Director: John Isberg
Year: 2023
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
After a devastating tragedy, the counselors at a summer camp in the woods try to put the accident behind them and get the campsite ready for a prospective new buyer, but when they realize that the camp legend of a masked killer stalking the area and must try to stop him before they're all killed.
Review:
Overall, there's quite a lot to like here. One of the finer aspects of this one is the throwback attitude present with the old-school slasher films it's trying to emulate. The opening setup of the incidents at the camp that trace its legacy, starting with the campfire story to try to scare the new counselors while finding themselves under attack, the series of deaths that have to be revealed to parents, and the tragedy that the counselors have to get through for their own mental sanity, is a fantastic series of old-school starting points. It all provides the kind of backstory necessary to understand the motivations of everyone, the history of the location, and the small bits involving the killer's presence that give the film a great old-school feeling.
As well, there’s also quite a lot to like with the atmosphere generated with the whole setup. The backstory about the killer is a fine start and is used quite effectively to help inspire some cheesy startles with the group out in the woods searching for the missing kid during the woods at night that brings about the recurrence of previous traumas in their life preventing them from carrying on or the incidents around the woods making them think they’re being watched using the suddenness of his appearances at night which bring about the gleaming mask and hulking axe. With the majority of the scenes taking place at a steady, measured tempo sneaking around quietly trying to make sure they don’t alert him but still drawing attention to them anyway, there’s a lot more suspense than expected here.
This leads to the film’s enjoyable stalking and slashing that employs some fine elements. Starting with the opening flashback that shows him taking out the camper trying to tell the campfire legend, this manages to provide some solid attack scenes with the striking look of the killer and their athleticism getting some fun moments. The appearance in front of the camp and attacking the counselors in front of everyone is a standout sequence, much like the ambush in the cabins or the various attacks around the camp as they try to get help that makes it seem like there’s more than one. As this twist gets explored rather nicely in the finale providing some fun chases and encounters around camp, they come together to give this a lot to like.
There are some problems with this one that do slightly hold it down. The main issue here is the lack of interest this one manages to drive by providing the final girl with the trauma-based background it does. This whole setup is fine in theory with giving her something to overcome in addition to having to fight off the killer, but it really makes her bland and uninteresting for the most part and doesn’t make her that endearing so the stakes for the finale aren’t there as much as it should. With the convoluted backstory making it somewhat scattershot what’s going on at times, this can also have that same kind of effect on things, which also ends up occurring with the overly familiar setup that’s used here. These aren’t bad and don’t lower it much but do stand out here.
Overview: ***.5/5
An overall fun if slightly flawed slasher throwback, that there’s a lot to like with this one as a solid genre entry manages to make for a fun time here as the issues don’t really bother this one too much. Those who are fans of this particular style, appreciate modern slasher throwbacks like this, or are generally curious about it will have a lot to like while others who aren’t into those factors should heed caution.
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