Attendees at last week’s Abertoir Horror Festival (www.abertoir.co.uk) were not only treated to special guest Herschell Gordon Lewis’ superb low-budget filmmaking masterclass, but they were also the first people outside of the production team to see the indie legend’s latest film, “The Uh-Oh! Show”. Formerly known as Grim Fairy Tales, the Godfather of Gore’s new film is about TV entertainment gone mad, as a television reporter tries to expose a nefarious TV studio executive’s increasingly deadly forms of entertainment. The film we saw was unfinished – there was no score, no titles, some missing sound effects and some missing visual effects. This made for an interesting experience in the first instance – the finished product may be a very different creature to the film shown here.

It’s been decades since Lewis’ last film (putting aside “Blood Feast 2″, for which he was hired to direct but was not involved in the rest of the creative process). The Uh-Oh! Show places itself very firmly in Lewis’ tradition of schlocky gore movies. Not an out-and-out horror movie, perhaps, “The Uh-Oh! Show” is a film with something to say, but it thankfully doesn’t take itself seriously as it does so. The film has its tongue firmly in its cheek and its sense of humour set to juvenile. The comedy is slapstick, it’s cheap, it’s unsophisticated – crucially, it’s funny. Certainly, the film won’t have everyone rolling in the aisles, but there’s a certain charm to the sometimes tasteless but very inoffensive humor. The gore augments the sense of silliness, with cartoon violence pervading the film – characters lose limbs and grin through it. There’s something oddly nice about gore (granted, it’s hardly realistic gore!) being used with a sense of cartoonish, twisted fun.

The film definitely has a point to make, and while it’s hardly subtle, it’s an important one. In this respect I can’t help but compare “The Uh-Oh! Show” with “Poultrygeist”, the former passing comment on the changing nature of entertainment, and the latter on the evils of fast food. I wonder if Lloyd Kaufman’s view on media conglomeration influenced Lewis at all, as it’s certainly one aspect of modern media that’s being criticized by the film. This is not the only evidence of Kaufman in the film – one of the film’s highlights is his brilliant cameo as a pimp.

The film’s greatest moments lie in wonderfully self-reflexive inserts from Lewis himself, as he plays ‘Uncle Herschell’, a children’s story teller. These moments are knowing without being annoying or alienating. They demonstrate not only a knowledge of the audience most likely to watch this film, but they also show a great affection for said audience – and it’s a damn nice change to see a movie audience treated with a sense of fun and wit, rather than with cynicism.

I’m sure most people – critics and audiences alike – will be quick to apply conventional criteria to the film: is the acting good? (no) how are the production values? (non-existent) – and in doing so, will quickly dismiss the film. However, a film like The Uh-Oh! Show can’t be judged in this way, if it’s to be appreciated. I don’t want to judge the film with too much certainty before it’s finished, but what I saw made me laugh, made me think and kept me entertained. I’m certain that it’ll be a very niche group of people who enjoy the finished version of The Uh-Oh! Show, and from what I’ve seen so far, I’ll be counting myself among them.