Nostalgia Kinky

A cheap slice of extra-cheesy cheese pizza, with a healthy helping of shrooms, Fungicide (2002) is a mini-DV SOV mad-hatter of a film. Made almost entirely by director Dave Wascavage and his family in their Eastern Pennsylvania home, Fungicide is a frequently hilarious and endlessly enjoyable sci-fi/horror film now available from Visual Vengeance as a special edition Blu-ray, featuring hours of extras.

Dave Wascavage was a kid in the eighties, like other kids in the eighties. He dug John Carpenter’s films, Star Wars and especially the work of George Romero. Like a lot of us, at some point he discovers Italian horror and that really sends him, especially cheesy gore classics like Burial Ground (1981). Also, like a lot of us, Dave wanted to make movies when he grew up and, despite all the odds he has done just that, with his Suburban Sasquatch (2004) remaining his most cherished work.

Fungicide is Wascavage’s debut feature. It’s a mess, but a glorious one concerning an odd assortment of travelers who end up at a remote bed and breakfast held under siege by giant killer mushrooms. Pretty much every acceptable filmmaking rule is thrown out, creating a delightfully distinctive film. Wascavage seems both steeped in film and completely oblivious of how it works, and yet it does here. He creates a little lo-fi treasure, pure goofball stuff, but color me depressed if I can’t still get joy out of a film like Fungicide.

With its astoundingly bad practical effects, terrible early CGI, and laughably bad gore, Fungicide is very much in on the joke throughout its 84-minute run-time. Wascavage is looking to create a dime-store Evil Dead 2, and he kind of does just that. Fungicide is a very funny and winking film, with some surprisingly sharp dialogue and mic-drop lines scattered throughout. Fungicide pretty much dares you not to smile while watching it.

Like I said, Fungicide is very much a family affair. Wascavage discusses his family’s role in this excellent interview found here, and I especially appreciated this:

“I would say that I truly believe that my family wants to see me happy. I truly believe my family gets a kick out of being involved but not one of my family members is like, “Oh yes, I really want to be in front of the camera or behind it and get this thing done.” They’re all like, “Yeah, we’ll help you out for a day we’ll have some fun. I think they just want to see me be successful. And that’s the most you can ask of anybody, right? I mean, they’re dedicating their time to either be in front of her behind the camera or cooking or logistics. Like my wife Mary, I’ve relied on her for reviewing the screenplays and passing some scenes by her to get her take on things. You really can’t work in a silo.”

Fungicide is a great example of ‘anyone could probably do that, but who else would bother’ filmmaking. Visual Vengeance brings the film to Blu-ray, treating it quite royally. Fungicide on Blu comes equipped with a whopping four audio commentaries, a full Rifftrax episode, outtakes, deleted scenes, and more, including the usual VV goodies like a poster, sticker sleeve, and reversible cover with slip. It’s another tremendous SOV release from Visual Vengeance and is highly recommended for fans of the genre or for fans of fun.

-Jeremy Richey, June 2026-

Order now at MVD.