PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The early 1990s are often looked at as a dumping ground for the most bland and regurgitated horror movies in the genre in decades. But if you look closely enough, there were some diamonds in the rough that knew how to have fun. Such is the case in one of the decades bigger gems, Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies. This schlocky 1992 horror comedy examines a sexed-up family of cannibals combined with a bloodbath.
Let’s take a bite out of Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies and see what makes them so delectable.
Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies was written by Joseph F. Robertson (who mostly cut his teeth in the world of adult entertainment under a pseudonym) and Gerald Stein (in his only writing credit) and directed by Robertson. It stars Karen Black (Trilogy Of Terror 1975) as the wild matriarch of the cannibal clan, and Pat Morita (The Karate Kid 1984) as the earnest cop who’s one of the family’s biggest unwitting customers.
Black sends out her four attractive nieces to lure and seduce men back to the family home to use them as fresh meat for the pies. While this movie uses core horror staples like babes and blood to hook its audience, the house itself is set up like a clever labyrinth awaiting potential victims to enclose. Some areas produce Saw-like traps, while others feel like a fever dream of colorful set pieces in a Shakespearean era.
The four nieces isolate and trap their men while their mentally challenged uncle provides both misguided heart and muscle. Karen Black chews the scenery in the best way with malevolent charm. It feels like a timepiece frozen in the 80s, as an updated version of Motel Hell (read our retro review here), complete with a loveably evil head of the family business.
This fast-paced flick is quite under-seasoned amongst the horror community and will likely strike as a fun background movie for fans of light cannibal horror.
Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies is currently available on Tubi and Screambox, and has been given a slick upgrade on blu-ray by Vinegar Syndrome.
