The Windmill (2016) User Reviews

Breaks the golden rule of a good slasher flick

[s3276169 · 6/10 · 30 September 2016]

The rather blandly named, The Windmill Massacre, breaks the golden rule of a good slasher flick and pays the price.

Let me start by saying this is a film with definite potential. Its far from utterly bad. It employs a good cast of capable actors, a rather novel and fresh premise, plus some good horror elements. That said, it breaks the key rule of any good slasher flick, its not all that scary.

Th reason The Windmill Massacre is not overly scary lies in its scripting. After the first death, there's very little uncertainty as to who, how and when the next person, will die. Indeed, there is a "lead in", that tells you for the most part, whats about to happen to who, next.

The net result is a film robbed of the sudden death, "jump in your seat", surprise factor. That's what good slashers are really all about. Not the final dispatch but the dread and tension, leading up to that suddenly and violently realized moment, when the killer strikes.

Its a shame too, as this film looked promising. Even making a second film may not solve this issue, as the approach taken is more or less, "locked in". That is, its intrinsic to the legend built around the killer. As it stands then, a moderately entertaining horror film, that offers some entertainment value, but could have been so much more. Six out of ten from me.

I liked it

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 29 October 2016]

Windmills are cool - we all know this. So naturally when I saw there was a horror movie centered around a windmill, I was all in. When I saw that it wasn't another shitty found footage movie, I was even more intrigued. After watching it, I can honestly say it's one of the more enjoyable horror films I've seen recently (and there aren't a lot of those, let me tell you). It's a slasher flick basically with an interesting setting and some creative and gory kills, at least two of which genuinely took me by surprise and gave me a bit of a jump. The windmill backdrop itself is the movie's biggest plus although I was disappointed they didn't make better use of the location scenery. Most of the movie takes place on what appeared to me to be an obvious set. Had more of it taken place where they filmed the initial windmill stuff it would have been better, in my opinion. But I guess that would have made doing proper special effects more difficult on a low budget. As it is, there's nothing really 'wrong' with the set, just that I think it would've been more effective using more of the location shooting. Anyway, the cast is good. There's a guy who reminds me of Long Duk Dong from Sixteen Candles. There's never anything bad about that. As I said before, the kills are mostly creative, and some of the gross-out stuff is funny. It's definitely worth a look if, like me, you are tired of most of the horror output today, which seems to be found footage and knock-offs of horror classics like Exorcist and Poltergeist.

The Windmill Massacre: Not the worst horror I've seen lately

[Platypuschow · 5/10 · 24 October 2017]

Reminding me heavily of Reeker (2005) this neat little horror is well made but sadly makes very little sense.

Telling the story of a number of people who get aboard a tour of Holland but become stranded and under attack from an unseen enemy who seems to know their darkest secrets.

The idea is quite clever, the execution is solid but where it fails is the execution and wide quantity of plot holes and unexplained events.

I wanted to like this and was certainly impressed with the quality but just couldn't get past certain head scratching moments.

Perfectly watchable stuff but it is the very definition of take your brain out entertainment.

The Good:

Decent kills

Well made

The Bad:

Plenty of plot holes

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

When hiring a nanny employees will not do an extensive background check

That kid will need SO much therapy

Not a bad find

[jackmeat · 5/10 · 8 October 2016]

My quick rating - 5,4/10. This flick seems to attempt to touch upon quite a few genres at once and does so somewhat successfully. The movie is about the struggle of being taken to hell by a grim reaper type character which is explained within the movie. Each character is being judged due to their sins of the past which unfold in a flashback type way. The story itself is played out quite well albeit completely full of holes. The supernatural aspect seems to come and go and never really solidifies itself. The acting is average, no complaints or applause. When they do head down the gore route, it is poured on well without being the focal point of the film. I found it interesting enough to hold my attention and although I could see a never ending amount of sequels possible (which the ending says, not me) I hope they leave it alone. An above average flick if even slightly which is fine.

Hell has a new address.

[S_Soma · 4/10 · 27 September 2016]

*************************************************************

Disclaimer:

I must offer to you a confession: I like movies that give me a fright. If the subject is horror I got to see more or I won't be contented all night.

