Jimmy and Stiggs is, what I imagine, an accurate portrayal of what an alien invasion would be like in the company of strung-out and loudly belligerent meatheads with grudges and substance abuse. The question is: does that sound like a good time?

The premise for Joe Begos’ hallucinatory horror, at the very least, sounds good on paper: former friends with a fractured relationship, and a reliance on four-letter expletives, have to work together to kill gnarly martians set against black-light-inspired neon visuals, resulting in a vibrantly gruesome splatter-fest. It’s easy to see what caught the attention of executive producer Eli Roth, director of The Green Inferno and the theatrically released Hostel movies. Jimmy and Stiggs has enough flash to be the nuclear back-up for a small town.

But another good question to ask is: why is Joe Begos making this feature now when it seems as though it’s 10 years his junior? Admittedly, I’m unfamiliar with Begos’ previous horror movies. But still, the production behind Jimmy and Stiggs is obsessed with experimentation in the same way a curious student would be. The alien lore is ignored, as well as the shared history between the titular punks, for the sake of seeing what would look cool or “bad ass” on camera.

There’s also a smug quality to its sense of humour, which incorporates the characters’ surly vocabulary and fighting the aliens using whatever is available within the small confines of a musty apartment. Despite the commitment to practical effects and meticulously choreographing the cinematography, the comedy doesn’t take much effort to set up because of its immature nature which only grows more monotonous after each joke is repeated. The performances are shallow and the aliens have too much of a resemblance to cheap-looking dummies. Pair them together, and the audience is subjected to grown men wrestling with slimy dolls. Cool…?

Jimmy and Stiggs is too conceited to realize the intelligence of its audience. Begos and company usher in waves of irritating unhinged chaos, expecting horror hounds to lap it all up. But the difference between schlock like this with much smarter, in-your-face (and grosser) vehicles like the recent Toxic Avenger adaptation or The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man (the latter which shares the same DIY spirit as Jimmy and Stiggs) is that Begos’ peers maintain a curiousity throughout their work as they dish out their yucks. Aside from some first-person shots, there’s nothing interesting in Jimmy and Stiggs. Once you’ve seen one martian splurge technicolour goop, you’ve seen them all.

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie