Sorry for the delay on these reviews, folks! While at the Telluride Horror Show, I caught several films, a few of which I’m going to review for you here! The others are already reviewed on BD, such as Rats and The Autopsy of Jane Doe, and I basically agree with them 100%.
However, there are a few that we haven’t covered here, so those are the ones I’m going to focus on. Those include Terrifier, which had its world premiere at the festival, Spring Break Zombie Massacre, which we’ve covered in the past, and the Dutch horror film The Windmill, which was reviewed but I liked it a bit more than Benedict. However, not to give away everything, let’s get to the reviews!
Terrifier
Back in 2011, writer/director Damien Leone released a short film by the name of Terrifier, which introduced the world to Art the Clown. A 19-minute short about a woman who falls victim to the murderous clown, it was a dive into depravity and gore with a final shot that is incredibly disturbing. Now, five years later, a feature-length film by the same name about Art the Clown has arrived and Damien Leone has 100% upped the ante.
Let’s start by saying that the story is kinda razor-thin. Two young women, Tara and Dawn, are trying to get home after a night of partying on Halloween but find that the tire of their car has been slashed. While waiting for Tara’s sister to come pick them up, Art the Clown sets his sights on them for his own sadistic pleasure.
The movie, for the most part, is set in one location, an old office building that is being purged of rats (a creature which, for some reason, we never see a single one of). Even in that building, the majority of the time spent inside is in the basement, which feels almost like a maze of decaying concrete and forgotten storage. The atmosphere is dingy and disgusting, so there is a wonderful sense of uncleanliness throughout the film.
While the story is rather basic, the gore is anything but. It’s clear that a lot of the budget went into making this movie look as gross and visceral as possible, which works very much to its advantage. There are moments from this film that I will probably never forget, including a kill that is so vicious and unpleasant that it made the entire audience at THS groan, look away, cheer, applaud, and everything in between. I won’t ruin the kill but all I’ll say about it is that it dares to go where few films would even consider.
When it comes to the characters, they’re serviceable. Dawn (Catherine Corcoran) is charming and likable, even in her pseudo-drunken state. Tara, played strongly and with great intensity by Jenna Kanell, however is incredibly frustrating. She alternates between intelligent and thoughtful to an outright idiot. She does several things that endear her to the audience, such as making sure Dawn won’t drive the car while drunk or reacting quickly to the horrifying circumstances she runs into. However, like many other potential (and confirmed) victims in other horror movies, she suffers that idiotic trend of injuring her assailant and having prime opportunity to finish him off only to run away. And this doesn’t happen just once. It happens three times! During the third time, it’s not only that she injures Art and runs away, it’s the fact that she injures him and then goads him to come at her, as though she wants a fair fight with a tall, obviously murderous clown. Sorry, I just don’t buy it.
The real star of this movie is obviously Art the Clown, who is played by David Howard Thornton. Let me go ahead and say this: he’s fucking incredible. His movements, his attitude, his presentation could not be any better. He never utters a single line nor even lets loose a noise but he still manages to be horrifying in his body language. I’d honestly rank him among the scariest clowns in horror, if not the creepiest ever.
Here’s the problem: there is literally no backstory on Art the Clown whatsoever. He’s just a guy that puts on a clown outfit and makeup and starts terrorizing these young women. There is no purpose in his actions. I know that we’re in the midst of some weird clown sighting thing but those people aren’t doing anything aside from standing around and trying to appear spooky. Art is nothing like them whatsoever. He interacts, he engages, he wants to participate, even though there isn’t a single reason for him to do so. This lack of exposition makes some of his actions questionable in that they beg the question, “Wait, why would he do that?” In summation, Thornton is astonishing in a character that simply isn’t written well.
When it comes to the ending of the film, it can be seen coming a mile away because of events shown in the beginning. That being said, it’s not a bad ending, just a predictable one.
Overall, Terrifier will satisfy gorehounds and those who love slasher flicks. There’s a solid body count and it’s unique enough to merit its existence. I just wish there was a bit more depth, even the most minute amount.
Rating: 3.5 skulls out of 5
Spring Break Zombie Massacre
Okay, let’s make this very clear: This isn’t a movie in the traditional sense. The plot is convoluted and doesn’t make much sense. The acting is more often than not questionable. And the transitions from one scene to another are frequently unrelated and jarring. But is it obvious that this was a movie made for people who just wanted to have fun? Absolutely. The film embraces its low budget and flaunts it, not trying to hide it with clever tricks. Instead, that same embrace is what adds to the charming quality of the film, which the audience ate up eagerly. Funny enough, it looked better (CGI notwithstanding) than many other entries in the festival.
The plot is that Sam and Matty, two best friends, were nearly killed by the Devil upon birth because they will grow up to be bionic heroes. Unable to do so, Satan still manages to kill their mothers. 20 years later, the two friends face rising hordes of zombies, demons, and zombie demons while attempting to party it up as much as possible.
If you can put aside the fact that the plot has no idea what to do with itself then you’ll encounter a movie that is clearly a couple of friends doing something that they’ve always wanted to do, which is admirable in its own right. Still, it’s an incomplete film that has many issues that were clearly apparent yet ignored in the hopes that everything else would mask them. Sometimes that worked and sometimes it didn’t, which made the 45-ish minute runtime feel odd. Was it too long? Was it too short? Either the film needed some excess cut away to tighten it up or it could’ve used a lot more work to make it a feature-length film that added depth, character development, and a more complete story.
Rating: 3.5 skulls out of 5
The Windmill
The story here is rather simple: several tourists get on a bus that takes them through the countryside of Holland and shows off the historic windmills. The bus breaks down and the tourists are forced to stay in a rundown house. As tensions rise and a strange killer stalks them one at a time, they begin to realize that each of them has something in common…
The first half of the film features beautiful, almost picturesque shots of Holland and the wonderful scenery that it holds. Then, when the “action” starts near the second half, the film turns that beauty into ugliness and we get a very different feel of the country. This slow build allows us to really meet the characters and understand who we are going to be interacting with. Personally, I loved it. While the film is ultimately a supernatural slasher, by taking the time to introduce the characters and give them depth, I found myself more connected to their plight. They also don’t feel stereotypical, which is fresh.
The kills and gore are fantastic, so if you’re worried that this movie is more about the story and characters, fret not. They used a lot of fake blood and the practical FX are great! In fact, the first kill sets the tone of what to expect, which is viscera and violence that will shock and please horror fans.
Another aspect of the film that I genuinely appreciated is that it’s not one of those movies where you question if they’re in some sort of “Hell” where they must face judgment for their sins. This openly admits it relatively early on. There isn’t any question as to what’s happening here. There is no twist ending that will only confuse audiences. Yes, there are some unanswered questions at the end but director Nick Jongerius makes it clear that with a little bit of thought, you’ll figure everything out.
This film doesn’t hold you by the hand but it also doesn’t make things to convoluted so that you can’t sit back and have a good time. It was definitely one of my favorite experiences during the festival.
Rating: 4 skulls out of 5