-from "The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati"

Fair warning: I'm biased in favor of movies involving horror, monsters, the supernatural, the paranormal, space aliens, zombies, science fiction, and those Twinkies of cinema, found footage. I would rather drink syrup of ipecac than watch "On Golden Pond", "Places in the Heart", or "Fried Green Tomatoes". I am not William Blake; what you will read here is the foamy-mouthed drivel of Clyde the Village Idiot.

While it's true that 97% of the movies within the above listed genres are utter rubbish, I put on garbage bags and it's my hobby to dig through the stinking pile and find the few that are, miraculously, somehow redeemable. So be confident in the knowledge that only the highest quality cultural dreck will receive a positive review.

*************************************************************

"THE WINDMILL" (a.k.a. The Windmill Massacre)

As it turns out, the gateway to hell is actually in Holland! And you'll never guess where. In a windmill! I know, right!? Who'd a thunk it? Considering that about 26% of Holland's area is below sea level and only about 50% of its area is more than a meter above sea level, global warming and the consequent rise in sea levels could result in all sorts of metaphysical conundrums. Ha! I managed to wedge in some whingeing about global warming in a review of a horror picture about a windmill. Bet you did not see that coming.

If we take the plot line of "the Windmill" and reduce it to its structural abstraction, it's basically the same as about a zillion other slasher movies with a supernatural topspin. A logically related group of people (a football team with cheerleaders, a neighborhood full of trick- or-treaters, a collection of people on a boat, a lost group of hikers taking refuge in a cabin, etc.), in this case a tour group on a tour bus in Holland, get artificially stranded beyond cell phone reach and get picked off by an antagonist with optional supernatural origins/connections. Not new. SO not new.

There is a meager surprise or two during the course of the film, ostensibly I suppose to break the mechanical progression as we dice up one tourist-victim after another. We learn, for example, that this is a truly "organized" tour, as most members of the tour group are sinners, and so not here by accident, and are therefore the devil's due. And we also learn that one of the people on the bus is in cahoots with the hellish tour management.

But rather carelessly in my opinion, having gone so far as to set up a reason and rationale for why we're here and why people are being picked off in a collection of gruesome ways, the movie then violates its own rules by killing off the members of the tour group who have been identified as "innocents" ANYWAY, just by operatives other than the designated bogeyman. So guilty you get whacked and innocent you get whacked. By being innocent you get the added insult of being whacked by the assistant. If it were me I would insist upon a tour ticket refund.

One such innocent completes his tenure in the picture staring dazedly back at the burning windmill having just been sprayed head to toe with the skull innards of the apparent heroin of the picture. We are never sure where or how this particular character ends up. A loose end, I say.

Somewhat reservedly, I'll stick my neck out and say, specifically to my kindred spirits out there, that this movie barely squeaks into the realm of the "worth watching". But just barely. But only when you have nothing else to watch or are too sleepy to change streams. It only makes this grade by virtue of its unique and peculiar setting and origin hypothesis. Do be prepared to feel bad for the heroin. She can't win for losing right down, apparently, to the legal fine print of the supernatural.

Dreadful Train Wreck of a Film

[texasarcane · 1/10 · 4 October 2016]

I knew within ten minutes of watching this movie it was truly going to crater into a heap of drivel. It is one of those films that you could see the director wasn't sure what he was doing when it started, got seriously lost midway and wandered off a cliff by the end.

Bad dialogue, bad script, bad acting, bad premise, bad pacing, bad delivery, boring development and incredibly bad production. The music sounded like it came from a better film that could be taken seriously.

Noah Taylor, an Australian actor with far too much screen credit to be in a turkey like this looked positively grateful to be disemboweled very early on. You could see his eyes smiling with glee as he was holding his own entrails because he knew he had just cashed his paycheck and would be seeing himself out of this disaster. Poor Charlotte Beaumont and other unfortunate actors had to endure upwards of another fifty minutes of career suicide.

The reason I am not posting any spoilers is that there is no way anyone could not figure out the plot of this film if they are out of diapers or have watched any cinema in the last century.

