Dyngus Day is one wild indie horror comedy
- Brian Fanelli
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
I'm a sucker for and will always champion indie horror movies. Dyngus Day has a heck of a lot of heart. Its premise is wildly absurd, while at the same time, it has a familiar and relatable narrative about a young man who returns to his hometown, reconnecting with several figures from his high school years. The movie also blends comedy with elements of occult horror and even slashers. Go into this one knowing it's an indie film, made on a shoestring budget, and that there's a lot of fun to be had.
Directed by Michael Buttino Jr., with a script by Paul McGinnis, the film stars Dominic Luongo as Stan Cuck, and yes, there's a lot of mileage had regarding his last name, especially since he insists everyone pronounce it the way we think it should be pronounced. It's a great running gag throughout the 90 plus minutes. Post-high school, Stan fled his small hometown and ventured to Buffalo, which is only about 30 minutes away. There, he works as a journalist, and his editor assigns him a story that involves returning to his birthplace to cover Dyngus Day, a Polish-American celebration that always falls on Easter Monday. Stan's hometown takes it to the extreme.
Once he returns, Stan encounters ghosts from his past, many of whom haven't left their high school personas and younger frame of mind. For instance, one of the most popular girls still wears her cheerleading outfit. Her boyfriend still wears his varsity jacket. The stoner is still, well, the stoner, and so on and so forth. The rest of the characters are largely trapped in the past. However, Stan reconnects with his high school crush, Sasha, played by Sara Manzella. There's simply something endearing and sweet about the many scenes they have together, especially how much he gushes over her. Their narrative arc also grounds an otherwise absurd film. They're both well drawn characters who have some honest and real conversations that's a nice contrast to the film's otherwise many bonkers sequences.
As already stated, this movie combines a lot of elements. We eventually learn that there's a pagan ritual behind Dyngus Day, which conjured an ancient force that eventually goes around the town and murders people. In fact, the last 20 minutes or so have really gnarly slasher elements, though I personally would have enjoyed a little more gore. There's a lot of meta filmmaking elements sprinkled throughout the runtime and a character called The Stranger who sometimes breaks up or explains the narrative. If I have one main gripe about the movie, it's that it sometimes tries to do too much and combine too many subgenres. For instance, I'm not sure all of the meta elements were necessary.
That said, other than the ancient slasher force that's resurrected, the movie has a great human villain in the form of the mayor (Mark Bogumil). At one point, Stan points out all of the awful things the mayor did in high school, and like the rest of the town, he hasn't changed much. He also refuses to leave office or allow another election. He's also absolutely obsessed with Dyngus Day, praising it more than once to Stan. The mayor is both diabolical and silly, at least in regard to his love for the holiday. It's a great counterbalance to his character.
For as ludicrous as Dyngus Day's plot becomes at times, it still anchors itself to an accessible and recognizable story about a young man who returns to his hometown, finding out that not much has changed. Though the indie movie combines one too many subgenres, it's a rollercoaster ride with unpredictable turns and indie movie charm.
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