kannibalcorpsegrinder

Trying to enjoy their summer together, a group of teenage friends determined not to let a psychotic killer going around town killing teenagers like them which puts them in contact with the deranged killer in the middle of their plans to keep their summer plans in check.

For the most part, this was a decent enough if overall problematic genre effort. One of its main attributes is the way this one goes about building up the lifestyle of the friend group and their lives together. The fact that so much of the first half here sets up the kind of group attitude they all have with the different interactions shown here involving the group at the skate park, dealing with their families, or going through the trouble of sneaking out to just hang out together. With this letting us get a chance to understand who the group is and how they came to be friends, everyone here comes off genuinely as a real collection of friends with the way they interact and talk with each other while there's a serial killer storyline hanging around on the outskirts of it all. The few instances in which this comes about to be involved in the story offer up some decent touches of suspense and stalking, with the way it features their attempt at getting around to different places in town to knock off victims. However, that would be fine if this didn't have a couple of crippling problems. The main issue here is that, for all the good this does at highlighting the friend group we're following, it just highlights how unlikable and aggravating they actually are. A self-centered brat-pack of a group who are far more concerned with skating at the park, going to concerts, or just talking with each other doing nothing, their rebellious nature is at the expense of self-preservation and common sense which ends up making for a decided lack of interest in seeing them safe. It really doesn't help that this is due to the other issue here as the killer feels more like a hindrance than anything, never getting a chance to see who they are or their handiwork often enough to care and getting just a few isolated moments to deal with it as the majority of this is more concerned with the friend group for the first hour until it brings this in until the end twist that puts everything together in a decent enough way of overcoming this.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

After meeting her new neighbors, a woman invites them over to a dinner with her and her husband which is somewhat undermined by a series of bizarre antics they display during dinner, but when it gives way to a deranged revelation that puts them in danger through their secret.

This was a far better genre effort than expected. Among its better features here is the impressive enough setup that makes for an intriguing time the longer it goes on. The main setup involving the neighbors coming over and the couple trying to entertain them through a series of genuinely bizarre and somewhat comical manner of behavior that takes place including their chipper attitudes, emotionless remarks, and literal tone with what they say or have said to them, making for a somewhat uneasy time. As it clearly hides a somewhat sinister agenda underneath the unnatural behavior and antics which are soon revealed in some twisted motivation behind what their purpose is, this allows for the film to gain a sense of suspense the more it goes on with the finale offering a nice bit of action to carry it along. There's just the overwhelming sense of the film being let down by the generally obvious low-budget limitations that are present here. This one is pretty much the main issue here as it tends to highlight everything that holds it back with the limited locations, lack of genuine special effects, and a restrained feel that comes from having things be kept so low-key that it doesn't have a lot of chances to go higher. With everything at the house and no real opportunities to expand beyond that from this not having much to go on other than the couple's weird interactions, it does have the kind of performance that keeps everything interesting as long as there's an appreciation of the low-budget setup. As it's not a big deal, this one becomes an intriguing enough time.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

On the verge of closing down, a movie theater's crew goes through a series of tasks to try to prepare for its closing week, but as they try to get everything prepared they find themselves troubled by a strange serial killer looking to stop their advances and must stop his plans to save the theater.

Overall, this was a fairly enjoyable indie slasher. One of the better elements here is the way this one sets up the lighthearted connection featured within here involving how the theater patrons are shown going about dealing with the closure notice. While some are far more concerned with getting new work in the tanking economy or what's going to happen to the building as a whole, others are concerned with their own issues involving how to get items out of the theater, slack off at work which makes them oblivious to what's going on. As none of it is all that stands but simply serves well enough to attach a name and character type to the face, this makes the wrestling slashing scenes quite intriguing with how the killer sneaks around the compound to carry out his spree against the employees that reaches its peak with the wild finale. That part is where the film stumbles somewhat as it might be a comedic-tinged slasher but little of it actually works. The comedy isn't that funny as it mainly consists of the causal nature of their slacking off at work more than anything which isn't remotely that comedic taking up a lot of the already-brief-enough running time here that what should be funny doesn't come off as such. Even worse is the stalking, which features a horribly unimposing scrawny killer in a laughable ski mask trying to intimidate people with an unimposing physique that has to rely on the multitude of stabs to try to make something of his presence there. However, since he's off-screen so much due to the attempts at comedy, you sometimes forget he's there when it focuses on the lives of the closing down theater patrons rather than dealing with their missing workers, lowering this one significantly.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.