The Ballad of Skinless Pete (aka Skinless Pete) by Dustin Wayde Mills is ridiculously, jaw droppingly good..better than you'd expect any indie feature with a low budget to be. With lens flare that would make JJ Abrams weep with jealousy and solid performances from all the cast, this is stylish stuff, with every penny of the production on display.
If The Fly and The Incredible Melting Man had a son, Skinless Pete may well be him. Darkly humorous, graphic and moving in equal measure, this movie had me gripped from start to glorious finish. The effects work is some of the best I've seen in an indie production and there's genuine suspense contained in the frames.
Mills' regular actor, Brandon Salkil, is on top form here as the principal character. He's a wonderfully talented screen presence, a physical actor who delivers horror and comedy in equal measure.
Erin R. Ryan is excellent, too, as Dr. Alice Cross, and Allison (Easter Casket) Fitzgerald delivers a strong performance as Olivia. Ryan's always screen gold and her performance in the next Mills directed movie, Kill That Bitch, is unmissable.
Topped off with one of the catchiest and fun theme songs I've heard in a long while, this is the Nekromantik for the twenty-tens! The Ballad of Skinless Pete will find a place in any horror lover's heart. Simply brilliant.