Admittedly I wasn’t the biggest fan of Alex Pucci’s “Camp Daze.” While it was an original concept for the camp slasher it was a bit too reliant on throwbacks to the slasher sub-genre to be the perfect horror film. Pucci bounces back though with “Frat House Massacre” an excellent horror slasher that sets down in the late seventies revolving around familiar themes of revenge, karma, and the inevitable twist. It’s surprising that with such a small budget Pucci is able to accomplish what Ti West did in “House of the Devil,” hearkening back to the decade of the seventies so adamantly and making this feel successfully like a capsule of the time with fashions, hairstyles, and a killer soundtrack and synth score that makes this seem utterly genuine.
Tag Archives: Slasher
Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill! (2006)
Though I thoroughly enjoyed director Chad Ferrin’s “Easter Bunny Kill! Kill!” I have to say that its primary downfall is that it takes much too long to build up to anything violent or horrific. A good forty minutes in to the movie I understood the build-up but could never understand why it took so long to extrapolate on the cruelty of the supporting characters. In spite of those flaws though “Easter Bunny Kill! Kill!” is a great little horror karma tale you’ll enjoy if you’re willing to invest enough time in the story and over the top performances.
Caesar and Otto’s Summer Camp Massacre (2009)
The best way to approach independent films looking to tap the comedy genre is to keep an open mind. Try a parking lot in the Grand Canyon type of open and you’ll be there. That’s the way I confronted Dave Campfield’s “Caesar and Otto” horror comedy. An apparent sequel to an earlier film of his, Dave Campfield enlists the horror genre to this installment and just goes all out wacky in every single instance he can muster up. Campfield doesn’t exactly follow a specific comedy formula here and it shows quite often with scenes that are just insanely nonsensical. From character Caesar’s inherent wackiness when indulging himself in a bit part as an extra in a television show (a scene that promised to be awful but was quite funny), to his implementing of “Where’s Waldo”-like glasses when reading a map, Campfield just seems to be using whatever he thinks will work no matter how nonsensical it may be and… It’s funny. It’s very funny.
It's Groundhog Day Chainsaw Sally! (2009)
On Groundhog day in Porterville Maryland, nine independent filmmakers went deep in to the woods to film a documentary about a string of disappearances and murders that became local folklore and… well, let’s just say they didn’t come across any stupid punk ass witches or giggling children. No, they happened across Chainsaw Sally and her brother Ruby. Stumbling across the group of inept filmmakers, the brother and sister slaughter team decide to bring down their investigation that could lead to their downfall if not stopped. So Chainsaw and Ruby decide to bring down the poor film students one after another cutting off their resources, and cutting off their limbs while having a gay old time.
Scream (1996)
When I first watched “Scream” back in 1996 I thought it was a masterpiece, a horror film filled with endless possibilities. But as I’ve gone on and managed to watch “Scream” again I’ve come to realize that Wes Craven played many people, and (whether I like it or not) the series he followed it with has been successful. “Scream” is just more of the same humdrum slasher fare that we’ve seen a billion times, except it’s served up with the deceit that we’re seeing something wholly original. What with the Ghost Face’s eerie facade and the atmospheric setting, “Scream” definitely has that illusion that what we’re laying our eyes on is something we’ve never seen before. In actuality we have, except Craven and writer Kevin Williamson never quite let on about it. “Scream” is a movie that never knows what it wants to be. Is it a murder mystery posing as a slasher film? Is it a horror comedy? Is it a spoof of slashers? Is it a loving satire? If it pretends to be an anti-slasher then why does it jump head first in to cliché slasher trappings in the final half of the film?
H2: Halloween II (2009)
In Rob Zombie’s first bastardization of the Halloween franchise, we’re told that Michael is so intent on going home that he’s willing to do anything to get there and is perfectly willing to remain unresponsive to psychological help. We’re also told that he’s completely emotionless and cold to just about everyone. And yet here we are with “Halloween II” where we get to see how cute and affectionate he is with his mother. This is further proof that Zombie just doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing ninety percent of the time. How can we ever expect to see a good movie from this man again if the story he’s telling is inconsistent? Seeming to have no other option these days, Zombie continues chucking rotten eggs our way from the contrived “Halloween II” (I refuse to call it H2) right down to the awful animated mess that was “El Superbeasto.”
Boogeyman 2 (2007)
If you recall, the original “Boogeyman” was a steaming pile that seemed to put up so much effort for an end product that would ultimately mean nothing, and this is because of the phenomenally bad writing that took the interesting concept and went nowhere fast. What “Boogeyman 2” does is take the typical route and makes all the obvious moves: It becomes a slasher movie, one that basically follows in continuity with the first without reminding us too much how much it stunk. Call me an apologist, proclaim my taste as being awful, but “Boogeyman 2” isn’t so bad. Sure it’s far from perfect but what it lacks in originality and scares it makes up for in creativity and hitting most of the right chords as a slasher film… and yes some of the performances manage to be pretty decent in the meanwhile.