Beware

I'm usually wary of ethnocentric horror movies. I've watched my share of all-black horror and these count among the worse horror movies ever made (and I've seen "A Night to Dismember"). So when the all-latino cast unrolled, I was almost instantly persuaded that I would lose again 90 minutes of my loser life. Never judge a book by its cover.

A group of friends ride to a nearby latino festival but their trip comes to a halt with car problems and one creepy garage help. Like the majority of modern slashers, "Beware" suffers from the how-could-they-be-friends symptom. The tough leading lady and her no-bullshit boyfriend, I can fathom, but her cheap-tease BFF and said-tease's super-heavy boyfriend ? I'm not mentioning the dorky brother. Anyway, when & why did these 5 people become friends and lovers ? Past that disappointment, the movie starts off early with the requisite introduction murder and another couple of redneck murders in the 1st 20 minutes. Then the characters establish themselves at a local's secluded house and the carnage keeps on at a steady pace.

As mentioned by another reviewer, the special F/X are top-notch for that kind of low-budget movie and the crew must be commended. One particular pyrotechnic stunt really blew me away. The director also has a good sense of pace and thankfully kills off the most grating characters first. I'll also say that the killer's backstory is one twisted piece of work. References to the "Friday the 13th" abound and keeping on with Jason's tradition, there's more than one pair of boobs on display. If you can get past the lead actors and their irritating characters, this slasher is safe bet.