Decent slasher with good kills, ....

[Fella_shibby · 7/10 · 23 October 2016]

...n a supernatural touch to it, with good character development n picturesque cinematography. I was really excited to see this film. Had read somewhere that the extended clip of this film was released way back in 2013. Been on my watch list for a very long time. Finally bought a pirated dvd. I think that my dvd is a different version as the scene (the killer in yellow jacket chasing a female in broad day light n piercing her palm) shown in the You Tube trailer is not there. Considering that this is Nick Jongerius debut film (Producer of Frankenstein's Army), he did a decent job. I skipped his Frankensteins Army as m not a fan of hand held camera stuff. Well this is not a great film but not bad either. Horror fans may like it. Slasher fans will enjoy it more. It has shades of Hatchet part one, Jeepers Creepers part one. Some solid gore n killings. Being a debut film, it did showed the director's lack of creating suspense n tension. But he managed to develop the characters well. It has lovely cinematography by Bart Beekman. The only thing I did not dig was that of the marine's "sin". Wasn't it an accident? Also the doctor's? Can someone explain plz.

Tired 'they must pay for their sins' plodder

[carpevitababy · 2/10 · 5 November 2016]

Maybe it's been too much now of the loud, hateful rhetoric of the 2018 US election cycle (over in 5 days and none too soon if you believe a lot of psychologists who insists that a not insignificant number of people are actually suffering from 'election stress' and depression). Maybe I've just seen too many limp noodle films that are pretty much inbred copies of one another like this. In any case, I'll admit, the adolescent "minor sin must be accounted for by a ridiculously disproportional meting out of gory justice" raison d'etre of this film (an already sad and tired trope) elicited more contempt than it did entertainment for me. It was one of those films where I'm not sure if I'm more annoyed with myself for being too lazy to just stop watching or the industry/individual responsible for feeling the need to make such crap.

I don't want to waste even more time and effort 'reviewing' this film, so I'll just leave at this; at the end of the day, no matter how a film looked, was acted, written etc, it either leaves you with something worthwhile, no matter how small an aspect of the movie or, sadly, just feels like a minor violation of your time and intelligence. This seemingly had a stranger in a strange land rural euro Gothic feel being set up - an atmospheric that I particularly like. Sadly, it was just veneer and was worn thin 30 minutes into the film, leaving only the same old scourge of god plot mover that, on its own, devoid of other significant redeeming qualities, leaves you with a factory output that could have been any 100 I've see before if I squinted my eyes to blur the details.

The film doesn't deserve this much attention (I'll just sit in wonder at what positive reviewers are taking away from this movie). I recently re-watched Haute Tension and again came away with a healthy respect for the rural-Gothic-euro atmosphere it created and sustained. Same goes for Ils (2006), Frontier(s)(2007), Martyrs (2008) and Horsehead (2014) to name a few. Even in a slasher film, there should be something worthy of the horror besides the gore. This one ain't got it.

Her accent though 🤣

[K_Rad88 · 6/10 · 13 April 2021]

If you want an Australian accent, cast an Australian. Not an English girl who's accent changes back to British every 2 seconds and sometimes sounds like she's from NZ?

It took away from the movie SO BADLY - I loved the premise and found it interesting but man, her accent really ruined it. That's coming from an Aussie who knows we don't sound like that 😂

Dutch slasher padded out with endless flashback footage

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 19 April 2017]

THE WINDMILL MASSACRE is nothing more than a low budget Dutch slasher movie set in and around a windmill being visited by a group of the usual diverse tourists. On arrival they find themselves stranded, but matters are to worsen when a mysterious masked maniac begins to butcher them one by one.

I had high hopes for this film due to the style alone but sadly it turns out to be a typical waste of time, a thinly-plotted outing that's endlessly padded with long and boring flashbacks. It's the kind of film that tries to make mystery and mileage out of the back stories of the main characters but I found all of these bits just slowed the action down to a snail's pace.

