Director: Alejandro G. Alegre
Year: 2025
Country: Mexico
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Trying to improve their ratings, a group of paranormal investigators look to explore a local legend of a killer hiding out in an abandoned factory that features rumors suggesting him as the inspiration for Steamboat Willie forcing them into a race to stop the maniacal killer.
Review:
This was far better than expected even if it still falls a bit short. One of the finer features here is the rather solid and generally impressive means through which this one sets about trying to connect this to the more famous character. This allows the film to offer up a solid enough main setup as just a straightforward slasher, bringing the group of online explorers out to the location to investigate the claims of a lonely figure living at the remote site who serves as the source of numerous disappearances over the years. Once they arrive and start to notice the area full of signs that something’s wrong including the eerie, disused look and smattering of blood left behind, it all comes together to create a solid background for what’s to come involving the revelation about the killer holding victims captive around the site. This all works incredibly well at generating the kind of solid indie slasher without tying into the popular figure.
That brings about a series of fun and thrilling setpieces showing the killer stalking the group in his hideout lair. The initial attack on the exterminator hanging around the facility trying to look for an infestation or the first attack on the group where he surprises the humping couple in the exterminator truck gives this a solid start with some impressive start to things. The confrontations with the hulking, masked killer stomping around have a nice brutal edge that gets enhanced by the finale which turns into some far more brutal and graphic torture sequences involving the killer capturing the surviving members of the group and setting about dismembering and torturing them for their own gain. These scenes are inventive, bloody, and quite chilling with how they play out, especially once it gets to put its twist into motion, all of which make this a solid enough time overall.
There are a few drawbacks to holding this one down. Among the main issues here is the film’s rather plainly telegraphed twist set up quite early on that it becomes painfully obvious what’s going to happen later on. It starts pretty early with an obvious red light that signposts the whole thing quite easily yet the incident is supposedly treated as a revelation when it’s fully unveiled as a shocking twist to the final act. It’s somewhat less interesting than it comes off as when it comes about because of this which tends to also have the effect of rendering the middle section quite dull with the section being highlighted by the sluggish pace during this section. Having the low cast to knock off is a secondary issue with that as well, and when it’s all coupled with the preferential treatment of the characters that comes about here there are some drawbacks to this one.
Overview: ***/5
A fun low-budget indie slasher, there’s enough to like with this one that manages to hold this one up over a series of slight drawbacks present that do bring this one down. Those who are fine with these issues, are curious about it, or just enjoy this style of modern slasher will have the most to like here while most others out there might want to heed caution.
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