Killer Body Count

This is one of those movies that try to trick you into watching it.

It promised 1980s style slasher fun, with some sly comedy. It delivered neither.

This movie does have a slightly hidden agenda.

Slightly anti religious, slightly anti male, and obviously aimed at a certain female demographic.

It has a few cute allusions to older, classic horror movies (Phantasm) but it's really just a boring movie with a few PC messages in it, probably written by bitter women.

It has a slight, undeveloped twist at the end, that may have been able to move my rating up a bit, but it went nowhere.

If the movie was scary or funny, I wouldnt mind the messaging. But, no. Just a slow, ludicrous, unsatisfying waste of time. 2/10.

*Killer Body Count* is like a rollercoaster designed by Alfred Hitchcock, reassembled by Quentin Tarantino, and occasionally hijacked by a teenage boy with a Playboy subscription. It's stylish, darkly funny, and full of twists sharp enough to require a tetanus shot. While it occasionally veers off track, it's undeniably entertaining-like a lurid tabloid that you hate yourself for reading but can't put down.

The plot, a tangled web of misdirection, sex, and murder, is as satisfying as unearthing a juicy Agatha Christie twist. The red herrings are well-placed, and the comedy sneaks up on you like a killer in the shadows, often providing relief from the film's more gratuitous scenes of sweaty titillation. Speaking of which, the sexploitation elements sometimes feel like they wandered in from a *Basic Instinct* reboot nobody asked for, but hey, they'll keep someone entertained.

The cast delivers above-average performances, with a wry charm that keeps things from collapsing under their own melodrama. It's not horror, nor does it need to be-it's a dark psychological thriller with a visceral flair and mischievous smirk. For all its flaws, it's worth a watch if you're in the mood for noir-ish fun with a slightly unbuttoned collar.

For those looking for a decent lightweight horror movie, this fits the bill.

The basic idea is to put teens in the woods to stop them from having sex, and then introduce the serial killer. Suffice it to say that the plan doesn't work but it does allow for some interesting anti-religious strikes.

The kills are actually pretty good, there is some decent character development even with the antagonists, and the plot is sort of solid. The plot twist actually works. Better yet, with one or two exceptions, the teens actually look like teens.

What makes this movie stand out is that there is no female nudity (it's only suggested and only a couple of times do you see scantily women) but almost every male character is nude or partially nude, and there are even some scenes where the men are presented as beefcake.

The camera work and most of the acting is fine. There are certainly issues with budget and location. Part of it is due to the typical troupes used in modern feminist writings in full display here:

Church bad Church has conversion camps Men are horny, selfish, and inadequate Orgasms and sex are empowerment Men and religion keep us from experiencing our pleasure and full sexual experience Only through women can we be fully realized as a person

Yadda yadda blah blah blah.

It tries to be funny but it's not. It tries to make statements about society, but they're so hamfisted and typical that you groan. It has good gore. The writing is typical modern clichés that would only be entertaining to people who isolate themselves and avoid human interaction.

After getting caught with her boyfriend, a teen is sent to a religious treatment camp to curtail her believed sex addiction and tries to make friends with the others there with her, but when they start to get picked off by a maniacal killer for their behavior they must stop his rampage.

Overall, this was a fairly solid genre effort. One of the best aspects of this one is the strong starting point offering a great point for not only getting the group together at the camp but a great commentary on the nature of religious camps. The initial starting point for getting her to the camp is a solid bit of modern misunderstanding with the encounter with her boyfriend being witnessed by others yet only manages to get her in trouble despite the severity of the incident and where she was caught doing it. The setup and arrival at the camp where her outwardly rebellious nature even with the kind of proper mental state that would make her an ideal candidate for their services with how so many of their teachings are reflected in her behavior, all providing the kind of fun starting point necessary in this kind of feature. That goes along nicely with the kind of treatment and activity within the camp that sets this one along. Despite the erroneous nature of what sent her there, the rebellious nature of everything she does, it enables her to make fast friends with the other women there who are trying to overcome the same thing only to realize the true extent of their deviant behavior the more she stays there. Playing up the stereotype about the kinkiness of the people who go to these types of religious sex-prevention camps the idea of everyone here being perverted enough to go about engaging in secret spying sessions, have unwarranted trysts with each other, and try to do everything to keep from being caught is a great touch that adds some extra sleaze into this kind of scenario. While it all comes at the expense of the slashing which comes along in the latter half, the main setup of this one offers a lot to like overall. That brings about the film's switch into a brutal slasher feature with the masked killer using their degenerate behavior at such a Holy place as motivation to start picking them off. The fine series of setpieces here is quite fun with the extended stalking scenes at the camp or the moments in the cabin where he chases and stalks the group throughout the cabins, underground tunnels beneath the grounds, or the various stages within the building that allows for a strong series of graphic kills to take place. This features a solid series of encounters with the initial disemboweling at the tent, the barbell smashing the face apart in the special gym, or the big encounter at the campout that offers up some intriguing twists alongside the fun kills throughout. Wrapped together with the fun twist on sexuality where it's mostly directed at the men in various states of undress rather than the women, there's a lot to like with this one. There isn't much about this one that holds it back. The main issue with this one is an overlong and unnecessary running time that makes for a somewhat troubled first half that has a lot more going on than it needs to. The life at the camp where she gets to experience the different personalities there, the reason why she's there, and the various teachings being imparted to her and the rest of the group are handled rather slowly and really could've been sped up somewhat as it takes quite a while before anything remotely slasher-based starts happening due to this slow start. Likewise, the final confrontation goes on forever and tries to pile on tons of twists and revelations at a rate that manages to be somewhat exaggerated where it easily could've trimmed this down to handle everything at a more manageable length. These aren't damaging or overly detrimental but do serve to hold it back slightly.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, Nudity, and sexual content.