Director: Ashley Cahill
Year: 2026
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher; Horror/Comedy
Plot:
Signing up for an immersive experience, a group of strangers arrives at the remote camp in the woods where they’re supposed to enjoy a series of immersive encounters designed to pay homage to various horror films, but as the night continues, they find that a real killer is among them.
Review:
Generally, this was a fairly fun and enjoyable genre effort. Among the better elements of this one is the incredibly solid and far more engaging setup here that manages to be incredibly meta while also being a really solid experience on its own. The whole idea at play here involving the group of strangers going along on a special opportunity that aims to recreate the experience of a 1980s horror movie as a live, in-person attraction, complete with actors playing serial killers or other malevolent entities that are used to put them through various recreations of different horror movie tropes, makes this come off incredibly well. It makes the whole thing come off better than expected, with the different scenarios not being faithfully accurate because it’s about the tropes and general atmosphere of the films rather than a full-on experience recreating everything they’ve seen before. Given that there are also several indicators that something is wrong with the inclusion of the stories about the escaped killer, the constant affirmations that everything has been set up to be a horror film experience, and the different meetings with the others to ensure that the main game is operating as expected, this features a pretty strong main starting point.
That allows this one to work incredibly fun and engaging setpieces throughout here, as the group is continuously unaware of what’s happening around them. With the knowledge and insistence that they’re going to be in a chaotic yet controlled environment, by recreating the atmosphere and tone of a horror movie, the whole experience with the deranged backwoods brothers abducting them and taking them hostage sets a strong tone to start here, with the joke soon allowing everything to come together. Later on, when the real killer arrives and starts knocking off the crew and the various members of the group as they carry on, it brings up the fun moments of the masked killer being able to sneak up on others in the cabins, a special ambush in the kitchen with a group member who is unable to recognize what’s going on until it’s too late to escape, and the absolutely thrilling final chase around the campground that manages plenty of exciting moments. This is all kinds of fun, involving some great kills, solid chase scenes with the survivors trying to get away, and some fun meta-play on everything to help give this a lot of likable factors.
There are some drawbacks to this one that hold it back. The main issue here is that there are way too many attempts at stupidity that are required to make the story work, as it requires everyone to be absolute morons so that the killer can work and move around undetected. The whole idea of the figure managing to successfully operate within the confines of the experience, and no one is aware it’s a real killer as they’re under the impression it’s still all part of their package, needs to happen for this to work, but it’s taken to an extreme here once the bodies start to disappear. Several sequences are there blatantly because of the inability to recognize what’s happening until it’s too late, such as the kitchen ambush, with one of the group thinking that the killer is one of the hired actors and acting nonchalant about their presence even after learning seconds earlier that something is potentially wrong, which is one of the most egregious examples. As well, there are also a few chances where the low-budget limitations come into play, from the cheesy kills and somewhat silly mask for the killer that does eliminate some of the fear their imposing nature and viciousness provide, but otherwise, there’s not much to dislike here.
Overview: ****/5
A really solid and likable meta-tinged slasher, there are plenty of worthwhile factors to this one that help to make it a rather fun time, despite a few minor drawbacks that hold this one down. Those with an appreciation for the style or approach taken here, or who are curious about it, will have a lot to like here, while most others out there might want to heed caution.
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