Director: Rene Perez
Year: 2015
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: Metalface; Leatherface: The Legend Lives On
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Struggling to get by in life, a troubled woman accepts an offer from a mysterious corporation to participate in a strange experiment at a remote cabin-house out in the woods, where she gradually comes to learn that a vicious serial killer is stalking her in a vicious game by her employer.
Review:
This one ended up being quite a decent enough slasher. What really gets this one going nicely is the rather strong action that gives this one a lot to really like overall here. Setting the tone rather nicely by detailing the initial chase through the woods, but also getting the fist-fight featured alongside it, gives this a nice punch, as this gets us acclimated to the type of monitoring system at play here. It doesn't hurt that this also introduces the killer, who is an insanely chilling presence that this one gets a lot of mileage out of, as the flesh-colored mask wrapped in barbed wire and twisted metal leaves an indelible mark during the middle portion, with him stalking her throughout the house against her knowledge.
Those are quite creepy as the sight of him behind her moving around in the house without her knowing about it causes this to have a genuine tension that's even more effective due to the flashes of him behind her after just passing by or moving objects to different places in an attempt to confuse and disorient her before going through the phases of a stellar slasher on the other end. From some solid gun battles to a decent stalking setpiece in the woods, where it includes a few extra bodies thrown into the loop for some nice kills and bloodshed, the final half of this one is a lot more enjoyable than expected and gives it some decent moments. As well as the stellar house in the woods where it all takes place, which is nicely creepy and atmospheric at times, these hold it up over its minor flaws.
What really seems to undo this one is its lack of overall clarity about what's going on. Hardly anything is explained at all here, from what the employer at the computer monitors is trying to accomplish to what the purpose of the killer being freed is supposed to mean and why she's coming up to the cabin in the first place. Just dropping it all on us is not a good way of introducing us to anything, and the questions it leaves us are far more prominent than the ones it answers, leaving the whole affair pretty confusing for the most part.
As well, the film doesn't really generate the kind of action-packed pace that's usually required in such films, as the majority of the time focuses on her wandering around the cabin or detailing the lifestyle struggles she's undergoing doesn't make for exciting scenes here and just really causes this one to be duller than expected. Since these don't bring about the kind of body count activities usually seen here, the film has some points where it lags considerably from what it could've had and never provides the kind of over-the-top bloodletting or kill-count it could've. Alongside the moments where it's obvious the low budget comes shining through, these are what hold this one back.
Overview: **.5/5
An average enough, if not really that overwhelming, slasher indie, this one gets enjoyable enough to be a watchable genre effort even if its flaws are quite overwhelming and somewhat detrimental. Those with an appreciation for this style of genre fare or who are hardcore slasher aficionados will have the most to like here, while most others should heed caution.
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