Director: Lee Ann Kurr
Year: 2022
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Trying to get through high-school life, a woman and the rest of her friends grow tired of their overbearing teacher and manage to get him fired which causes them to sneak onto campus later to celebrate only to find a masked killer stalking them one by one which forces them to get out alive.
Review:
This was a better slasher than expected. One of the better features here is the strong work in the first half that sets up the plight of the friend group rather well. As this one provides plenty of information and evidence regarding her extraordinary abilities and skills at school, from the demonstration in front of the class to the various conversations with her friends that show her different personality compared to them, this first half is quite effective. That brings about the motivation of the teacher to be a prime suspect while giving just enough about the friend group that can be taken either way as a likable enough main group of victims or as the stereotypical self-absorbed modern teenagers that are taken out.
That setup turns the second half of the film into a somewhat decent slasher once they’re trapped in the school. The early setup involving the students stuck inside and slowly becoming aware of their trapped state as the killer strikes their friend leads to a lot of fun with their frantic and foolhardy quest to get out. The later run-ins with the killer throughout the campus provide a series of enjoyable battles where the masked killer uses the sledgehammer to great use bashing the victims in brief, brutal blows before the final chase through the woods outside, all of which have the opportunity for some decent enough gore. With a fun enough disguise for the killer thrown in, these all come together to give this one quite a lot to like about it.
There are some big issues here that bring this one down, though. One of the main issues is the sluggish pace that takes quite a while before any of the killing starts as the extended setup about their friendship comes at the expense of the slashing. It’s nearly halfway through before it gets going which is a bit of an issue, much like the reasoning for the rampage that’s unbelievably stupid and ill-thought-out. The process behind wanting to go through with it is pretty weak but that is still miles better than the points being used to implement it due to the inherent pettiness and plain wrong setup that’s put in place here. These factors all manage to bring this one down for the most part.
Overview: ***.5/5
Far better teen slasher than it really should be, this offers up far more than you’d think which makes this one a highly enjoyable slasher that does have a few drawbacks keeping it down. Give this one a shot if you’re a hardcore slasher fan, more in tune with the modern genre style, or are curious about this one while most others should heed caution with this one.
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