THE MOLEMAN OF BELMONT AVE. (2010)

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Directed/Written by John LaFlamboy, Mike Bradecich
Starring Mike Bradecich, John LaFlamboy, Robert Englund, Nicholas Barron, Cat Bernier, Brian Boland, Dina Facklis, Tim Kazurinsky, & Justin DiGiacomo as the Moleman

I’ve been hearing about THE MOLEMAN OF BELMONT AVENUE for quite a while, mainly because it was filmed in Chicago, my current base of operations. The film, made mostly with local talent, is a fun romp with more of a likeness to MOUSE HUNT (a personal guilty pleasure) than anything else, as two lovable yet bumbling landlords attempt to rid their shoddy apartment complex of a moleman who is eating all of the pets in the building. Though this film leans much more on comedy than scares, I found THE MOLEMAN OF BELMONT AVENUE to be entertaining nevertheless.

Filled with actors I may or may not have seen in comedy clubs and improv shows throughout the city in the last few years, I was surprised at how good the performances here were. Sure, most of the characters are clichés. There’s the stoner, the amped up roid dude, the snotty barmaid, the nosy elderly neighbor; all stereotypes, but what makes it work are the performances by the two main characters Mike Bradecich and John LaFlamboy, who also seem to have written and directed the film. Bradecich and LaFlamboy have a great sense of comedic timing and are able to run with quite a few ongoing jokes throughout the film and had me laughing out loud numerous times.

Adding a bit of legitimacy to the film is Robert Englund, who plays an eccentric tenant who turns out to be a sex freak. Englund doesn’t have to do much here, but his personality really melds well with the rest of this eclectic cast.

Though the Moleman himself (played by Justin DiGiacomo) is actually not given too much screen time, the threat of the moley bastard resonates in every second. When he does appear, I was surprised at how ominous and threatening he was made out to be. He has a particular way of crawling, more like a lumbering bear, that proves to be both scary and funny at once (think the funny/creepy way Slimer barrels down the hall at Peter Venkman in GHOSTBUSTERS and you’ll get the vibe).

The GHOSTBUSTERS theme permeates this film as basically it is two dunces trying to fight the unknown and not knowing what the hell they are doing. Mike Bradecich, and John LaFlamboy riff off of each other well and their interactions are reminiscent of FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS or TENACIOUS D’s goofy, abusive but brotherly comedy pairings. I doubt you’ll be scared much by THE MOLEMAN OF BELMONT AVENUE, but you will laugh a lot. Being a Chicagoan, I definitely want to support this local low budgeter. I found the cast to be charming, and the jokes hit the mark about 90% of the time, the sequence involving a room full of stoners, a hole in the wall, and an Atari game system being the highlight of the film. If you’re looking for goofy laughs and a monster that eats kitties, puppies, and old ladies (none of which are shown on screen), THE MOLEMAN OF BELMONT AVENUE is the hilarious horror comedy for you.