Cinema Crazed

2006

Rated: Unrated

Genre: Horror

Directed By: Robert Haran

Running Time: 1:27

Review by: Tony Farinella

Review Date: 10/05/06

THE MURDER GAME

The Murder Game is an example of doing a lot with a little. No big budget, no big name actors, just being creative and using what is around you. You really don't need a lot of money to make a horror film. You just have to use your brain, surroundings, and have good, crisp writing. That is one of the major advantages of doing a low budget horror film.

The Murder Game follows a group of bored teens who invent a game in which one of them is chosen by a deck of cards to be the killer. The rest are the innocent victims. The killer is armed with prop weapons, and the killer must eliminate the other players before being discovered. They open up the film playing this game at one of their homes. The mother arrives home and is not pleased to see them playing this game. She wishes they would either get a job, or find something better to do with their time.

Since they are running out of locations to play this game, they decide to sneak into a large self-storage warehouse during its closed, late-night hours to hold their game. The setting gives it a creepy, dark, and ominous atmosphere to hold the game. This is what I was talking about when I said use what is around you to your advantage. We all have seen horror films in the woods, the outdoors, or in some creepy basement.

But none in a storage warehouse. Props to the filmmakers for being creative. The film also uses some creative gore to their advantage. They use buckets upon buckets of gore and unlike so many PG-13 horror movies that play it safe, The Murder Game is not shy about tossing out the blood in heavy doses. The acting is hit or miss. Some of the characters and performances are a little too typical for my liking. Such as the pot smoking goon, the dumb big breasted girl, and the loud, obnoxious testosterone-driven wannabe leader of the group. Others play their roles well as they play the smart and rational members of this group of friends.

Even though this film was made before similar films such as Cry Wolf and Stay Alive, I can't help but feel I have seen this formula before. Once we get into the storage room, we really go down a road we have gone down before. Teens split up, get killed in assembly line fashion, people make stupid mistakes, and the film really lost me towards the end. I wish the film would have finished how it started. Sadly, it does not.

I can't give The Murder Game a full recommendation, but I do recommend checking it out if it plays at a festival near you. It is a well-made film, but suffers from a final punch to put it over the top.

For more information on "The Murder Game" visit the official website: http://www.murdergamemovie.com/ and its MySpace: www.myspace.com/themurdergame

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