Buzzard

Buzzard is billed as Michigan-based filmmaker Joel Potrykus' finale in an "animal trilogy" (preceded by a werewolf short called Coyote and the dark comedy Ape), although prior knowledge of the other films is not necessary to be amused/appalled by this sardonic study of a callow temp worker and horror fan named Marty (a memorable turn by Joshua Burge). Openly despising his corporate job in a mortgage firm, the amoral Marty slacks off constantly and runs petty scams. Emboldened to steal client checks from the office, Marty grows fearful over the prospect of discovery and he hides out, first becoming a houseguest-from-hell for a co-worker (entertainingly played by the director), and then absconding to Detroit on a seemingly hopeless downward spiral in which his homemade Freddy Krueger glove fatefully figures. Suggesting that a rotten-dispirited-workplace society richly deserves a creep like this, Buzzard is a challenging and thought-provoking film. Recommended. (C. Cassady)