While this is a far from perfect movie, it's still a good and fun throwback to the early days of the slasher genre!
I knew that this movie would be right up my alley after hearing what it was about and seeing the first pictures from it. And indeed, this is the type of movie that's right up my alley! It's a fun, old fashioned slasher, reminiscent of movies from the earliest days of the genre, when everything about it was still new and the genre was still continuously in development and was slowly starting to take more and more shape. Movies back then often were more whodunits than straightforward slashers really, involving psychotic serial killers or supernatural beings, such as Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger.
I'm sure of it that if this would have been a movie from the early '80's, it would be a cult-classic by now. It still has the potential to turn into a cult classic in years from now but the fact that it's a more 'modern' movie that's trying to be like an old-fashioned movie might work against it. Some people might feel that the movie is trying a bit too hard to mimic a certain style and create a certain type of atmosphere, similar to that of genre movies from the '80's but that the movie itself isn't 'doing its own thing' and isn't bringing anything new to the table.
And since the movie is mimicking a certain style, it in lots of ways also feels more like a spoof of the genre, pretty much similar to what the first "Scream" movie did. It's something that makes the movie fun to watch for the genre geeks and lovers but it's something that may go over the head of most other- more regular, viewers.Personally, I had absolutely no problems with this and even thought that the movie was pretty creative and original on its own as well. Most of the originality comes from its musical aspects. It really sound like a lame and weird thing; a slasher/horror with musical numbers in it but it actually works out surprisingly well and fun for this particular movie. Lets just say that this is the type of musical that Trey Parker and Matt Stone could have come up with and it's not meant to be taken seriously in any way. It's all quite over-the-top and silly but in a fun and good comedic kind of way and the songs aren't all that bad either.
Slasher and horror-wise the movie feels less impressive though. Some of the gore and killings are fun and good to watch but to be frank, there are too few genuinely good slasher moments in this movie in my opinion. The movie definitely could have used some more killings in it and they could have done way more with its killer, who really was a promising and menacing looking one. I also have to say that I really wasn't all that fond of the movie its final act, which is supposed to be the most fun and spectacular part of the movie. Wasn't really working for me and it felt like the movie was trying too hard to be as silly and over-the-top as possible with all of its different genre elements and it all felt a bit too rushed as well.
It's of course also true that this movie is made fun by its cast. Meat Loaf is always fun to watch as an actor, especially when he's playing in some fun and quirky movies such as this one. It was also good to see Minnie Driver in this, though her role is a very small one. All of the actors did a pretty good job and seemed to know and understand how to approach their roles right, in a both fun and effective way for this movie.
Simply a good and enjoyable throwback type of movie in my opinion, though it's nothing too impressive to be honest.
7/10
Watch trailer
No comments: