THIS low-budget send-up of the action-film genre is the kind of flick that keeps film festivals ticking over. "Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane" goes completely out on a limb and frequently overboard (well, what do you expect with a title like that?), creating some irresistibly funny moments, but also a lot of hot air.

On the surface this is about a couple of twentysomething second-hand car salesmen, who, having fallen on hard times, accept a dodgy, but lucrative offer to look after a mysterious 1963 burgundy Pontiac for just two days. They know the idea stinks, but after much wrangling they accept. Meanwhile, in a series of different incidents, mean-looking dudes are being shot to bits in glorious splattervision. These two plot strands are related, as you discover in the course of the film.

With little funding to play with, verbiage in BGBO is full-on. The two leads are from the hard-sell school of salesmanship, who perhaps should never be given quite as much time as they do to shoot their mouths off directly at the the camera. But that said the film has drive, and gets better as the story (which is ludicrous, but quite funny) builds.

The hand-held camerawork gives the film a rough-edged, shoot-from-the-hip feel. BGBO abounds with wit, adrenaline and the blackest humour. Some of the dialogue is wicked. For example, when the Feds investigating officer arrives on the scene of a murder where the corpse has been cut up bit by bit, "digit by digit", and left in a dumpster, he asks: "What you got?" One of forensics who is rummaging about in the dumpster, looks up and replies with his best KFC grin: "Nothing for you?" Also deserving a mention is the enigmatic, deadpan Mr Reich, a German hitman who punctuates his killings with a dry, macabre humour.

Director Joe Carnahan has original ideas which he is not afraid of putting into practice. The rapid-fire patter (virtually all of the characters seem capable of talking faster than they can think, apart from the deliberate Mr Reich) railroads you at times, and, some of the scenes, which look very improv, were frequently too long. This is not good, considering the convolutions that the plot undergoes. However, despite its dead patches, if you stay alert to it, you will be rewarded with some comic gems. Someone give the man some real money to make a film.