Cheap no-budget slasher with a rather absurd premise..the ever increasing sound of cicadas who react strongly to rock music(!)cause a local fisherman(..whose metal plate in his skull, a surgical procedure made after getting shot in the head during the Korean war, causes such harsh vibrations that he responds violently)to go berserk casting his line towards unfortunate victims in his general area, the massive float and numerous hooks embedded in the flesh jerking them towards him. He chops the victims up and uses their meat for feeding his minnows! It seems that this grisly process helps him lure in more quality fish! A small group of teenager friends enter this fishing village as a tournament is about to begin. As we witness in the opening, Peter van Cleese(Mark Jacobs)returns to the place where he watched his father fall into the river never to be found, the loud cicadas skrieking due to the music playing on a tape player. Peter has remained troubled due to this incident and is unwelcome by his father's grounds-keeper, Wayne Duerst(Paul Drake), a very bitter and rude old man who holds a hostility for how his lost friend mysteriously vanished. Wayne's rather unbalanced son, Evelyn(..the blubbery Bill Lowrie, with some truly awful dialogue he must endure, trying to express a very disturbed, volatile, and ugly creation of the Vietnam war in an over-the-top and outrageous manner)hangs around the place, causing the city kids some unneeded aggravation. We also follow a family of four, who enter the fishing community on vacation with father and mother Roger & Shiela Swain(Don Cosgrove & Bonnie Lee)falling prey to the homicidal fisherman, Leroy Leudke(Don Winters)..Irving and Ruth-Ann(Greg Nienas and Julie Vortanz)are left worried about their parents whereabouts as the local sheriff(Paul Heckman), burdened with little manpower, must begin an investigation in such a prosperous time for his community. Of importance to the advancing plot, Irving uses a metal detector given to him by a more mentally balanced Leudke, to discover certain truths which will indicate the fisherman of his sinister deeds. In a minor sub-plot, Peter's pal, Finner(Christopher Whiting)and a local gal, Bev D(Sandy Meuwissen)have a blossoming romance that is disrupted rather quickly when it's discovered that her husband is Evelyn! As Peter pursues the one responsible for attacks on his friends, he'll need some help from Wayne in order to do so.
The gore is at a minimum, with most victims, from a large distance, getting hooked by Leudke(..always out of frame)either swimming, on a boat or float, even on ground. It's hard to take these attacks seriously as the victims are strong enough to outlast Leudke who must reel them in like a fish..it's just too ridiculous(..particularly Peter's girlfriend, Ann(Lisa Todd)who is a good distance away when the master fisherman snags her), and illogical to expect any one with such capacity to pull a victim into the water, reel them in despite resistance, bound them, carry them all the way back to his dock, and subdue them. We often see victims struggling with the hooks, attempting to free themselves as Leudke yanks and jerks. Peter's friends are extremely obnoxious, very vulgar and rude, acknowledging that visitors from the city deserve to die and horribly as they enter the uncharted territory of a rural fishing village. This is even painted with the suburban family whose patriarch is a big city hot shot, deeming himself the expert fisherman because he could afford the very best materials needed for the sport, with the perfectly annoying, nagging wife. The locals are a collection of colorful oddballs, as expected when depicted in the backwoods regions of rural America. One effects sequence is terribly executed and laughable, when Leudke nabs a victim, he jabs a rod into his neck, through his lower jaw so that he can pull a hook out his mouth..the cast of the actor's complete face looks exactly that with little authenticity. The cheap budget shows all the way through. The premise is original, but too nonsensical for it's own good..how could even an expert fisherman as Leudke be able to accurately hook victims from such a distance away? Still, it's rare to see a slasher film set in a fishing community using the tools of the trade so at least it has that going for it. Director Jim Mallon is best known for his duties as executive producer for Mystery Science Theater 3000. This film was released by Team Troma, but doesn't carry it's usual trademarks, except for the low budget, weirdo characters, bad acting, and strange plot.
The gore is at a minimum, with most victims, from a large distance, getting hooked by Leudke(..always out of frame)either swimming, on a boat or float, even on ground. It's hard to take these attacks seriously as the victims are strong enough to outlast Leudke who must reel them in like a fish..it's just too ridiculous(..particularly Peter's girlfriend, Ann(Lisa Todd)who is a good distance away when the master fisherman snags her), and illogical to expect any one with such capacity to pull a victim into the water, reel them in despite resistance, bound them, carry them all the way back to his dock, and subdue them. We often see victims struggling with the hooks, attempting to free themselves as Leudke yanks and jerks. Peter's friends are extremely obnoxious, very vulgar and rude, acknowledging that visitors from the city deserve to die and horribly as they enter the uncharted territory of a rural fishing village. This is even painted with the suburban family whose patriarch is a big city hot shot, deeming himself the expert fisherman because he could afford the very best materials needed for the sport, with the perfectly annoying, nagging wife. The locals are a collection of colorful oddballs, as expected when depicted in the backwoods regions of rural America. One effects sequence is terribly executed and laughable, when Leudke nabs a victim, he jabs a rod into his neck, through his lower jaw so that he can pull a hook out his mouth..the cast of the actor's complete face looks exactly that with little authenticity. The cheap budget shows all the way through. The premise is original, but too nonsensical for it's own good..how could even an expert fisherman as Leudke be able to accurately hook victims from such a distance away? Still, it's rare to see a slasher film set in a fishing community using the tools of the trade so at least it has that going for it. Director Jim Mallon is best known for his duties as executive producer for Mystery Science Theater 3000. This film was released by Team Troma, but doesn't carry it's usual trademarks, except for the low budget, weirdo characters, bad acting, and strange plot.