The acting isn't too bad, with a lot of British faces familiar from WATERLOO ROAD and THE OFFICE showing up, and Noah Taylor is always fun. The kills are pretty graphic but the director doesn't really seem to be interested in his killer all that much, and the climax is weak. Even though the film is fairly well shot, the material is so predictable that it becomes just another forgettable outing.

Jusy jolly bad luck

[nogodnomasters · 9/10 · 11 September 2017]

"The Windmill Massacre" is being re-titled, "The Windmill"...don't want to give too much away. The film opens showing us brief backgrounds of the various passengers on a tour bus line. One person is a Marine (Patrick Baladi) who went PTSD and killed a prostitute the night before. The rest of the passengers are a nervous lot who seem to have issues. The story centers on Jennifer (Charlotte Beaumont) an Aussie girl running away from her past. The tour bus breaks down in the part of Holland that doesn't have cell phone reception. It isn't long before our DVD cover slasher appears as the past catches up uniquely to each passenger.

The film has some humor in it such as the photographer who asks "Where do I find these windmills?" The characters, while most were not developed, were interesting. Charlotte Beaumont played her role extremely well and could star in something a bit more relevant. In fact the entire cast did a good job, kudos to writer director Nick Jongerius...and I didn't see that last bit coming, expecting the film to end formula.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

It's Miller Time! Demonic Wind-miller time, that is

[Coventry · 7/10 · 27 January 2017]

Call me a sentimentalist, but I really love it when countries bring forward movies that are somehow linked to their own heritage, culture or fauna! For example, I love it when Australia makes another movie about a giant killer crocodile, or when Austria releases a splatter flick about Lederhosen zombies, and I was really excited when I found out that The Netherlands was going to bring out a folklore horror movie about windmills! I'm not a Dutchman myself, but I live next door in Belgium and spent a lot of time traveling around in The Netherlands. The country is full of windmills and, especially when you drive past them when night is falling, they often look eerie and sinister out there in the open fields, so it's about freaking time they finally form the decor of a horror movie! Of course I'm slightly biased, and I probably awarded the film with at least one more point than it deserves, but "The Windmill Massacre" is good entertainment with a more than adequate screenplay, above average performances, a reasonable amount of suspense and quite a lot of exhilarating gore and bloodshed!

First and foremost, the film rather cleverly solves a typical issue that Dutch speaking productions always struggle with! It sounds horrible when Dutch or Belgian actors/actresses attempt to speak English, so instead of that, "The Windmill Massacre" almost exclusively stars native English speakers that are supposedly tourists in Amsterdam. That's just smart, period! Following a whole bunch of separate clips that only start making sense later in the film, 7 people (an Aussie girl, a former model, an Asian student, a mariner, a surgeon and a British father with his teenage son) board a ramshackle tour bus that takes them on a trip past several idyllic windmills. The bus naturally breaks down, but when two courageous passengers head towards a nearby windmill for help, they painfully experience that the miller – Hendrik – is a nastily deformed and bloodthirsty type of avenging demon. This group wasn't coincidentally put together, as it turns out they all have committed horrible sins and now they have to pay for them. For a horror flick from The Netherlands, "The Windmill Massacre" has a solid and compelling story to tell (especially in comparison to other recent titles like "Dood Eind" or "De Poel"), and you'll even gladly overlook the rather many clichés and improbabilities in the script. The film also features loads of gratifying gore and delightful make- up effects. Hendrik, the deadly miller, looks like a hybrid between Jason Voorhees and the Chatterer Cenobite from the original "Hellraiser". There's a cool urban legend linked to his existence (something about selling his soul to the devil) and enjoys things like stomping people's heads with his boots or throwing rusty chains in people's faces. Good, unpretentious entertaining Holland should be proud of!

Predictable old plot done to death.

[bernardlcrawford · 1/10 · 4 April 2017]

How can a movie that is based on such a typical and overused theme rate so highly? The theme? People that have committed an irreconcilable sin are transported to the gates of Hell and because there is no atoning or reconciliation for that abhorrent act engaged upon, their souls are reaped for Hell. Do not mind that if I bring up Hell, which must exist therefore within the context of the movie, God surely does not give a crap about innocents!

