Review: MURDERABILIAC (2019) Horror-On-Sea 2020

Murderabilia is, as you might guess from the name, collectibles related to murders and murderers. Be it things like the car Bonnie and Clyde were killed in. Or the paintings of John Wayne Gacy there’s a thriving market for these kinds of things. Writer/director Richard Karpala (Iris) uses the world of these collectors as the setting for Murderabiliac.

Dilbert (Lonny Curtis) is a seller murderabilia, specializing in somehow obtaining the weapons used in mass killings. He’s conjured up a buyer for his latest acquisition, literally. And sure enough, Carol Edith (Sydney Skidmore) a cover girl for Murder Chicks magazine is at his door. And she’s ready to do business. Dilbert and his partner Lance (Erik Donovan) have plans for Carol, but plans have a way of going astray.

While I’m sure there have been others, there’s only one other film I can think of that dealt with buyers and sellers of murder mementos. “Dealers Of Death”, a segment of the anthology film Hi-Death. Like it Murderabiliac is a short, running about 10 minutes.

What we get in those 10 minutes is a fun mix of supernatural and more realistic shenanigans, dark humour and a couple of well-done references to the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I’m not sure if it was an intentional reference or not, but Skidmore reminded me of a cuter version of Shelly Duvall in The Shining.

Murderabeliac is playing festivals. It’s worth checking the shorts blocks of ones near you for it.