Abruptio: Weirdly endearing horror puppetry (spoiler-free review)

It's hard to describe or explain Abruptio to someone who hasn't seen it. Writer/director Evan Marlowe's horror puppetry is a blood-soaked fever dream. It also features some well-known horror actors lending their voice work to the characters, including James Marsters, Jordan Peele, Robert Englund, and the late, great Sid Haig. Abruptio is one of the most beautifully strange, oddball movies of the year.

Marsters, best known as Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, voices the main character, Les Hackel. Let's just say that not much is looking up for Les. His girlfriend dumped him. He works a boring desk job that involves mountains of paperwork. At least he has his best friend, Danny, voiced by Peele, who lends his previous comedic chops to the role, while making Danny a bit of a dopey character.

While Les manages to navigate his ho-hum existence, his situation worsens when he wakes up and discovers an explosive device has been implanted in his body. If he doesn't carry out horrible crimes, it'll detonate. Most of the crimes involve murdering people, and during this odyssey of bloodshed, he encounters other characters in a similar situation.

The most notable characters Les meets are Sal, voiced by Haig, and Mr. Salk, voiced by Englund. Both of their characters are so deliciously bonkers. The voice work provided by these horror legends makes this a must-see movie. It's apparent they had a lot of fun with these crazy characters.

Not only is Abruptio one of the most creative films I've seen all year, it's also one of the bloodiest. Each crime ups the ante and the body count. In more than one scene, Les ends up painted red. The puppetry looks great. Considering the creation of this film dates back to 2015, with no CGI effects used, the fact this film finally hits theaters this month is a testament to Marlowe's labor of love. The fact he pulled this off is impressive.

As much as the film revels in horror, it's also a mystery. Les wills himself to find out who is responsible for planting these devices in people. Meanwhile, Police Chief Richter (Christopher McDonald) continually demands that Les "confess," though Les doesn't know what he should confess. To say anything more would spoil too much of the film. Everything builds to quite an emotional and even surprising conclusion.

Visually, Abruptio is one of the most memorable films of the year. The voice work is great, too. Marsters enlivens an otherwise mundane character. The additions of Peele, Haig, and Englund, among others, round out a stellar voice-acting cast. Overall, Abruptio is a striking film with plenty of puppets and buckets of blood.