If you are going to make a slasher film, make a crappy slasher movie in a genre with it's too many to count slashers. If you make a redemption film make a redemption film. Reviews here claim a "Freshness" just because the main area is Dutch. No wonder everyone is so willing to watch the SAME idea over and over again and rationalize that it is different somehow.

I can only fathom that viewers giving it a high score have not read too many short stories or books or seen many movies in their life because this theme is done over and over. "Well people in this film have different names and in a different locale". A basic plot is a basic plot is a basic plot.

This movie is SO predictable as they all are. So I am left with perhaps great acting, no, adequate. How about music? Adequate. Is the protagonist an interesting character? No. Design for the Miller? Pathetic. Typical run of the mill (no pun intended) death scenes. The shooting and backgrounds were good. Just aspects of the film taken from this movie and that.

It is kinda of interesting but

[descolado · 4/10 · 8 October 2020]

Too slow a beginning when the killer appears, the movie shows everything, so no surprises.

the little twist below * is also revealed way too early unlikeable characters - who: don´t believe anything when are warned so the plot can roll are lazy so the plot... for instance can´t look for help even if it is a short walk, can´t look for missing people, can´t see if her sister is in the trailer before setting it ablase... arrogant, violent so the plot... don´t speak when they need to convey the information, so the plot ..

Basically, it needed a professional screenwriter to make a second draft

"This isn't hell, it's Holland!"

[Clintborari · 5/10 · 5 December 2021]

By first looking at the DVD cover, I presumed that this film would be a comical, putrid story of mindless slaughter. Then I remembered having similar thoughts on the cover of the movie Southbound, and seeing how that turned out my hopes lifted a little.

To my surprise, The Windmill Massacre had a well-grounded backstory, and it turned out genuinely better than I thought it would be.

Unfortunately, after seeing Charlie's Farm and now The Windmill Massacre from Monster pictures, I must say, I do feel a sharp pang of regret when I'll look upon this logo in the future. It's not that these films are intentionally poor. It is just that now I am aware that I am going to get some real B-Grade quality stories.

Similar to my stance on Blumhouse pictures. It is a bit of a raffle of what you end up with. Sometimes, you'll get the unexpected sound story, with deep character development, and the plot has enough lore that it could be branched off into additional follow-up feature films.

And sometimes, you'll end up with a real piece of garbage that you will most definitely only intend to watch once. The Windmill Massacre sits a little in the middle.

Now I'm biased here. But unless it's a full-blown comedy film, a strong Australian accent portrayed in movies sounds bloody foul. I'm not gonna lie, but every time Jennifer spoke it just didn't sit right. Luckily her acting ability more than made up for it, and she didn't have a whole heap of lines compared to someone like Jackson.

The rest of the cast was quite good, with no complaints from me. As I said earlier, this film is well-grounded and watchable. The acting itself is more than reasonable, It's got a solid past, the killings are well-paced, and the scenery is more than respectable.

My wife picked up on the film's twist in the early stages. I mean, by now we have seen so many various horror movies, that not a lot comes across as new or doesn't stand out to us. We have found that most modern-day horror films are so cliché that we can pick the moment from or scene from older horror movies.

The Windmill Massacre's story and outcome start becoming kind of obvious, and grim, but as the film is progressing, you do hope that you might see something different.

In conclusion, like the ending of Charlie's Farm, it just really destroys a lot of the fabric of the film for me. You want to see something memorable or someone to end the cycle or be the difference that ends evil's reign. That's genuinely why people write stories from the perspective of the main character.

When everything seems to be going ok. A big 'F you' moment comes up five minutes toward the end and you are left feeling like it ruined the entire film.

All in all, I am not going to watch The Windmill Massacre again, or I couldn't recommend it, but amazingly enough, compared to what I have seen in second-grade horror, it does sit in the average category for me.

5/10.

Best windmill horror movie ever

[johntk1566 · 5/10 · 6 July 2022]

I didn't love it but also didn't hate it. The premise is fairly interesting, but I was hoping for more spooky-haunts than slasher-film. The more they created in the film just didn't fit the slasher execution. Still, this is the best windmill horror film of all time...

