Woodyanders Stop me if you've heard this one before: A group of free-spirited teenagers venture into the woods for a rowdy weekend of heavy duty partying. Naturally, said bash gets brutally crashed by sexually repressed psycho Big Stevie (well played with amusing and affable nonchalance by Allen Andrews), who bumps everyone off with the exception of the sweet Aggie (a solid and engaging performance by the fetching Christine Haeberman). So far, so familiar. But fortunately not only does writer/director Drew Barnhardt effectively cover all the satisfying slice'n'dice horror bases -- a vicious homicidal maniac, jolting moments of savage'n'sadistic violence, a handy helping of graphic and unflinching in-your-face gore, a good deal of tension, a pleasing smattering of tasty gratuitous female nudity -- in a witty, straightforward, and entertaining manner, but also smartly transcends one's standard expectations with a wickedly funny sense of self-mocking humor and a crafty plot with a few surprising twists to it. Moreover, Barnhardt deserves extra praise for making the wacko a plain, balding, and chubby middle-aged guy with a calm demeanor, a pleasant speaking voice, and a laid-back attitude towards killing folks who even has an adulterous wife (a brief, but sturdy turn by Kathryn Playa) and an unsuspecting adolescent daughter. The appealing and attractive cast of young adults have a ball with the shrewd material, with commendable work from the foxy Mary LeGault as shameless slut Tamra, Scott Christian as swaggering stud Brian, and Kat Szumski as ditsy redhead airhead Lindy. The tight 75 minute running time ensures that this picture never becomes dull or overstays its welcome. Both the sharp cinematography by Kevin M. Graves and the pounding score by Ryan Franks are up to speed. A nifty little flick.

Neil Welch This cheap little teen slasher victims in the woods movie deserves a pat on the back. There's no-one in it who is anyone, and it is all too apparent that the budget was minimal, and it is very much a generic movie - you know what you are expecting to get, and that is exactly what you do get.Yet it is attractively shot, it is adequately performed within the limitations of its genre, and it has a number of moments where what you expect to happen is not what happens and, as a result you are genuinely surprised. There is a strong element of suspense running through it which is very effectively maintained, and I absolutely loved the last 10 minutes or so, when it appeared to turn into a completely different movie.Every now and then a film delivers appreciably more than you expect it to, and this is one of them.

movieman_kev Big bad Stevie is celebrating a birthday and he's overjoyed to have a group of fun-loving teenagers stumble upon his house (which they think is vacant at first). Oh yes Stevie is going to have so much fun, the teens....not so much.I really enjoyed this low-budget slasher film. It doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, but you can tell that writer/director Drew Barnhardt is definitely a fan of the genre. He hardly misses a beat in this one. The acting is much better than average (for a film of this type), the soundtrack is great, throw in a bit of nudity, gore & some honest to goodness tension later in the film and you have a winner on your hands. Fans of low-budget horror films usually have to wade through a whole lot of excrement in order to find a (too few) diamond in the rough. This movie is one of those diamonds. I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for Barnhardt's future endeavors. Eye Candy: Mary LeGault gets toplessMy Grade: A-DVD Extras: a 7 minute making of; 'creating a killer' featurette (5 minutes); Director's notebook (9 minutes); 'Scoring the film' featurette (11 and a half minutes); Title madness (about 14 minutes on why they choose the title of this movie); photo and artwork gallery; & original trailer for the film

SweetCakesTruck This movie is great if you are into the camp of the 80's slasher movies. It's got a humorous twist on the conventional form but is loaded with dialog that fits the genre as well as if it'd come out of an old Friday the 13th movie. The acting is very much in line with the bulk of 80's slashers but the lead girl is solid and has a great scream. The killer, hope that doesn't spoil anything, but there's a killer, pulls off the part with a funny deadpan take. The movie is scary in places, but the character keeps it pretty funny throughout. It's obviously a budget movie, but the camera work is sharp and there are some cool panning long takes and well orchestrated shots. Overall, I give it a 10 for the genre. Good entertainment.