Raunchy R-Rated Horror Comedy With Kill Bill Icon, Stream Without Netflix

What is Evil Toons about, though? When four buxom college babes are hired to clean up an abandoned mansion, they soon come into possession of a creepy, Necronomicon-style book. After reading one of its incantations (never a good idea), the girls run afoul of a horny, evil cartoon, a creature who turns one of their sisterhood into the ultimate killer.

The cast of Evil Toons isn’t all that impressive to general audiences, but genre nerds will surely recognize some of these faces. David Carradine is the biggest name, but the movie also features Monique Gabrielle, a B-movie queen who has also starred in such hits as Deathstalker 2 and Emmanuelle 5.

The movie also features Michelle Bauer, a star of Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, and many of Evil Toons director Fred Olen Ray’s other films, including Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (trust me, it’s a lot better than it sounds).

While he has a relatively small part, perhaps the biggest name in Evil Toons for serious genre nerds is Dick Miller. He’s been in a bit of everything over the decades, including the original The Little Shop of Horrors, The Terminator, and both Gremlins movies. He’s been in so much genre fare that Evil Toons has a fun visual gag where his character is watching a scene from A Bucket of Blood featuring its star, Dick Miller.

Evil Toons never got a proper theatrical release, going straight to video and cable television. I personally watched the film at far too young an age, courtesy of horror host Joe Bob Briggs. My impressionable self fell in love with this raunchy romp right away, and while I think it holds up perfectly, this is a movie that critics positively hated upon its release.

On Rotten Tomatoes, Evil Toons currently has a critical rating of 33 percent (albeit from only six reviews). Strangely enough, one of the critics’ main gripes is the titular toon that only appears onscreen for about 90 seconds. The whole idea of an evil cartoon was inspired by the popularity of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but this film’s low budget limited both the screen time and animation.

Now, on to the big question: why am I encouraging you to check out a low-budget, hated horror film that barely delivers on its promise of showing an evil cartoon character? For one thing, this is the perfect example of a horror comedy that leans more into laughs than scares. If you want to turn your brain off and enjoy cheesy dialogue and over-the-top humor, then this is the cinematic junk food that you’re looking for.

Plus, it can’t be overstated enough that neither the women in this film nor the director are taking any of this too seriously. Instead, they are just having fun making this glorious schlockfest, and their creative joy is infectious. Honestly, if you can watch a few scenes without cracking a huge grin, I’m going to assume your sense of humor has been possessed by a horny cartoon.

REVIEW SCORE

I could never look you in the eyes and say this is a good horror film in the way that, say, the first Nightmare On Elm Street is a good scary movie. Nor is this a so-called “elevated horror” adventure that you’ll need to watch a half-dozen YouTuber explainers to fully understand (looking at you, Longlegs). Instead, this is a film that fully delivers on what Job Bob Briggs always cheekily called “the 3 B’s:” blood, breasts, and beasts.

Those aren’t the qualities every moviegoer is looking for, and you may very well find Evil Toons to be a retrograde disappointment. However, if you grew up watching late-night shlock horror or just like finding the craziest stuff on the virtual bottom shelf of various streaming services, you may find this movie to be a hilariously horny throwback to a simpler time.

You won’t know until you stream it for free on Tubi and discover the awesome niche horror world of my favorite sleazy director, Fred Olen Ray.