It's not uncommon for artists of any kind to go off the rails or be driven mad by critics. Vincent Gallo is famous for lashing out at Roger Ebert for his bashing of "Brown Bunny," producers like Avi Arad and studios are known for bashing critics that bash their work, and in 2010, Kevin Smith just sank in to the deep end after the critical destruction of "Cop Out." But while "Bitter Feast" is a commentary on pushing people too far, it's also a look at what happens when two bitter absolutely pretentious men meet and decide they're going to make each other suffer for their lives' miseries. While many will be quick to deem this as a satire of the critical world, director Joe Maggio actually spoofs both sides of the field, the artist and the critic. Or in this film, the pompous pretentious artist who takes his work much too seriously, and the critic who refuses to be honest and or kind and just wants to purposely play a heel for the sake of publicity and readership. Peter Grey is a chef who takes his job much too seriously. Although he is a very talented and much sought after cooking personality, thanks to food blogger JT Franks lambasting his restaurant's delicacies, he is on the cusp of ruin. His co-host for his cooking show refuses to work with him due to his inability to find humor in cooking, and his restaurant is now losing customers. In an effort to win back his fan base and savor the final days of his show before it's canceled, Grey takes measures and kidnaps JT Franks.

"Bitter Feast" is firmly entrenched in the horror dark comedy arena where the battle between both Grey and Franks turns in to a war of spite and stubbornness rather than one man trying to win over the other. Franks is too pigheaded to bow to Grey's incessant badgering of understanding food, while Grey is too uptight to let his criticism go hoping to accomplish a common ground that may never be achieved. James LeGros is delightfully despicable as the unhinged Grey who refuses to ease up on his view as food preparation being a strict art, and we're given insight in to his passion throughout the film and his obsession with finely tuned food kitchen maintenance. Joshua Leonard is also quite good as the morally grey absolutely bitter Franks who is both sympathetic and unlikable constantly shifting in ideals and opinions that keep him a protagonist the audience also struggles to come to terms with. There's also a fine supporting performance from Amy Seimitz as character Franks' long suffering wife, and Megan Hilty as Grey's grating co-host who loathes Grey to the point of demeaning him on television.  Both men, though, are fantastic in their roles and truly strive to deliver an experience that's bold and demented on many wave lengths keeping the film balanced between torture porn and tongue in cheek comedy. "Bitter Feast" had every chance to be a missed opportunity, but it's an entertaining spoof of the critical culture I got a kick out of.

Sure it's not a masterpiece, but "Bitter Feast" is very worthy of a viewing from horror fans who like their entertainment with appropriate amounts of gore, grue, and dark comedy. Performances from Joshua Leonard and James LeGros are fantastic, and director Joe Maggio really does serve up a tasty dish that puts both sides of the critical world under the microscope.