Splatter comedy in Finland has been the sole and minuscule reserve of amateur filmmakers, but Howard tried for some cross over with professional actors and money from the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation. In what is essentially a thirty-minute amok run, Peltonen's harmless deaf-mute florist Howard Cucumber (!) is branded a serial killer by the police and the media and flees across the city, causing more accidental deaths as he is chased by the real thing, Lietola's gun-toting and grinning psycho sicced on him by the police. Between synthesizer-driven vignettes of people running, falling from high buildings, getting shot to pieces or giving CPR to a squashed cat, we get some dialogue in short parodic sketches, the best of which are the television news flashes serving as info dumps and taking the mickey out of a few contemporaneous celebrities. The mandatory (for the 1990s) Silence of the Lambs parody manages a few hits as well, but director Neil Hardwick's cameo as a jiving gangster is just as unfunny as the Tarantino soliloquies it parodies.

Visually, the film is impressive in creating scene after scene of bloodbath and stunts with breathless pacing. Like Lietola's performance, its splatter ballet exudes a delirious relish of kids loosed from all shackles and given the means to wallow in their wildest fantasies. Nice for them, but the jokes may be lost on the viewer.

The parody subgenre imitates, exaggerates, and satirizes the style, themes, characters, or conventions of another work, genre, or cultural phenomenon. Parodies often involve taking well-known elements from the original source and presenting them in a humorous and exaggerated manner to create a comedic effect.

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The action genre features fast-paced, thrilling, and intense sequences of physical feats, combat, and excitement. The characters of these stories are involved in daring and often dangerous situations, requiring them to rely on their physical prowess, skills, and quick thinking to overcome challenges and adversaries.

The comedy genre refers to a category of entertainment that aims to amuse and entertain audiences by using humor, wit, and comedic situations. Comedies are created with the primary intention of eliciting laughter and providing lighthearted enjoyment. They encompass a wide range of styles, tones, and themes, appealing to various tastes and audiences.

Will Ferrell, Angela Grillo, and Lap-Gei Cheung in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

The horror genre features stories that aim to elicit fear, suspense, and a sense of dread in its audience. Horror stories often explore themes related to the unknown, the supernatural, and the macabre, and they frequently evoke strong emotional reactions such as anxiety, terror, and unease.

Howard (Ilja Peltonen) is a florist without ability to speak or hear. One day a bank is robbed near by Howard's florist shop, and Howard accidentally kills the man who robbed the bank. From then on, the police start chasing Howard through the city and the body count gets higher by the minute..

Ilja Peltonen in Howard - verinen iltapäivä (1997)

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Howard - verinen iltapäivä

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