After the mean-spirited excess of the Terrifier movies, I was ready for something more formulaic and comforting, which can only mean… slasher movies. It’s a sub-genre I inexplicably have a lot of affection for, and frequently revisit during the Six Weeks of Halloween. I probably haven’t exhausted the golden-age slashers yet (indeed, I just watched one last night), but I figured I’d give another shot to the Neo-Slasher. Yes, I tackled this weekly theme a decade ago, but the Neo-Slasher is a sub-genre that tends to get short shrift, so let’s take a look at a few more of them.
For the purposes of this post, any slasher made after Scream represents a Neo-Slasher. We’ve got a couple from that immediate post-Scream rush below, as well as a more recent updating of the sub-genre. Let’s get to it:
Six Weeks of Halloween: Week 6 – Neo-Slashers
- Thursday the 12th (Robot Chicken)
- King in the Box (short)
- Urban Legend (trailer)
Urban Legends: Final Cut – At the (fictional) most prestigious film school in the country, someone is vying for the coveted Hitchcock Award (complete with a sizeable cash prize and pretty much a guarantee for a job in Hollywood) for their student film… by knocking off the competition. Hijinks ensue.
I actually don’t remember much about the original Urban Legend other than that I thought it was a neat idea, but that it didn’t really capitalize on the premise of exploring urban legends in any real depth. After a promising start, this sequel pretty much abandons the premise about halfway through as well. We do get a few solid examples, including Kidney Thieves and Humans Can Lick Too, but others are given short shrift and the whole proposition falls by the wayside as the increasingly convoluted plot starts heading towards a climax. As a sequel, it doesn’t really connect in any meaningful way with its predecessor (a security guard from the first film shows up and her presence works well enough without bringing too much baggage), which is probably for the best (there’s another sequence at the very end, a sorta epilogue, that I guess also connects in an odd way.)
As a humble slasher, I do think this works, and indeed, it’s better than a lot of the immediate post-Scream imitators. The killer, this time sporting a fencing mask and black robe, is a definite upgrade over the first film. Why he’s wearing the costume doesn’t really make any sense, but it’s visually effective. Speaking of which, the film is set during winter at a university campus that has lots of neat architectural features; it’s a setting they make good use of, and gives the film a somewhat unique look. Being a film school, there are tons of filmic references that film dorks can geek out over. There’s a little bit of history that’s driving the story, and the red herrings are numerous. The kills are reasonable, if a bit tame, even by the standards of the day (the most effective one is the aforementioned Kidney Thief segment, which ends in a surprising and well executed decapitation).
The cast is pretty solid too. Jennifer Morrison (probably best known for her work on House) isn’t the most memorable final girl or anything, but she gets the job done. Loretta Devine reprises her role as the security guard from the first film, and her presence actually lightens the mood a bit. Hart Bochner (he was in Terror Train but is probably best known as the platonic ideal of coked-up, go-go 80s businessmen – Ellis in Die Hard) plays the film professor, and he provides some level of gravitas (I mean, not much, but he’s an adult). There are some larval roles for the likes of Eva Mendes and Anson Mount, and Joey Lawrence shows up being suitably bitchy. Anthony Anderson and Michael Bacall are essentially playing Chainsaw and Dave, and thus provide some comedic relief.
Look, this isn’t a perfect movie or anything. In a lot of ways, it’s simply going through the motions of a slasher. On the other hand, that’s mostly what slashers actually are – they’re formulaic and conventional in the extreme, and this movie hits the appropriate notes. Is it the best neo-slasher? No way. Is it cliched? You betcha. Do all the twists and turns make a lot of sense? Not especially! Is the killer’s revealed motivation insanely ludicrous? Absolutely. Does any of this really matter? Apparenly not. I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would. It’s certainly not fine cinema, and there would be better neo-slashers in the following years, especially once they emerged from the shadow of Scream. But after a week of Terrifier films, this was like putting on a warm sweater. **1/2
- My Bloody Valentine (trailer)
- Hardly Working: Slasher (Short)
- Slaughter High (trailer)
Valentine – A group of college students start getting threatening Valentine’s cards, and soon enough, a masked killer shows up as Valentine’s Day approaches.
