Wreckage

I'm always amazed when an actor who seems to be doing bigger things shows up in a movie that went straight to video. Usually this is because the movie is horrible, or because the studio thinks nobody would be interested. That or they dump it in five theaters and give it a DVD release two weeks later. Anyways, today's example is 2010's "Wreckage" features Aaron Paul from the excellent AMC series "Breaking Bad." Here, he proves to be the best thing about this otherwise forgettable exercise.

The plot deals with four friends-Jake (Mike Erwin), Rick (Paul), Jake's wife to be Kate (Cameron Richardson) and Rick's pregnant girlfriend Jessica (Kelly Kruger) end up in an abandoned junkyard. When Rick's stupidity get's Kate injured, Jake goes out for help-only to find Kate and Rick missing, and Jessica a dead, bloody pulp. When new arrivals-including the nephew of the man who owns the Junkyard (Scoot McNairy) join in, they all find themselves being stalked by a masked killer.

As I said, the best thing about "Wreckage" is Paul. Here, he plays Rick as a man whose not exactly all that right in the head, making for an interesting character. Unfortunately, he's the only interesting character. Everyone else is either really dumb or ultimately expendable for the killer to get his thing done. Also, if you are hoping for gory kills, then you are in for a disappointment. Many of them take place off screen, which in this case is a big no-no. Movies like this usually rely on at least some gore, and this is a slasher that's virtually bloodless. The direction by John Mallory Asher* is also a dud, mostly feeling more like a generic modern day television movie than something that you should be excited fore. Add a lame twist ending and a body count that's way too low, and you have a waste of time.

I can't even imagine the most indiscriminate of horror fans buying most of this, as it's a movie that manages to be both a paint-by-numbers stalk-n-slash flick and uneventful, nearly gore free waste of time. Watch something better, or read a book instead.

*Asher is mostly known for being in the USA TV series "Weird Science", which yes, was based around the John Hughes movie, and for being in the Clint Eastwood movie "Space Cowboys." His only other genre credit is the TV movie "The Haunted", and he also directed the 2005 Jenny McCarthy bomb "Dirty Love.

Where do the friends come from? They weren't in the car during the race. They just appear on the side of the road. Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul)still a good actor.

The plot: A psychopath stalks several young adults in a junkyard.

Wreckage is the kind of movie that you end up watching when there's nothing else to do. It's a good way to pass the time. I wasn't really expecting it to be amazing, unique, or innovative. It's actually fairly clichéd and derivative, really. However, despite that, it's still pretty watchable.

As far as "crazy psychopath on the loose" movies go, this was nowhere near the worst that I've seen. The characters were somewhat interesting, and the story didn't have them doing anything egregiously stupid -- beyond what the genre calls for, at least. If you're a fan of this kind of movie, there won't be any surprises. It's pretty much a by-the-numbers slasher. However, it's competent and reasonably well-done, without any obvious flaws that would annoy a forgiving, easy-to-please horror fan.

If you're a demanding fan, I think you'll be disappointed. It's a low budget, direct-to-video slasher. Set your expectations appropriately, and you'll probably enjoy it for what it is. I figure it's good for a 5 or 6, but I'm not feeling generous enough to award it a 6.

WRECKAGE is an extremely low budget slasher film notable for its unusual setting: almost the entire movie takes place in a scrapyard, where a group of stranded teenagers are being bumped off one by one by a mysterious killer wearing a welding mask. It's as derivative as it sounds, with the only originality coming from the various methods of death employed by the villain.

Sadly the low budget nature of the production is more than apparent in the general lack of scope and the predictability that hangs over everything. It feels like nobody's heart was in it, ranging from the actors to the director. The best thing about the film is Scoot McNairy (MONSTERS) playing a genuinely funny comedy relief redneck role, but the rest of the cast are entirely ho-hum. The gore effects are acceptable rather than memorable and the twist ending is one you'll see coming a mile off.

I say 4.2 is more than this one deserves. Why? Decent budget, nice couple of actors, OK idea, horrible execution. Pretty much everybody going "It's OK", "Not bad", "Works for what it is", but I really got to ask, how many horrors have you seen? This is downright boring and bad.

I had some high hopes considering all the hype around it, so the disappointment was even bigger, therefore, I'll try to spare a soul or two. Go look elsewhere, plenty of slashers out there, easy to find one regarding any tastes.

I graded it 3, cause I really think it's the grade it deserves. Had the recipe for an OK movie, and managed to "bake" something too hard to swallow.