A group of college friends travel to hillbilly country ("we don't get many strangers around here") to interview an author for a thesis about a legendary local serial killer. Guess what happens next
From the very opening scene in which the soon-to-be-dead teens load up their car for a few days of camping in the wilderness, Madison County is in very familiar territory, but still manages to be reasonably entertaining for a while thanks to the initially likable characters. Unfortunately, the film spends waaaaay too long getting to the horror—almost 45 minutes go by where very little happens—after which our unfortunate campers appear to abandon brains and start acting like total morons.
Despite hostility from the locals, including an encounter with a knife-wielding redneck outside a diner, they leave the safety of the group to wander around the woods by themselves, practically inviting the resident pig-mask wearing maniac to slaughter them. To make matters worse, the kids throw away every opportunity to finish off the killer, preferring to momentarily incapacitate him and make a run for it—and they never, ever look over their shoulders. Watching characters this stupid soon becomes tiresome in the extreme, and any sympathy towards them goes right out the window.
Towards the end of the film, writer/director Eric England tries to inject a little originality into proceedings with a plot twist involving the mysterious author, but the execution is ham-fisted to say the least, and not in the least bit plausible. An abrupt shock ending fails to improve matters, leaving the viewer pondering whether the film-makers had to return their equipment in a hurry.
On an ever-so-slightly more positive note, the acting is reasonable, with the exception of Adrienne Harrell, who severely lets the side down with her dreadful performance as suspicious old bag Erma, the kills are fairly brutal, the cinematography is above average for such fare, and we even get a spot of gratuitous female nudity (although NOT from the film's attractive female leads, Joanna Sotomura and Natalie Scheetz, who remain clothed throughout) in a ridiculous scene that suggests that the locals are in cahoots with the killer.
From the very opening scene in which the soon-to-be-dead teens load up their car for a few days of camping in the wilderness, Madison County is in very familiar territory, but still manages to be reasonably entertaining for a while thanks to the initially likable characters. Unfortunately, the film spends waaaaay too long getting to the horror—almost 45 minutes go by where very little happens—after which our unfortunate campers appear to abandon brains and start acting like total morons.
Despite hostility from the locals, including an encounter with a knife-wielding redneck outside a diner, they leave the safety of the group to wander around the woods by themselves, practically inviting the resident pig-mask wearing maniac to slaughter them. To make matters worse, the kids throw away every opportunity to finish off the killer, preferring to momentarily incapacitate him and make a run for it—and they never, ever look over their shoulders. Watching characters this stupid soon becomes tiresome in the extreme, and any sympathy towards them goes right out the window.
Towards the end of the film, writer/director Eric England tries to inject a little originality into proceedings with a plot twist involving the mysterious author, but the execution is ham-fisted to say the least, and not in the least bit plausible. An abrupt shock ending fails to improve matters, leaving the viewer pondering whether the film-makers had to return their equipment in a hurry.
On an ever-so-slightly more positive note, the acting is reasonable, with the exception of Adrienne Harrell, who severely lets the side down with her dreadful performance as suspicious old bag Erma, the kills are fairly brutal, the cinematography is above average for such fare, and we even get a spot of gratuitous female nudity (although NOT from the film's attractive female leads, Joanna Sotomura and Natalie Scheetz, who remain clothed throughout) in a ridiculous scene that suggests that the locals are in cahoots with the killer.