Of the group of immediate post-Scream imitators, this is the rare one that plays its slasher shenanigans almost completely straight. There’s no self-aware winking or homages or anything like that. It’s like someone found an unproduced script from 1983, did a minor rewrite to update the technology, slang, and fashions, and just made that. It’s still got all the hallmarks of a 2001 production. Slick, music video style looks with beautiful cast members mostly pulled from, like, the CW casting couch. The fashions and music and mannerisms are all vintage 2001. But the structure, right down to the tragic prank in the past being revisited upon the present, not to mention a fantastic mask and costume for the killer, is pure slasher cliche.
This sort of modern and retro at the same time take on the genre fell flat at the time (the bottom was really falling out of the teen horror boom by 2001), but it has garnered a bit of a cult following over the years. That said, it still only really rises to the level of a curiosity these days. For dorky students of the genre like me, it represents an interesting tipping point, but the text of the film itself isn’t as interesting as its place in the history.
The cast is once again pretty solid though. Denise Richards is sometimes thought of as a punchline as an actress, but she’s perfect for this sort of role. David Boreanaz hits his marks and does what’s needed. Even Katherine Heigl shows up, however briefly. Most of the characters are folks you don’t mind seeing killed, and the kills are long on the stalking, which sometimes works really well.
This isn’t perfect either, but I can see why it’s developed a following over the years, and it’s worth checking out for students of the genre. It’s certainly not going to overtake My Bloody Valentine‘s (or maybe even the remake‘s) stranglehold on the holiday though. **1/2
- It’s the Gifts That I Hate (Robot Chicken)
- The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror VI: Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace
- Wet Nightmares (short)
The Ranger – After a run in with the cops at a punk concert, a group of kids decide to lay low at an old, abandoned family cabin in the woods. There they come under the watchful eye of an overzealous park ranger who knows about one of the punks’ past.
Look, I’m no expert on the world of “punk”, but there seems to be a few different strains. The bold fashions and hard hitting music are obvious, but there’s often an underlying political sensibility and even principle driving the transgression. These people are a little hard to handle, but they have a point of view that’s hard to shake. Then there’s a different stripe who have all the superficial appearances of punk, but are pure narcissistic types who don’t care about anyone or anything but themselves because “Fuck you, we’re punk.” The clothes fit, but there’s nothing underneath. This movie is filled with the latter.
As a result, the whole Punks vs Park Ranger battle that is being set up feels a bit lopsided. It would be one thing if there was an actual exploration of punk here (even the latter types), but all we really get is the outfits and kids being really shitty to each other. There are occasional glimpses of care, I guess. Two of the punks are in a gay relationship that’s barely established, and the final girl clearly has more going on in her head than everyone else (not to mention a connection with the park ranger). But the first half of the film is spent almost exclusively with this insufferable crew of assholes, such that I really wanted to see the Ranger start messing with them.
Things pick up once he does exactly that. And while he’s not the usual slasher villain, he wears his Ranger uniform like costume. The hat and aviators frame a strong jawline in a way that almost resembles a mask, and he is suitably menacing even before the fireworks begin. Of course, he’s not exactly a likable guy either (and we later find out just how unlikable he can be). There’s clearly something sinister bubbling under the surface of his short monologues and quoting of laws. This isn’t a gore-focused slasher either, though there are brief bursts of intense violence that are reasonably effective. Unfortunately, that means that there’s no real catharsis in the kills either. If you’re going to do the thing where you set up characters to be genuinely horrible, like drug dealers and murderers with little to no redeeming qualities… I dunno, I guess they didn’t let the characters off the hook and there’s something to be said for subverting that trope, it still comes off a little muddled.
First time director Jenn Wexler does have a keen eye, and the movie looks pretty good. I may find the characters annoying, but the punk aesthetic is visually striking, and Wexler does a good job contrasting that with the more subdued nature of the surrounding countryside. The soundtrack also takes full advantage of punk music, infusing the occasional jolt of energy into the proceedings.
The final showdown with the Ranger and the final girl works well enough and the history between them is effective, if a bit clumsily presented. When this movie is good, it’s great, but there’s definitely a lot of not-so-good elements that really hold it back in my mind. Interestingly, I thought I spotted Larry Fessenden in the flashbacks and sure enough, this was a movie made under Fessenden’s production company, Glass Eye Pix, and Wexler has worked with them in other capacities (mostly as a producer) before. Even if I don’t love it, this is a movie that shows a lot of promise, and there are some really great elements, it just didn’t really come together for me. **
Hard to believe we’re almost done with the Six Weeks of Halloween. All that really remains is the customary Speed Round of short reviews, the big day itself, and next week, a recap of Halloween season’s readings.