MEAT FRIEND
Teaser, Reviews & Screenings
Audience Award, StokerCon's Final Frame 2022
"Izzy Lee's new short film, Meat Friend features a sentient pile of hamburger meat taken over by an ex-con, as it teaches after-school lessons to a child. You know, the important stuff... like 'how to make it look like an accident.' In a strange time, Lee felt 'When life gets weird, get weirder. The global pandemic only made us want to escape to a more heightened place, an alternate reality where the unreal can happen, where absurdity meets the vaguely sinister. What will happen next? No one knows. Welcome to the world of Meat Friend!'” — Angel Melanson, Fangoria.com
“…a light-hearted satire featuring a psychopathic piece of ground beef. Meat Friend might feel like quite a departure for director and co-writer Izzy Lee, but underneath the fun exterior, there’s a dark level that is far more delicious than the glob of processed meat. The opening montage features the whole production line of beef - from delightful cows grazing to the hanging carcasses, and finally, the minced meat goodness. All juxtaposed with some cheery kids’ TV-style music. The mixing of styles continues with the title character, a simple puppet with a gruff, aggressive tone but strangely endearing. Marnie McKendry does well as the youngster, a role that could easily have been annoying. She also comes out with this writer’s favourite expression since, well… anything from The Greasy Strangler, ‘More beef - less cheese!’” — Martin Unsworth, Starburst Magazine
“The wonderfully weird juxtaposition of an inanely chipper ’90s sitcom sensibility with the progressively more psychotic and troubling tutelage of Meat Friend is nothing short of brilliant. It’s absurd, off-kilter, wildly inventive, and difficult to forget. Lee proves she’s as much a master of humor as horror, and Meat Friend is as delicious as it is demented…a must-see!” — Stephanie Malone, Morbidly Beautiful
“Lee works with a bright color palette that further enhances the family television show premise while subverting that genre with images and dialogue that would never fly on such shows. The result is an outrageous horror comedy short that serves as further proof that the obviously capable Lee needs to be given the opportunity to helm a feature film project sooner rather than later.” — Joseph Perry, Gruesome Magazine
"While Izzy Lee’s latest may not be horror in the strictest sense of the word, it does start with a little girl attempting to microwave ground beef, which is automatically off-putting enough for its inclusion here. Naturally, things only get funkier from there, as the beef becomes possessed by an ex-con who proceeds to teach the little girl a variety of important life lessons, such as making a shiv, that would surely make Mr. Rogers proud. The creature design for Meat Friend is a unique combination of grotesque and endearing, which is also an apt description for the short itself. Just, get ready to get weird. Really, really weird.” — Bryan Christopher, RueMorgue.com
"Meat Friend perfectly blends dark satire with childlike whimsy. It’s the perfect short film for parents who are probably sick of being forced to watch the same children’s TV shows with their kids. Yet the dark humor and horror elements still make it enjoyable for a wider audience. Lee clearly knows what she’s doing and is able to achieve a great balance between the different themes introduced. This is a short film you will want to keep an eye out for as it makes its way through the film festival circuit.” — Molly Henery, The Blogging Banshee
“The short is incredibly funny and finds a way to make me laugh at pretty much every single line of dialogue. From the ridiculous and violent statements from Meat Friend to the deadpan delivery of Billie and her mother (played by Megan Duffy). I hope Izzy Lee makes more of Meat Friend; I need this in my life. Happy meat day everyone!” — Patrick Kelly, VoidVideo.com
“Gonzo director Izzy Lee returns with what is essentially possessed ground beef’s answer to Sesame Street, in Meat Friend, a gloriously silly, not-at-all-child-friendly mock kids show, where the eponymous Meat Friend runs us through every important lesson in the book, from 'how to make a shiv' to 'how to make it look like an accident'.” — Ben Robins, HeyUGuys.com
"...eight minutes of cinematic absurdity of the highest order filled to the brim with prison shivs, blood, cocaine, heart-clogging friendship… and threats… and it is fun as all unholy hell!” — DanXIII, HorrorFuel.com
“Meat Friend will generate a few laughs and scar your brain with the image of what a horrible-looking meat creature born of ground beef looks like.” — Devin Marsh, Nightmarish Conjurings
MEAT FRIEND SCREENINGS
Synopsis: An ex-con, sentient pile of hamburger meat teaches after-school lessons to a child.
Credits:
Co-Written, Produced & Directed by Izzy Lee
Co-Written, Puppeteered & Produced by: Steve Johanson
Starring: Marnie McKendry, Megan Duffy, Steve Johanson (Meat Friend voice)
Cinematography: Sophia Cacciola
Editor & VFX : Michael J. Epstein
Score: Shayne Gryn
Sound Recording & Mix: Michael J. Epstein
Assistant Camera/BTS Stills: Ryan Oksenberg
Puppet Design/Build, Additional VFX & Poster Art: Eli Dorsey
Executive Producers: Paul Furio, Mary McDonagh, Bruce Labbate, Kevin Sluder, Carter Johnson
Thank you: The McKendrys, Gary Sherman, Adam Egypt Mortimer, Jeffrey Stackhouse, Shane Brady, Ryan Lambert, GD Dearborn, Chris Walas
World Premiere
Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival
Somerville, MA
2/18/22
Plays w/CRABS!
Renegade Film Festival
Marietta, GA
3/5/22
Finalist, Side-Splitting Horror Comedy
Boston Underground Film Festival
Cambridge, MA
3/26/22
Teenage Waterpolo (Comedy Block)
Fantaspoa
Porto Alegre, Brazil
4/15/22
International Premiere
Bonebat Comedy of Horrors Film Festival
Seattle, WA
5/7/22
StokerCon's Final Frame Competition
Denver, CO
5/13/22
AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER (tie)
Etheria Film Night
FINALIST
Chattanooga Film Festival
VIRTUAL
6/23 - 6/28/22
Oak Cliff Film Festival
Dallas, TX
6/25/22
Late Night Shorts
Portland Horror Film Festival
Portland, OR
7/3/22
Fantasia
Montreal, QC, Canada
7/15/22
Plays w/Blue Sunshine
Canadian Premiere
Snake Alley Festival of Film
Burlington, IA
7/23/22
FrightFest
London, United Kingdom
8/26/22
International Shorts Block
European Premiere
GenreBlast
Winchester, VA
9/3/22
Plays w/Gouge Away
Sydney Underground Film Festival
Sydney, Australia
9/9/22
WTF Block
Shawna Shea Film Festival
Worcester, MA
9/21/22
Opening Night shorts block
Charlotte Film Festival
10/1/22
Narrative Shorts #8
Charlotte, NC
Wreak Havoc Horror Film Festival
Winston-Salem, NC
10/31 - 11/1/22
Brooklyn Horror Film Festival
Brooklyn, NY
10/15/22
Laugh Now, Die Later block
Nightmares Film Festival
Columbus, OH
10/22/22
Never Play with your Food block
FilmQuest
Provo, UT
Oct/Nov 22 TBA