Microwave Massacre (1979) Synopsis

Donald (Jackie Vernon) is a middle-aged, overweight, construction worker living in an L.A. suburban neighborhood with a big problem: his shrew of a wife May (Claire Ginsberg) has started to only cook gourmet foods in a Hyacinth Bucket-style misguided effort to make themselves seem classier than they are. While his co-worker friends Roosevelt (Loren Schein) and Phillip (Al Troupe) dine on simple bologna-and-cheese sandwiches for lunch, Donald is saddled with crab sandwiches and other cooking atrocities. To his horror, he discovers his wife has bought an unusually large Major Electric microwave oven, which makes the meals worse in half the time.After coming home drunk one night and getting into an argument with May, Donald loses his temper and bludgeons her to death with a large pepper grinder. He wakes up the next day with a bad hangover, no memory of the night before, and a growling stomach. He discovers May's corpse in the microwave and after the initial wave of horror passes, he starts to take it in stride, telling his co-workers that he and May separated. After work, he then cuts up May's body and stores it in foil wrap in the fridge. A running gag involving May's head retaining some sort of sentience is introduced during this scene.Looking for a midnight snack one night, Donald unintentionally takes a few bites of May's hand, and (again) after the initial wave of horror passes, he realizes it's the best thing he's ever eaten. He even brings some to work with him and shares it with Phillip and Roosevelt, who concur. Donald decides that he has a thing going here and decides to look for "more" female meat to each.One evening after going to his local bar and chatting with the barman Sam, Donald sees a prostitute, named Dee Dee Dee, whom he follows outside and after she breaks a heel on one of her shoes, offers to take her back to his house. After having rough and uncomfortable sex Dee Dee Dee, Donald smothers her to death with a pillow and proceeds to chop up her dead body into several pieces and cook them in the large Major Electric microwave oven for himself and his co-workers.Donald soon starts picking up more hookers and killing them so he us can use them for meat in his recipes. He lures one young woman, dressed in a chicken costume to his house "for lunch" which he also kills. Other female victims (both on-screen and off-screen) include another prostitute named Susie Grubb.While cooking one night, Donald has a mild heart attack and goes to his doctor, who tells him of a pacemaker that was put in a few years ago when he had some excess weight, but says he is fine overall. But a little later, May's equally shrewish sister Evelyn (Sarah Alt) shows up, having not heard from her sister in some time. When Evelyn finds May's severed head, Donald attacks her in which she is gagged with bread and thrown, tied up, in Donald's closet.Donald's lunches continue to be a hit with his friends, and he decides to cater an outing to a wrestling match with a new recipe he calls "Peking chick." When Roosevelt and Phillip show up to pick up Donald, they discover him dead on the kitchen floor of a heart attack, and some body parts in the microwave. They leave in horror and disgust, realizing what Donald had been serving them.Some time later, the Donald's house is up for sale and movers are taking the furniture out. A repairman examines the microwave and discovers a problem with the wires... commenting that it would be bad for someone with a pacemaker. Evelyn, still alive, is found by one of the movers. The final shot zooms into the refrigerator in the garage, which opens to reveal May's head. Her eyes glow orange as the film ends.

Donald (Jackie Vernon) is a middle-aged, overweight, construction worker living in an L.A. suburban neighborhood with a big problem: his shrew of a wife May (Claire Ginsberg) has started to only cook gourmet foods in a Hyacinth Bucket-style misguided effort to make themselves seem classier than they are. While his co-worker friends Roosevelt (Loren Schein) and Phillip (Al Troupe) dine on simple bologna-and-cheese sandwiches for lunch, Donald is saddled with crab sandwiches and other cooking atrocities. To his horror, he discovers his wife has bought an unusually large Major Electric microwave oven, which makes the meals worse in half the time.After coming home drunk one night and getting into an argument with May, Donald loses his temper and bludgeons her to death with a large pepper grinder. He wakes up the next day with a bad hangover, no memory of the night before, and a growling stomach. He discovers May's corpse in the microwave and after the initial wave of horror passes, he starts to take it in stride, telling his co-workers that he and May separated. After work, he then cuts up May's body and stores it in foil wrap in the fridge. A running gag involving May's head retaining some sort of sentience is introduced during this scene.Looking for a midnight snack one night, Donald unintentionally takes a few bites of May's hand, and (again) after the initial wave of horror passes, he realizes it's the best thing he's ever eaten. He even brings some to work with him and shares it with Phillip and Roosevelt, who concur. Donald decides that he has a thing going here and decides to look for "more" female meat to each.One evening after going to his local bar and chatting with the barman Sam, Donald sees a prostitute, named Dee Dee Dee, whom he follows outside and after she breaks a heel on one of her shoes, offers to take her back to his house. After having rough and uncomfortable sex Dee Dee Dee, Donald smothers her to death with a pillow and proceeds to chop up her dead body into several pieces and cook them in the large Major Electric microwave oven for himself and his co-workers.Donald soon starts picking up more hookers and killing them so he us can use them for meat in his recipes. He lures one young woman, dressed in a chicken costume to his house "for lunch" which he also kills. Other female victims (both on-screen and off-screen) include another prostitute named Susie Grubb.While cooking one night, Donald has a mild heart attack and goes to his doctor, who tells him of a pacemaker that was put in a few years ago when he had some excess weight, but says he is fine overall. But a little later, May's equally shrewish sister Evelyn (Sarah Alt) shows up, having not heard from her sister in some time. When Evelyn finds May's severed head, Donald attacks her in which she is gagged with bread and thrown, tied up, in Donald's closet.Donald's lunches continue to be a hit with his friends, and he decides to cater an outing to a wrestling match with a new recipe he calls "Peking chick." When Roosevelt and Phillip show up to pick up Donald, they discover him dead on the kitchen floor of a heart attack, and some body parts in the microwave. They leave in horror and disgust, realizing what Donald had been serving them.Some time later, the Donald's house is up for sale and movers are taking the furniture out. A repairman examines the microwave and discovers a problem with the wires... commenting that it would be bad for someone with a pacemaker. Evelyn, still alive, is found by one of the movers. The final shot zooms into the refrigerator in the garage, which opens to reveal May's head. Her eyes glow orange as the film ends.

Published Time: 2021-06-16 11:50:16