meat tackles make it one of the most unique horror films you’re going to watch all year. And if the story doesn’t interest you and you’re really just here for carnage, you’re at the very least bound to have fun with the more traditional slasher fare it offers. Meat is a movie that’s been cooking low and slow for a while, and I feel I can confidently say the wait was worth it. Don’t count this one out just because it took some time getting here.
Within the found footage subgenre exists an even more niche and untapped market. Screen life has slowly overtaken found footage; hardcore fans, like myself, ache for something different. One of the more interesting sub-subgenres of found footage is something that I don’t think has a name yet, so let’s name it here and now. How about…TV-gone-rogue! The TV-gone-rogue subgenre is small. Ghostwatch got the ball rolling for these gone rogue-like films, but there was radio silence for quite some time. It would be Chris LaMartina’s WNUF Halloween Special that really brought this idea back into the limelight. Many filmmakers have tried to make TV-gone-rogue interesting, and many have failed. That is until Simon Glassman stepped onto the scene with Buffet Infinity.
Buffet Infinity: A Chaotic Tale of Westridge
The town (city?) of Westridge is whisked into chaos when the new Buffet Infinity restaurant rolls into town. Local sandwich shop owner Jennifer Avery (Allison Bench) is the first to take the soon-to-be conglomerate to task with increasingly pointed advertisements. Suddenly, local restaurant owners/workers go missing in droves as Buffet Infinity expands into neighboring businesses. Sinkholes, missing cityfolk, quarantines, and mysterious sounds abound, leaving residents to ask one question…who really has the sauce?
On the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival schedule, the header image for Buffet Infinity shows multiple people T-posing and floating in the sky. I was immediately sold. I had no clue what I was getting into, and I didn’t want to know. The film was introduced as “one of the craziest we have this year.” (Slightly paraphrasing.) What was I about to watch? Little did I know, it was about to be an hour and forty minutes of small-town madness.
Writers Allison Bench and Elisia Snyder, and writer-director Simon Glassman, transport viewers into an upside down world of weaponized local ads; a thriving town invaded by the deep pockets of monopolized capitalism. As someone who grew up in a decently sized town, though probably not large enough to be considered a city, there was a tinge of nostalgia that accompanied Buffet Infinity. Westridge feels cozy and intimate, a town where everyone knows your name. It’s a “baked in a buttery flaky crust” town. Sure, they have their McDonald’s and Burger Kings, but the real townsfolk eat at Jennifer’s sandwich shop–local knitting circles murmur about what they think is in Jennifer’s secret sauce. Simply put, Westridge feels like a home that many people like myself grew up in. And it reminds us of a simpler time that’s long gone.
A Unique Blend of Humor and Eldritch Terror
Buffet Infinity hides its horror well. It slowly guides the viewer into a sense of unease. As easily as the creators have you laughing, they have you squirming. The absurdist joy quickly transforms into Eldritch terrors from beyond. Many filmmakers say they’re inspired by the idea of it’s-not-what-you-see that’s scary, but many times it feels performative. Bench, Glassman, and Snyder have crafted a truly special script that edges you with terror and excitement. They constantly push you to the edge of release, and then back away. It’s the Japanese water torture of exposition. And, for me, it works incredibly well.
One of the most important aspects of Buffet Infinity is the over-capitalization of our lives. While the creators tackle this idea in a tongue-in-cheek manner, their message is highly effective. For the most part. This constant tete-a-tete between Buffet Infinity and the locals is highly amusing, but brings a larger conversation to the forefront. The town I grew up in is a shadow of what it once was. And I know many feel the same about the towns they grew up in. I can already hear the moans of people who dislike this film: “Brandon, it’s not that deep.” And I would highly disagree. Buffet Infinity feels like a reflective protest film–a loud and proud middle finger at what we should have said when the Super Walmart put mom and pops out of business.
Sorry, this review has gone off the rails. Let’s reel it back in a bit.
Why Buffet Infinity Redefines Found Footage
Buffet Infinity is a riotous romp, a hilarious horror that goes from zero to 100 pretty damn fast. Each commercial slowly builds on its last and uniquely tells its story. This film sets a new precedent for the TV-gone-rogue subgenre. Not to directly compare, but a film like WNUF Halloween Special (a film I love) uses its commercials as a coda; it’s a separation of what you saw/heard and prepares you for the next movement. Buffet Infinity uses its commercial to create the story. Instead of watching news pieces, then irrelevant commercials, then back to news pieces, Buffet Infinity breaks the mold. Hell, it creates the mold.
As someone who has been dying to see a Welcome to Nightvale film, Buffet Infinity is the closest thing I could ask for. It is full of killer performances (looking at you, Ahmed Ahmed), is well-crafted, and sets a new precedent on an underutilized side of found footage. Buffett Infinity is a full-course meal. I highly suspect that Buffet Infinity will gather the unwavering support that Hundreds of Beavers gathered and will go on to be considered an instant classic of the 2020s.
We are all very much aware of how much time we spend on our phones. More importantly, anyone on the internet can see how younger generations are impacted by being constantly online. So, Zack Ogle and Aaron Pagniano’s new film, It Needs Eyes, is preaching to the choir. However, it adds creepy layers to the conversations many of us are already having today.
It Needs Eyes follows a teen named Rowan (Raquel Lebish) who is moving in with her aunt after a traumatic event. Her aunt Mella (Lydia Fiore) hasn’t spoken to the family in years. So, her relationship with her niece is strained to say the least. However, she has stepped in now that Rowan’s father is in the hospital. Further widening their divide is the fact that Rowan is glued to her phone.
The Internet Is Scary
We see Rowan watching random videos, as she tries to distract herself from her own thoughts while she worries about her father. However, soon, cat videos aren’t doing it for her, and she starts to find extreme videos online. Things escalate to the point that she is watching self-harm videos and clips of people dying. This addiction begins to make it hard for her to connect with the people around her, including her new neighbor and love interest, Alex (Isadora Leiva).
It Needs Eyes has a protagonist that many can relate to. After all, aren’t we all using these smart devices to hide from our own problems? Who among us hasn’t lost an embarrassing amount of hours watching videos and reels? However, because it’s driving in the internet addiction lane, Rowan’s need for content escalates. She needs darker videos in the same way that someone makes the leap into harder drugs. Her journey parallels nicely with her father’s battle with addiction, which is one of the many things Rowan doesn’t seem ready to face.
Addiction and Loneliness are a Deadly Combo
Rowan’s addiction, loneliness, and inability to fully connect with people not on her phone eventually leads her to stumble across the ultimate score. She discovers a woman named Fishtooth (Lola Blanc) who made videos in the 80s and seemingly disappeared. Rowan cannot let this mystery go and soon begins to follow clues that Fishtooth may be closer than she thinks. This is where the creepy mystery thread begins to weave itself around all of the other threads of the film. Before Fishtooth was introduced, I was starting to worry this movie would just be seven fucked up images in a trench coat.
It Needs Eyes is one of those movies you go back and forth on. I loved discussing the themes of it in the bar after the Brooklyn Horror Film Fest screening. I even really dug some of the twisted imagery and topics it manages to tackle. The movie deserves some respect for how it handles so many issues surrounding internet culture without straying too far from its path. If you’re looking for a dark exploration of how the internet is absorbing us and preventing us from being present in our actual lives, this is your movie. It’s an interesting and at times disturbing reminder that we should all unplug more often.
Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2025: ‘Buffet Infinity’ Review
Brooklyn Horror Film Fest 2025: ‘It Needs Eyes’ Review
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