Scarecrow-88 College-age kids decide on a rad road trip, looking forward to a killer summer of partying, but unexpectedly they fall prey to an unhinged psycho named Spider (Michael Copon) who loves to mock them while pursuing and butchering them at an abandoned amusement part off the beaten path. The kids ride in a RV, hitting ole Route 66, when a fallen sign leads them to the park that will be where the vacation for most of them is stopped…dead.Rachel Lara, donning striking red hair and a flaming sensuality to match, makes quite an impression (just plain sexy and performs a little number for the boys in front of a camp fire before settling on the lap of hunky David Namminga) among the cast. Coupon clearly looks for his inner Fred Krueger, while the rest of the cast is either ridiculously lured to him without a clue that he might be dangerous or running all over the place, scattering apart so they can be picked off one at a time. Julia Beth Stern is the cute "nerd" (she isn't really all that geeky, though, as she's relaxed with the rest of them and even wears a hoody) who finds herself as the "final girl" by film's end…there's a particular attachment she has with the killer to be revealed, too. Two twists with a ludicrous final image that is a bit too much. Also too much is the director's emphasis on slow motion, repeated action in B&W photography (that does nothing but interfere with the pace and distract from the "plot"), and ADD editing which jerks us around and doesn't truly help make the film effective. There's some clever kill gags like the use of a rigged guitar with a sharp handle, an accidental arm decapitation, and shards of glass from one of those mirror rides flying right into the face of a victim trapped in a bucket seat. There's a nasty use of a broken bottle, impaled forcibly through a victim (for extra impact, Coupon waits, allowing his victim "to breathe" and even preparing her for the inevitable death), and the knife killing of Lara's parents while the kids are outside the house by the RV definitely sets up Coupon as a nutcase with little difficulty torturing and taking the lives of innocents for kicks.I think the amusement park could be just a bit more atmospheric and spooky, and, sadly, there's very little definition of the place (Dark Ride (2006) seems to do a better job of it), with a bit too much darkness. I also felt if they had made the amusement park more weathered, dilapidated, and aged, it could have really brought some needed eye candy to accompany the attractive cast. As far as the dialogue and acting: there's nothing significantly distinguished. If you like the usual stalk and stab slasher, this fits the formula, right down to the "family revelations" and "you thought he was gone, well don't we have a surprise for you!!!" conclusion. The butcher knife remains the go-to weapon of choice for this slasher's killer. This film decided to show the killer immediately and establish him as ruthless and cruel. Its heart is aimed for that low budget slasher audience that doesn't necessarily request much diversion from the norm.

gwnightscream This 2013 film stars Michael Copon, Julia Beth Stern and Rachel Lara. This focuses on teenage girl, Cammi (Stern) who is talked by her friend, Taylor (Lara) into going on a road trip for Spring break with some other friends. Soon, a psychotic killer, Melvin aka Spider (Copon) follows them to an abandoned carnival/amusement park where he plays a deadly game of cat and mouse. Copon isn't bad yet over the top as the killer and the film pays homage to "The Funhouse" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." It had potential for it's surroundings, but is ruined by a far-fetched plot twist. I'd probably give this a try only if you enjoy horror/thriller flicks, but it's disappointing.

ASouthernHorrorFan "Killer Holiday" takes classic horror into true crime territory. Not that this film is based on any real life events but the premise does sort of reoccur on those true crime channels quite a bit. The film is directed by Marty Thomas and stars a hot cast. Michael Copon, Marty Thomas, Alex Mandel, Rachel Lara, Randolph Mantooth, Julia Beth Stern, David Namminga, Rachel Wixom,Matt Calloway, Rich Hoag, Noah Gibbings, Sydney Rae Shalhoob, Gabriel Olivera, Jon Zuber, Terry T. Miller all star in this visceral nightmare. The plot has a group of friends heading out for a vacation with a psycho killer following close behind. The story is as straight forward as they come with friends on a trip falling victim to the brutality of a serial killer. There is a twist at the end but you kind of see it coming two scenes prior so the impact isn't as strong. Still the story is classic and fun. It does have the burden of stereotypical set-ups and banter dragging it down somewhat but the fact that it isn't a supernatural force of evil slaughtering the youths makes the film a bit darker. This aspect actual helps the story feel more intense with zero "intentional" cheesiness. The characters are a bit cliché but most horror films have that flaw that can create a small amount of cheese. "Killer Holiday" does bring some pretty cool actors together that look camera ready. The acting isn't stellar but the cast all give pretty decent performances with a few standing out more, notably the psycho. This one made me a bit conflicted. It is very seldom I enjoy finding a killer so hot that I define them as "f*ckable", I prefer to not really relate to killers in cinema, I never was one for celebrating psycho characters that are too close to "reality". Of course I never thought the classic masked killers were f*ckable so it isn't often I face this dilemma. Even with the acting being above grade there is a weird disconnect with the actors' portrayal of these characters, almost as if they feel two dimensional or lake in depth. Actually the whole film of the drama and dialog feels somewhat disconnected from the story tries to create on screen.The special effects and soundtrack in "Killer Holiday" is the expected caveat of melodrama and death rattles set to some creepy, chilling instrumentals and sound effects. All of which work great in the movie. Even though it is more of a serial killer situation as opposed to the supernatural, unstoppable monster, the death scenes are just as memorable, bloody and creative. The only thing that holds this back from being stellar is that odd, almost Eurocentric disconnect between what is written and what is acted out. By that I mean it has that strange feel of pretending to be an American slasher instead of actually feeling like an American slasher. If that makes since. Still with the things that bothered me about "Killer Holiday" , the film is a pretty good horror film with plenty of blood and gore for the traditional horror fan. Plus it has a pretty stand-out killer, and nice, all be it expected, ending. A definite once over for any horror fan.

Dawn Stone (dawnferris) I wanted to like this movie, I really did. But it just didn't have what it takes to be a good movie. Horror films, especially B Horror (and I love B Horror) really needs to pick the pace up quickly. And if you aren't gonna have some deaths early on then at least show us a bit of back story. This movie had one death early on then nothing for 40 minutes. The actors did great. They didn't sound fake or like they were , well, acting.They did great considering the script they had to work with. The filming it's self was adequate(with the exception of the quick flash backs and sudden black and white bits)It was purely the story line that spoiled this movie. It's okay, but not great.