Director: Ryan McGonagle
Year: 2020
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
While filming a small documentary, a kid and his friends uncover the legend of the spirit of a young kid haunting their small town and inadvertently release it on Halloween night starting a bloody rampage throughout the town, forcing them to find a way to stop it before it strikes everyone.
Review:
This one was a pretty enjoyable effort. One of the strongest elements is the impressive setup that generates a lotto like about the small-town myth this one goes on. Offering up the local legend of the murderous kid who haunts the fabled part around the outskirts of town with a series of clues about his identity, the cause of the condition and his past antics in the opening attack that spells everything out. Given the actual documentary the kids produce and the later video report that gives the information needed for the pieces to fit together and fill in the story about the individual, this all works quite nicely.
As well, the film has quite a lot to like with the actual ambush and attack scenes of the figure running around the town killing everyone. After the opening attack, nothing comes up until the massacre at the party on the grounds where he was resurrected, featuring a series of impressive attacks to knock them off one-by-one. The later scenes finishing off the friends in their home are really fun while the finale contains the massive assault on their home where everything comes to play in a series of fun stalking scenes, graphic kills and some wholly enjoyable stalking taking place. Combined with the stellar look of the killer, these offer up quite a lot to like.
There are a few problems with this one. The main issue is the films’ slow beginning that manages to hold off all the horror for so much of the beginning that it doesn’t really register as one until it’s quite a ways in. with the beginning half focused on the exploits of the kids filming their documentary and getting chased by the bullies, the backstory of the older sister and her friends with the other classmates and the general friendship between everyone, this series is quite enjoyable at immersing the viewer into their setup but otherwise not providing much else to bolster the genre feel here.
The other issue to be had here is the rather overdone series of clichés and general familiarity that’s featured here. The idea of the bullies tormenting the geeky kid brother, the local crazy person who spends the entire time telling crazy stories who’s written off but is proven right, the dynamics between the family and the antics in the finale where it purposefully sets itself up for a sequel for no reason are all woven together into a story that’s quite familiar and overdone. On top of that, the film’s kills are wholly unrealistic with the graphic effects looking fake due to the bright red and unnatural blood used, rendering the effects comical as a result. These are what drag the film down as a whole.
Overview: ***.5/5
Despite a few minor missteps in terms of the cliched storyline and some obvious low-budget effects work, the rest of this one is a pretty fun and solid effort that has enough to like in terms of the likable setup and stalking action once it gets going. Give it a look if this is something you’re interested in or can appreciate this kind of approach, while others who don’t like this setup or find this approach unappealing should heed caution.
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