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tdeladeriere's rating
In the introduction, a hillbilly woman is (somewhat disturbingly) beaten and killed by who appears to be her violent ex-boyfriend, before said goon is killed by the lady's son. I'm still in the process of sorting out how this fits into the whole storyline, but maybe that's pointless, as proved later.
A few decades later, that same son has grown into a bearded and broody hunk. He's part of a group of disparate individuals heading to the desert for some sort of spiritual enlightenment trek. There's a preacher and his dull girlfriend, the goofy best friend, the sports fanatic, 2 bimbos, 2 worthless goths, a fat foul-mouthed lady, etc.. Halfway through, their bus breaks down and they hike to a ghost town. The same ghost town that, earlier on, a salesman "bought" the rights to the Death Factory Museum from an unsuspecting local. The poor chap must have been the only left resident in town. After some accidental sexual witchcraft, the 2 goths awaken the spirits of legendary serial killers like Ed Gein, Jack the Ripper, and a a healthy handful of others (including a bare-chested lethal vixen I couldn't recognize, but maybe she was only there for gender equality). The broody and hunky son makes it a mission to save his reluctant posse by absorbing the spirit of said killers, then there's some capoeira, and the Devil, and it just stops making sense.
If you agree to not try and make sense of the very messy storyline, you will probably be pleasantly entertained by the varied shenanigans. All the killers have great presence (except maybe for the aforementioned vixen, probably because she has no back-story in our collective pop consciousness). They are strongly portrayed, have threatening presence, and are prominently featured. There's lots of actions and gruesome killings, some refreshing nudity, the plot twists keep on popping until the very end, there's nothing to be bored with. Just leave your expectations at the door and enjoy the heartfelt ride.
A few decades later, that same son has grown into a bearded and broody hunk. He's part of a group of disparate individuals heading to the desert for some sort of spiritual enlightenment trek. There's a preacher and his dull girlfriend, the goofy best friend, the sports fanatic, 2 bimbos, 2 worthless goths, a fat foul-mouthed lady, etc.. Halfway through, their bus breaks down and they hike to a ghost town. The same ghost town that, earlier on, a salesman "bought" the rights to the Death Factory Museum from an unsuspecting local. The poor chap must have been the only left resident in town. After some accidental sexual witchcraft, the 2 goths awaken the spirits of legendary serial killers like Ed Gein, Jack the Ripper, and a a healthy handful of others (including a bare-chested lethal vixen I couldn't recognize, but maybe she was only there for gender equality). The broody and hunky son makes it a mission to save his reluctant posse by absorbing the spirit of said killers, then there's some capoeira, and the Devil, and it just stops making sense.
If you agree to not try and make sense of the very messy storyline, you will probably be pleasantly entertained by the varied shenanigans. All the killers have great presence (except maybe for the aforementioned vixen, probably because she has no back-story in our collective pop consciousness). They are strongly portrayed, have threatening presence, and are prominently featured. There's lots of actions and gruesome killings, some refreshing nudity, the plot twists keep on popping until the very end, there's nothing to be bored with. Just leave your expectations at the door and enjoy the heartfelt ride.
Don't go into "Camp Dread" with expectations of something new. This is a by-the-books slasher, and all the rules are respected (for a reason). Dumb and horny teenagers, a cabin by the lake, a mystery killer, gory offings every 10 minutes or so, down to the finale where the survivor keeps running into the dead bodies of her former inmates as he/she tries to escape the killer.
References abound in more than just the tired, if necessary, format. Felissa Rose plays the star of a slasher 80's trilogy, much like she did in real life as the cult hermaphrodite killer in "Sleepaway Camp". Most murders are recreations of classic offings from previous slashers, like "Friday the 13th" but also "Psycho". Of course, this all fits into the script, since this tells the story of a twisted slasher producer experimenting on a new reality-TV format for the 4th installment of his long-forgotten horror franchise.
Bodies are dispatched at a slower rate than usual, which is the movie's main setback. Unlike successful slashers of yore, most of the offings happen after the 40 minute-mark, with a crescendo during the last 20 minutes. For that reason, there's no real final girl, or suspense for the climax.
Although villains are a-plenty in this amoral marathon, the movie succeeds in keeping the audience wondering who is the killer, and a few final twists will actually keep you off-guard. That and a fair amount of blood should satisfy any slasher fan's basic needs.
References abound in more than just the tired, if necessary, format. Felissa Rose plays the star of a slasher 80's trilogy, much like she did in real life as the cult hermaphrodite killer in "Sleepaway Camp". Most murders are recreations of classic offings from previous slashers, like "Friday the 13th" but also "Psycho". Of course, this all fits into the script, since this tells the story of a twisted slasher producer experimenting on a new reality-TV format for the 4th installment of his long-forgotten horror franchise.
Bodies are dispatched at a slower rate than usual, which is the movie's main setback. Unlike successful slashers of yore, most of the offings happen after the 40 minute-mark, with a crescendo during the last 20 minutes. For that reason, there's no real final girl, or suspense for the climax.
Although villains are a-plenty in this amoral marathon, the movie succeeds in keeping the audience wondering who is the killer, and a few final twists will actually keep you off-guard. That and a fair amount of blood should satisfy any slasher fan's basic needs.
Finally ! After making the rounds of the few gay horror movies out there, this is the first one that I could actually watch back to back without fast-forwarding in hopes of actual scares or naughty bits to while away the boredom.
A group of friends (who do sound like a group of friends, unlike most slasher movies) rent a cabin in the woods to escape the hollow festivities of West Hollywood Gay Pride. Once there, boredom fast settles as they're deprived of their usual party tactics, until a Ouija board awakens the spirit of a Gothic murderess.
Most of the cast is instantly likable, though as a gay man, it's usually cringe-y to admit that, yes, you do talk and act like that. Past that vanity trip, you will invariably identify with at least one of the leads, be it the romantic hunk, the party blonde twink, the lonesome dreamer or, why not, the tested straight friend (if I was straight, I would have killed all of these sissies after one hour).
The director makes good use of the limited settings. For a gay horror movie, it didn't look like a camcorder cheapie. It does compete with low-budget straight slasher.
The obligatory titillation mostly comes from the guys parading bare-chested, and they look good, with the occasional sex scene thrown in. The scares, well, it's not really scary, but there's quite a bit of blood, and the undead murderess was venomous enough. There's no dead time, and the comedy helps make it through the body count and the final twist. Really not bad at all.
A group of friends (who do sound like a group of friends, unlike most slasher movies) rent a cabin in the woods to escape the hollow festivities of West Hollywood Gay Pride. Once there, boredom fast settles as they're deprived of their usual party tactics, until a Ouija board awakens the spirit of a Gothic murderess.
Most of the cast is instantly likable, though as a gay man, it's usually cringe-y to admit that, yes, you do talk and act like that. Past that vanity trip, you will invariably identify with at least one of the leads, be it the romantic hunk, the party blonde twink, the lonesome dreamer or, why not, the tested straight friend (if I was straight, I would have killed all of these sissies after one hour).
The director makes good use of the limited settings. For a gay horror movie, it didn't look like a camcorder cheapie. It does compete with low-budget straight slasher.
The obligatory titillation mostly comes from the guys parading bare-chested, and they look good, with the occasional sex scene thrown in. The scares, well, it's not really scary, but there's quite a bit of blood, and the undead murderess was venomous enough. There's no dead time, and the comedy helps make it through the body count and the final twist. Really not bad at all.