Uncle Peckerhead is funny and quirky and exactly the kind of light hearted horror romp I needed right now. The actors are authentic in their performances and they play well off one another in a relaxed and playful manner. For those who dig comparisons, I’d go so far as to say it vibes on the same cinematic frequency as Mallrats and Clerks (especially the hilarious sequence: What Happened With the Metalheads in the Parking Lot). While the leads are a trio of darling doofuses, charming and downright likeable, it is David Littleton as the titular monster thing—he prefers thing— who steals each and every scene he is in. From the explanation of his name to his ability to bake one hell of a scone, Littleton plays Peck as a lovable, charming, and misunderstood monster. Or maybe he is a conniving murderer, out to frame the band for murder and eat his fill of locals-as-cuisine along the way? 

That’s what we are left wondering from the opening scene: a grisly, ruined corpse has its jaw removed by a large man as he wanders back towards a van. We are keyed up to think that this man is a monster pure and simple, and it is effective when Littleton first appears on screen clutching a purple flyer. There is a moment where you’re sure this guy is evil and he will kidnap these two and do nefarious things to them, but no! Peck simply asks to be left alone. He wants nothing to do with them until he’s faced with a cop car and the simple fact that he will be made for murder if he stays here any longer. So he offers the members of the down on their luck band, DUH, his van and his services as a roadie. And the result is a charming road trip flick filled with some poignant commentary on gig life and the struggles of starting a band as we follow Judy in her attempt to legitimize her band.  Those attempts are aided and abetted by Peck as he exudes Southern charm and does what he can to help the band. He sells merchandise, promotes the demo, and gets the crowd involved and eats promoters who don’t pay fairly. The band, for their part, quickly comes to love Peck, foibles and all. Still when those foibles involve the tendency to drink the spurting blood from the neck stumps of your freshly decapitated victim, you might be a bit harder to love than say an uncle with a bit of a drinking problem who loves to talk politics at family gatherings.

The film flies by at a quick pace as the band tours and encounters a variety of issues as their tour unfolds in a madcap and splatterpunk adventure thanks to an excellent script and well paced film from writer-driector-editor Matthew John Lawerence. What will happen as tensions mount, the body count rises,and the tour comes to an end?

This film is an absolutely rollicking good   time and worth a view if you get the chance.