When a film features a cameo from Troma head honcho Lloyd Kaufman there's a pretty high chance that it'll be very dumb, and it's almost as likely that it will be a low-budget crap-fest. Lloyd has a cameo in Creep Van. 'Nuff said.But as dumb and as crap as this cheapo horror film undeniably is, I still had a reasonable amount of fun with it thanks to the inventive and rather graphic gore and a fair amount of female nudity (where there's Kaufman, there's usually a naked chick or three not very far away).Creep Van stars Brian Kolodziej as Campbell Jackson, a loser who sorely needs a car of his own in order to improve his job prospects. For the time being, he takes work at a car wash, where he meets Amy (Amy Wehrell), whom he takes an instant shine to. Keen to get himself some wheels, Campbell rings and enquires about a van he sees for sale, unaware that the owner of said vehicle is a homicidal maniac who has fitted the van with all kinds of deadly booby traps.Starting with a cool gore effect where a thief is bisected by the van's window, this film is loaded with enthusiastic splatter, making it a passable watch despite a terrible script and lots of lousy acting (Lloyd Kaufman gives one of the better performances, which should give you some idea of how bad everyone is).Other juicy moments include a tough girl cut in half by the van, a chick in a bikini (played by porn-star Angelina Armani) having her head crushed, two of Campbell's friends being splattered while having sex, a guy's face mashed by an air bag full of nails, and a great death scene for the van's deranged owner.I don't really want to make a habit of recommending Troma movies, but if you're in the mood for some seriously trashy entertainment then Creep Van might just about fit the bill.

Down on his luck misfit Campbell Jackson (a fine and likable performance by Brian Kolodzeij) runs afoul of a vicious and mysterious roving psycho (a creepy portrayal by Mike Butler) who drives around in a beat-up old 70's van. Campbell joins forces with amiable hippie conman Swami Ted (a hilarious and engaging turn by Collin Bernsen) to prevent both himself and his sweet newfound girlfriend Amy (winningly played by the pretty and appealing Amy Wehrell) from becoming the wacko's next victims. Director Scott W. McKinlay and writer Jim Bartoo concoct a delightfully eccentric and entertaining affair that unfolds at a brisk pace, makes the most out of an amusing sense of quirky humor, delivers the gruesome goods with several inventively nasty murder set pieces, manages to build some tension for the suspenseful climax, and even comes through with a nice smattering of tasty gratuitous female nudity as well as a dab of kinky sex. Moreover, it's acted with zest by an enthusiastic cast: Kolodzeij and Wehrell display a charming chemistry in the leads, the luscious Veronica Adkinson bitches it up well as the snarky Danni, Gerald Emerick is a riot as Campbell's hearty boss Mr. Kaufman, Lloyd Kaufman contributes a funny bit as a disgruntled man, and hot blonde Tonya Kay has a stand-out small role as a sassy gal who beats up a jerk mechanic. The surprise bummer ending packs a startling punch. Kudos are also in order for Michael J. Walker's sharp cinematography, the gnarly practical make-up, and Dennis Dreith's cool bluesy rock score. An inspired and idiosyncratic hoot.

OK, so shoot me, but I liked it. Really! It's obvious that no-one here had the ambition or pretension to create some mind-blowing masterpiece and the low budget is even more obvious. But in spite of that I had a good time watching it: the movie has a good pace, there's plenty of gore, and best of all: it's very funny.Sure, the story is flimsier than flimsy (mysterious sadist uses his van as a killing device by stuffing it with deadly booby-traps; innocent guy sees his girlfriend abducted by the van and decides to hunt it down) and we're way in the first hour of the movie before anything like a coherent plot starts to unfold - until then the many killings are coming more or less out off the blue. The acting is… well, let's say: sympathetic, as if friends and family of the director decided to help him out. And the look of the images is a bit grainy, maybe that's a budget-thing too (although they might have intended it, to resemble the 70's and 80's B-horror-flicks which clearly were an inspiration).But the killings are absolutely worth-while: abundant, original and very graphically visualized. Taken the low budget into account they work amazingly well, so kudos to the make-up and the special effects department. As to the story: indeed very thin, yet not very predictable (as one might expect), for instance I was pleasantly surprised by the negative ending, which boldly defied the laws of the genre by letting the hero NOT rescue the girl and getting unjustly blamed and punished, while the maniac walks free. About the actors: apart from Collin Bernsen it's only Brian Kolodziej who stands out. To say that this is mainly due to his cute and forlorn-puppy like appearance would be selling him short: he really has acting potential and also a keen sense of timing in the many humorous scenes and dialogs. Which brings me to the biggest asset of this movie: it's SO funny!! The whole movie is filled with situations and conversations that are on the brink of absurd, but are dealt with in a priceless deadpan sort of humor, that totally worked for me. The examples are countless: the receptionist at the employment office. The pot-smoking, good-for-nothing co-workers in the car-wash. Campbell's boss, all the time putting weird sexual innuendo's in every conversation. Campbell's room-mate, who's into SM and has sex in a dog-bin. And best of all: Swami Ted, a total wacko who decides to help Campbell out. Collin Bernsens portrayal is perfect: a wonderful mix of weirdness, overblown ego, a pot-fogged mind and the heartfelt sympathy of a bro-in-arms. What a pity Swami didn't survive - which by the way was (in my humble opinion) a bit of a script-failure: Swami joining Campbell in the rescue didn't lead up to anything, since he was immediately killed at the first confrontation with the maniac, so the whole big go-to-the rescue-together scene leaves the impression of being totally unnecessary for the story. But thank god it was there, since it was so funny!Anyway, my compliments to writers and director, I had a great time!! I rank it 8 out-of 10.

If you like a some low-brow comedy to accompany your bloody B-rate slasher, then the Creep Van will deliver! *NOTE: The version found on Netflix is NOT the raunchier, uncut, extended version that I viewed online.*Despite a couple of shoddy performance moments and an unmistakably low-budget vibe, Creep Van manages very decent gore and a few laugh-out-loud moments. The humor is fairly original, as is the storyline. The characters and kills are curiously quirky. It is written nicely, and the film makes the most of its' budget by employing traditional stage effects and camera trickery rather than CGI tactics. The soundtrack and sound FX, though mostly absent, worked well enough and weren't a distraction.The pace is fine, however it's hard to keep track of time that passes within the film. Has a day passed, or a month? Contemplating this was a bother. In fact, there are a number of missing or incomplete components within the story that were slightly bothersome. They did not however, impede My overall enjoyment. I was glad to have watched it, and would watch it again. There are a number of topless scenes, hilariously bizarre sexuality, and other graphic moments that make this film inappropriate for those under 17 and for those with a big stick up their ultra-tight posterior.