Pleasant Surprise

[matc-98 · 7/10 · 14 October 2016]

I was driving through Telluride, Colorado and came across Telluride's "Horror Show," a horror movie festival... The town is a small Victorian town in the middle of the mountains which made the experience all that much greater.

As I got into the cinema, I was actually the last person to get there, I saw that the movie was from Holland and had a good feeling of it; Nowadays, modern American Movies in the horror genre are not entertaining to me - they are full of clichés, bad actors and cheap scares.

After seeing this movie, I was pleasantly surprised because I did not know what to expect... and this is the best way to experience a movie... just know that it is good.

The movie has a legend-fairy-tale type of feeling. It has good acting and well developed characters, each one unique. The movie develops the relationship within the characters. There is gore worthy of "the walking dead." And finally, it brought me back to an era of movies like "Freddy Krueger" when they were magical in their own way.

In conclusion, I do recommend this movie. It is not the best, but it is worthy of the attention of a horror buff. A good horror movie focuses on characters, and character development with good old fashioned scares, thrills and kills; and this one supplies that.

A Slasher Version of FLATLINERS

[twelve-house-books · 1/10 · 24 December 2018]

I'd like to give this one more than one star. The lead woman was very good. In fact, all of the actors were good. But I've seen FLATLINERS and JEEPERS CREEPERS, and I've heard all of the misunderstood Christian theology tales about the Devil ruling Hell, etc. which is of course not the case. Just too much stupidity here to really be taken seriously. Sorry I spent the time. When the first kill happened, I should have found something else to do.

supernatural slasher

[trashgang · 7/10 · 10 October 2016]

The new Nederhorror brought to us from the director, Nick Jongerius, who brought us Frankenstein's Army (2013). A horror that wasn't my cup of tea at all but this one was stated as a throw back to the slashers.

To be honest, it does has elements of that particular genre but again, it's typical Nick to add some weird elements to the story. In fact, there's a lot of supernatural stuff going on so I really can't say that it is a slasher. There's a killer out but the elements to call it a slashers aren't in it, no point of view from the killer for example. But I do liked it more then the Frankenstein flick. The reason is that there are some gory shots here and there and the fact that the ending had a big surprise that I can't go deeper in or I would have to spoil.

Due the gore added, it's worth picking up but the supernatural stuff wasn't my thing at all. I could compare it with Jason Voorhees in the latest Friday The 13th flicks were he's still coming back again and again, he really can't be killed and that being mixed with the killer from the Hatchet franchise.

Not for everybody but entertaining enough to watch it with some friends.

Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

Another Netherlands horror fails

[lukcaluwaerts · 2/10 · 15 November 2016]

The story itself is played out quite well albeit completely full of holes. A few points for the 2 gory scenes. Bad dialogue, bad script, bad acting, bad premise, bad pacing, bad delivery, boring development and incredibly bad production. Also VICTIMS are waiting to be killed. There's no: Thriller/action/ ... they all just seems to be stoned, waiting for the killer's blow. Ones you have seen the first kill, the rest gets bored. And always crap about sins ?? Get's bored also after a while. The idea was good, but those actors and stuff ?? Really ?? Due the gore added, it's worth picking up but the supernatural stuff wasn't my thing at all. I'm gonna watch now: WELP/CUB from my country: Belgium. Seems to be a bit more descent.

Apart From The Terrible Aussie Accent This Was A Fun Slasher

[ladymidath · 9/10 · 20 January 2023]

Being an Australian it always makes me wince when non Aussies attempt an Australian accent. Charlotte Beaumont did try, I will give her that. Noah Taylor was his usual solidly good self in this and the other actors did just fine. The story of an evil demonic presence haunting a windmill in the Nederlands is awesome. This is the kind of slasher/horror movie that I love. I am over torture porn as I have stated in other reviews, there are so many now and they all seem to follow the same tired old tropes of blood and gore with no actual story to give it interest or depth.

The Windmill Massacre or The Windmill which I think is a better title IMO. Is an entertaining flick that reminds me of Hammer and Amicus films of yore, even a dash of giallo. I wish they would make more movies like this that are fun horror, have an interesting story, some great kills and good characters. This is one to watch if you like the older style horror and slasher genres.

