Director: Thomas Walton
Year: 2024
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Arriving at a summer camp in the woods, a group of horror fans arrive to partake in a recreation of summer camp-style horror films with a real-life killer, but when they and the counselors start to really die realize that a legendary killer might be responsible for the current rampage.
Review:
Overall, this was a decidedly decent enough effort for what it is. One of the strongest elements of this one is the rather strong and unique setup that shows this off as a solid way to pay homage to the genre classics of the past. The idea of the all-adults campsite that caters to fans of the cinematic genre fare is so obviously playing up to the setting of a real-life summer camp in the woods where people can pay to provide that kind of experience. As the festivities carry on and the weekend turns into a bloodbath where people aren’t able to tell the difference between something set up for the weekend and a real-life killer in the area, there’s a lot to like about the setup at play here where the more traditional setup homaging the past can feel quite intriguing once this gets going.
As well, the fact that there’s such a huge assortment of kills in this part of the film makes for a decidedly fun time waiting around for the group to get knocked off. Requiring a near-endless stream of solid indie-based encounters featuring campers, guests, and other stragglers wandering aimlessly into the killer’s sphere of influence but because they’re all convinced it’s part of the game allow themselves to be taken out, this sets a wholly impressive series of practical effects-filled sequences into motion as the stalking, slashing, and stabbing that goes on makes for a nice bit of bloody happenings here. As how these occur leaves the second half with a fantastic tempo due to the breakneck pace they’re doled out, this comes off rather nicely in this regard.
Outside of these factors, though, the film does struggle a bit. The main drawback here is such a cliched and underwhelming storyline that never really delivers what it sets out to be. The main focus of the first half is spent on the cliched family-drama nonsense that takes up way too much screentime for what it should for no other reason than to get more names into a cameo appearance and have their names on the poster artwork. This is inherently silly and doesn’t endear us to any of the counselors or campers as they barely get a name before getting dispatched by the killer so it’s nearly impossible to care about them. Given that the flashback also reveals the killer so the shock reveal of the identity reveal that makes the whole backstory feel useless and just flat-out stupid.
On top of that, there are other big issues with the film in how its kills are treated. While they’re carried out practically, so many of them are just stabbing in the chest or stomach or having their throat slit that there’s just nothing stand-out about them or memorable beyond the quantity as they’re repeated so often it just grows tiresome. Also, with so many instances of the low-budget origins coming into effect, not just with the flimsy gore effects but the egregiously overdone shots of a train going by in the distance, padded-out drone shots flying over the campsite, or vehicles driving by when they’re supposedly out in the middle of the woods just make this feel far worse than it should and are what cause this to be as low as it is when there’s still some good stuff here.
Overview: **/5
With quite a few problems that can hold down the positives, this is a wholly disappointing slasher throwback that has some good parts to it but is almost wiped out by the flaws featured here. Those who are fine with the flaws or are hardcore slasher fanatics will have the most to like here while other viewers will want to seek caution here.
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