For the struggling all-girl rock band PussyCake, the answer to all their problems is just one more tour. That’s what they tell themselves as they roll into the next town, full of inspiration for Elle Cake (Maca Suarez; The Accused), her girlfriend Sara Cake (Aldana Ruberto), and Sofi Cake (Anahí Politi; Crystal Eyes); inspiration comes in the form of a few hits of acid for Juli Cake (Sofia Rossi). What they are actually rocking and rolling their way into is a living nightmare of a town, a place where dimensional lines have been crossed and something (or somethings) has been let loose. The ladies of PussyCake will discover one last gig isn’t always the answer.

There’s so much to like going on in PussyCake that what little misses the mark misses it with residual style points while also being covered in a bucket of guts. There’s an actual story here built around some believable and well-played relationships in an utterly fucked scenario. That’s a pretty good way to keep the tension naturally ratcheted up. The splatterhouse SFX from Marcos Berta (Terrified) keep everything nice and visceral for the duration of this classic “deserted town” scenario.

You’ll be treated to “zombies” that are closer to unfortunate hosts thanks to a lovely little brain-sucker creature, because who doesn’t love a brain-sucker? Said pseudo-zombies barf what appears to be two percent milk to transmit victim to victim. There’s plenty of disemboweling, forcible alien egg removal, and all-around gore. And then there are heads in the ground as a direct homage to that all-time classic, Motel Hell.

The Predator-inspired misunderstood hero has a pretty cool design that still does enough of its own thing not to be a complete apeing. The constant noise he makes is a little jarring at times and is frankly overused, but you’re still basically having too much damn fun to care. As his character develops and you realize his true motivation, he adds another layer to an already solid cast with damn good rapport.

PussyCake polishes off its trip down Tribute Lane by maintaining the sensibility of the original Evil Dead. This is a movie that knows when to be dead serious and when to go for a more comedic (and surprisingly sweet) approach. Not that there was anything sweet in Evil Dead, but you know what I mean! It’s a misnomer to call PussyCake a simple splatterfest even if it utterly works on that level…and it does. However, it’s so much more creative than all that. By showing love to many of the classics while focusing on the human story, PussyCake manages to do its own thing with aplomb.

And I’ll remain crazy about the name PussyCake. It’s right up there with Butt Boy, Killer Sofa, and The Velocipastor as attention grabbers go.

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