Oats Studios brings you wacky and disturbing horror comedy takes on those awful 80’s infomercials.
The same studio that brought us Zygote gives us a very different version of the horror short. Cooking With Bill is a series of satirical riffs on those terrible infomercial spots that always played after the late shows, killing time in the wee hours of the night. It slices! It dices! It mangles! Call Toll-Free now! But wait… there’s more! MUCH more. Muahahaha!
Alec Gillis plays Bill, the enthusiastic, grinning salesman who is shilling some very dubious cooking devices to hilarious and horrifying results. I love how he tries to hold his composure when things go awry. Joining him is his partner in pitch, the lovely and maybe talented Karen (Carly Pope), who is there for the reaction shot… and the princess wave.
These shorts look like they were shot straight to Betamax, complete with the stretch lines of video tapes. Oats Studios has done four videos, and I’m posting my two favorites… you can go to YouTube to find them all. Just like a real infomercial, these clips are over-the-top and the punch lines are gross and fantastic. I hope that Oats continues on with these satirical takes on the consumerism of my youth. This is a great sign for this little experimental studio to show some breadth to their repertoire. A little comic break from their effects driven sci-fi fare.
Watch and enjoy things go very badly for Bill and Karen.