Finally, a decent ‘s slasher, I had lost all hope of finding another one
after the dismal ‘Happy Birthday To Me’.
The kids at Lanier College are stressed out!! Not only do they have their
finals but a psycho is on the campus too!!
Obviously everyone is quick to point out the obvious similarities between
this film and ‘Halloween’, but I applaud Director Jimmy Huston for using
John Carpenter’s masterpiece as the basis for his foundations and then
subsequently building a steady structure of a campus building.
The Director’s meticulously planned shots transpire perfectly to the
screen, such as the scene where we can’t see a hulking killer of a man,
purely because he hit his mark behind that tree, and other visual
highlights including the killer’s reflection in a mirror and a dumb
waiter.
Starting well, if not a little cliched, the film’s only flaw is that it
spends too much time introducing us to the characters and their daily
lives (I know, people normally fault horror movies for not doing this, but
it only serves to show us why they don’t do it) but it does almost slow
the action down to a halt.
When the action picks up again however it’s great fun, with annoying
characters dying left right and centre amongst the well choreographed set
pieces which actually do supply a few shocks.
I also noticed that the characters were quite smart for ‘s victims.
They phone the police straight away, raise the alarm, get out fast and
lock all the doors. None of which stops the relentless killer.
When a film creates a good atmosphere, with good characters for the
audience to root for you can’t go far wrong, and if only a little more
time had gone into cutting down the character interaction and we had been
given a better sense of closure, this would have been not just a good
little film but rather a great slasher film.
OVERALL SUMMARY
If you can forgive such errors as the boom mike bobbing into frame
occassionally and don’t have too high expectations, you might just be
pleasantly surprised. A good effort.
