So this movie is pretty good, better than I expected considering it's a slasher made in 2005. It does attempt to take the "postmodern" route that was popular for slashers at the time, but it injects more comedy than films like Scream, and so has the dual function of both making fun of slashers and being a comedy movie outside of that at the same time. It also shows how the slasher had evolved by this point. Early slashers were all about the common, everyday being invaded by an evil; the crazy mental patient coming down to the regular suburban town to kill. By the end of the 80s, the everyday, relatable characters had turned into stereotypes, and instead of an evil invading the everyday, we have the everyday leaving, and journeying out into the strange, like most horror before the slasher film. That is what this film does, as we have a group of normal (if someone's stereotyped) people leaving on a journey into a closed swamp at night to look at the haunted.
The movie also feels more influenced by those films on the outside of the slasher genre rather than the core of what constitutes the genre. It feels more informed by, the example, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or Don't Go in the Woods, movies that have one foot in the slasher world and another in the world of grindhouse.
That being said, this movie does have the more playful atmosphere of a slasher, exhibiting, as I said earlier, an affinity for comedy as well as self-awareness. Being shot in 2005, it looks better than I expected too. The camerawork is nice, the lighting is nice, and people's outfits aren't too egregiously of the era. It appears to have been shot on film rather than digital too, which is always going to go a long way for me.
Plus, the comedy works. The character of Victor Crowley is pretty hilarious. Just a deformed guy who was accidentally killed by his dad who goes around murdering anyone in the area because... he was bullied as a kid? I guess? The guy is an absolute unit, huge, and seems to take such delight in murdering people in fun and unique ways. I mean, the very second murder in the film is him ripping a woman's face open but using her mouth. It's insane, it's over the top, it's fun, it's funny. There's no tension at all, but that isn't the point of the movie, so I don't see that as a negative, and I think the movie ends up working. Just don't think you're going into something really scary and expect to be frightened to death.
The movie also feels more influenced by those films on the outside of the slasher genre rather than the core of what constitutes the genre. It feels more informed by, the example, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or Don't Go in the Woods, movies that have one foot in the slasher world and another in the world of grindhouse.
That being said, this movie does have the more playful atmosphere of a slasher, exhibiting, as I said earlier, an affinity for comedy as well as self-awareness. Being shot in 2005, it looks better than I expected too. The camerawork is nice, the lighting is nice, and people's outfits aren't too egregiously of the era. It appears to have been shot on film rather than digital too, which is always going to go a long way for me.
Plus, the comedy works. The character of Victor Crowley is pretty hilarious. Just a deformed guy who was accidentally killed by his dad who goes around murdering anyone in the area because... he was bullied as a kid? I guess? The guy is an absolute unit, huge, and seems to take such delight in murdering people in fun and unique ways. I mean, the very second murder in the film is him ripping a woman's face open but using her mouth. It's insane, it's over the top, it's fun, it's funny. There's no tension at all, but that isn't the point of the movie, so I don't see that as a negative, and I think the movie ends up working. Just don't think you're going into something really scary and expect to be frightened to death.
Tell Your Friends