Zbigniew_Krycsiwiki
The title appears, barely legible, in blocks, on screen for nineteen slow seconds, before being smashed with the title object. We, the audience, are then seemingly beaten over the head with some of the poorest picture quality imaginable, even for shot-on-video flick, during the opening title sequence, while an imitation of the Phantasm theme is played.Obnoxious, amateur actors/ amateur porn stars gather in a farmhouse where, ten hyperbolic years earlier ( because nine years is never enough time, but eleven years is always too much time ) a double murder was committed. At one point, the filmmakers seemingly forgot they were doing a slasher film, and meander into a food fight, which lasts for nearly eight minutes, before setting up a seance, to contact the spirit of the killer from a decade earlier. " Some of you may have already heard what I'm about to tell you, " Mr. Polo Shirt informs us. We all have, because at this point, the filmmakers pad out the run time with a lengthy expositional flashback to the first scene from this very movie, in a Friday the 13th part 2- inspired bit, telling the audience what we already know. Two of these dip****s are later killed with a sledgehammer, which prompts another dip**** to ask, " Any clues? " Perhaps the sledgehammer, and the dead bodies themselves, which they move, because they're all drunken morons? They remain in murder house overnight, basically waiting to be killed. The ghost/ killer/ whatever he is materialises/ crawls out of the woodwork, to off these nitwits one by one, and they kind of, sort of, fight for their lives. The cast:Chuck, seemingly cast for his muscular physique, and willingness to wear a polo shirt. Joni: completely forgettable. John: This guy just sucked. Mary: kind of pretty, but has the same awful 80s perm as Joni. Jimmy: looks likes he's killing time until the next Hall and Oates concert, or until he and Mary and Joni go have their hair permed at the same place. Carol: probably the best of an admittedly lousy cast, but with the same perm hairdo as the rest of them. Joey : I don't even remember this guy, but I'm sure he sucked. Lover: sucked. Mother: tolerable, but she and Jimmy and Mary and Joni look like they all have the same hairstylist, who only knowshow to do that same perm. The boy: was a lame villain. Killer: was he the killer? I thought it was the boy? The driver: why was he even here? But for all the grief and aggravation, I must admit I watched this film twice this month, before writing this review. It has some occasionally inspired camera-work, especially during the climax, among static shots of hallways. The music score is eerily effective, it reminded me a bit of German industrial band Einsturzende Neubauten, particularly their record, Zeichnungen des Patienten O. T. Plus, the added terror of a killer stalking his victims in their own home is a terrifying thought in and of itself. Gore fans should find enough in the ending to make it worthwhile, too. I'm not saying this is * good *, but there are worse movies out there, like Blood Massacre, for example. Without the opening and closing credits, this is only 74 minutes long. Without the use of slow motion, it might only be about 20 minutes long.
stalinsays
I rented the movie Billy Jack, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the woman at the counter had mistakenly given me a movie entitled SledgeHammer. Rather than correcting her, I gave it a try, and boy o' boy, did I make the right call! This movie had everything and much more! Okay, maybe not MUCH more, but this was indeed the singlemost innovative horror of the 80's, a true underground hit. The beautiful outside photography and still close-ups of key symbols throughout the entire movie would make this an art house hit, but the dynamic cast and contemporary dialogue creates a demand from the mainstream. The scenes where the band of friends sit for breakfast allows the viewer to connect with cast, almost as if they were sitting next to them and not watching.One of the characters was so awesome that I based a Dungeons and Dragon character on them! My friends and I also based an ENTIRE CAMPAIGN ON THIS MOVIE called: "The Fantastical Sledgehammer Wars of 1997"!!!
jade1-1
This is a mediocre horror movie. It's very cheap, has acceptable (Sandy Brooke, Ted Prior, Linda McGill) to downright bad (George Eastman, Steven Wright, Tim Aguilar) acting, standard direction, poor screenplay, and okay photography.It is about a woman and her lover who is killed by her young son(looks about seven years old, kinda young to be insane). Ten years later a group of vacationing teens (they look like their in their 30's, serious!) show up looking to have a weekend full of sex, booze, and fun. Their fun turns to sheer terror as their weekend is interrupted by the raving maniac's spirit.It was directed by David Prior (KILLER WORKOUT, LOST PLATOON, MARDI GRAS FOR THE DEVIL) who does an okay job with the camera (for being a video movie) and creates a real film feel but when the action starts, he results to too many slo mo shots. Sandy Brooke is the most capable actress in this film, she gives real feeling to her character. Too bad she was in this movie.It was shot on video before "BLOOD CULT" though and is wwwaaayyy better than W.A.V.E. Exploitation/Horror videos (At least SORORITY SLAUGHTER 1 & 2). Since IMD doesn't have a cast list I will supply one.CAST
JONIE....LINDA MCGILL
CHUCK....TED PRIOR
JOHN.....JOHN EASTMAN
MARY.....JANINE SCHEER
JIMMY....TIM AGUILAR
CAROL....SANDY BROOKE
JOEY.....STEPHEN WRIGHT
LOVER....MICHAEL SHANAHAN
MOTHER...MARY MENDEZ
THE BOY (young)....JUSTIN GREER
THE BOY (older/spirit)....DOUG MATLEY
THE DRIVER....RAY LAWRENCE
All in all an entertaining if not throughly enjoyable genre piece stricken by poverty ($40,000 U.S. dollars).5/10 (based on shot on video horror features)