Killer miller.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 1 November 2020]

A group of strangers who have committed mortal sins board a Dutch tour bus, unaware that they are being driven to their doom.

As previously seen in James Whale's Frankenstein and Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness, a ramshackle windmill makes a great setting for a horror film: an ominous, shadowy sentinel, blades swooping through the air, the creaking and grinding of the internal mechanism seemingly bringing the building to life. It's a shame, then, that The Windmill Massacre doesn't make more of its eerie titular structure, the windmill merely somewhere for the film's killer to store his victim's bodies.

Most of the action takes place on the Dutch tour bus out of Amsterdam, in the woods surrounding the spot where the bus breaks down, or in the derelict church where the passengers seek refuge for the night, all of which is spooky and atmospheric enough, but I sure wish they had used the windmill to its full potential: no-one gets chewed up in the building's cogs, no-one is ground by its mill-stone, no-one is knocked for six by the whirling sails, and no-one falls to their death from the top.

Still, even though the windmill isn't fully utilised, this supernatural slasher still proves to be lots of fun thanks to a decent cast, slick direction from Nick Jongerius, and last, but by no means least, plenty of graphic gore. The no-nonsense script quickly brings its varied collection of strangers together for the slaughter, and proceeds to bump them off in imaginatively gruesome ways (severed legs, head stomping, evisceration, decapitation), pausing only for some backstory about the antagonist to explain what the hell is happening (old miller; pact with the devil; burnt to a crisp by villagers; now guardian of a gate to hell).

It's not groundbreaking stuff, but what it does it does well enough. 6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

Hell in Holland

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 22 May 2018]

Despite the very bland title (which did make me unsure whether to see it or not), 'The Windmill Massacre' showed promise with its cool and quite creepy cover and interesting and remarkably fresh idea. Also appreciate horror films, although not my favourite genre, and there are good slasher films out there.

'The Windmill Massacre' definitely could have been more, part of me was hoping it would be scarier and tighter in pace. At the same time it was far better than anticipated, was afraid of whether it would be amateurish and non-stop predictability and ridiculousness, being a less than modestly budgeted film (that all too often is not something in a film's favour), but to me it was competently made and had its creative and creepy moments.

Lets start with the good things. It doesn't look too bad with a very nice creepy setting. There is a slickness and eeriness, and nothing looks slipshod. The effects while not what one would call special were surprisingly better than average. Likewise with the acting, showing a capability that one doesn't expect to find for this sort of film. The music is a decent fit.

Some nice affectionate and creepy horror touches and the kills are suitably gory, without being gratuitous, and creative. There is enough freshness here and there is some suspense.

However, the pace could have been much tighter. A large part of the problem being that the film is bogged down by an over-reliance of overlong, dull and not always necessary flashbacks that don't always illuminate that much. They feel like they were there to pad out a story that felt too thin for the length and doesn't have an awful lot to it. The tension and suspense similarly could have been more consistent.

Script-wise, 'The Windmill Massacre' can be too predictable and also over-explanatory which does dilute the suspense. The climax is rather anaemic and easily foreseeable far too early. The characters, while never annoying, are developed with little depth or substance, there is effort here with the flashbacks but it is undone by the flawed execution of the flashbacks themselves.

Overall, watchable and better than anticipated but less than great. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Don't bother

[lisahbabe · 1/10 · 28 August 2020]

4.8 rating, I expected this movie to be at least half decent for that rating. I've seen some terrible horror movies in the past but this has got to be the worst.

Needed a lot more to be good

[stavts · 3/10 · 11 March 2020]

This is a below the middle little horror film that I wouldn't recommend watching even once just out of curiosity like I did. The plot was good but the execution left too much to be desired. Poor direction that made most of the characters easily forgetable and uninteresting, or maybe it was the writing. Week effects(expected of course in a small production) which adds up to recommending skipping this movie altogether. Yeah I'd say skip this one even if you have too much time to lose or even think about watching it drunk :) Hope that helps.