Murder Loves Killers Too (2009)

You know, I feel a bit guilty giving this a mark below my 'level of acceptance' (which is 6) since I did enjoy it. But there are a few small niggles, mostly related to unanswered questions about the killer's motivation and background, which stop me just short. It sets them up, drops a lot of hints... only to fail to follow through on them, so your average viewer will feel slightly confused as to why they were raised in the first place. A shame.It starts off with five kids heading to a remote mountain lodge, along with a self-conscious narrator who successfully predicts they're destined for trouble. One of the number is an incredibly shrill girl who won't stop jumping around and yelling. After a few minutes of this, I wanted the slasher to turn her into shish kebab. Amazing... my prayers were answered. That's what I admire about Blood Cabin... it soon disposes of all the extraneous characters, leaving us free to concentrate on the main chase: which is between the owner of the building, and the only member of the group with any brains... a spunky brunette.The murderer here is an everyday kinda guy... He sneaks around using secret passages, cleans up the rubbish his visitors leave lying about, stops to have a scoop or two of ice cream... before stabbing, disemboweling, clobbering his unwelcome guests. It's a great role for Allen Andrews, and the fact he treats each victim with studied nonchalance while ripping them to shreds just adds to the aura of fear around him. He's a family man, who regards slaying as just a normal occupation. As you do.We also see tantalising clues as to why he's such a suppressed maniac. A 7th Birthday cake splattered with blood. An preoccupation with the sound of bees humming. An unfortunate perverted desire to dress up grown ladies as schoolgirls before doing... stuff to them. All these could have been meshed together to form a fascinating backstory... but nope, they're just hanging there will no rope to attach them together. Oh well. A near miss. 5/10

This film isn't so bad. At first I was a bit put off with the narrator, and the weird filming effect; it looks like it was filmed in the 70s. But it's not.Anyway. The characters aren't totally likable which is great in slasher films, I tend to enjoy watching them a lot more then. I thought that this film would be one of those irritating ones where you see the annoying happy, care free teens having a blast and getting wasted for the first hour before anything happens; I was wrong, and happily so. Things start happening within the first 15 minutes which really grabbed my attention; usual films of this genre/story line take a lot longer for things to happen. It's a pretty short film and things happen quickly; there's no unnecessary hanging around or irritating dialogue.What I liked the most about this film; I seriously empathised with the killer!! I love films that make me feel this way (Devil's Rejects being another). Maybe I'm weird. Well I won't spoil the ending here .... I was surprised to hear the narrator's voice again though.

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.

When you know a movie is about a slasher and teenagers, you don't expect 'The Godfather'. What you do expect is a fun 90 minutes of blood, screams, humour and thrills. This film delivers for its intended genre and audience. For slasher films of the modern age, the gore is quite tame. The same goes for the nudity. But this film hearkens back to the late 70's and 80's when the filmmakers knew their audience. I enjoyed it because it reminded me so much of a movie I would have stayed up late to see back in the day. Yes, you can call it retro.For the negatives, there is a very awkward scene to start the movie with a narrator, but once you get past that, it's clear sailing. I also feel the audio could be better, but it doesn't detract from the film much. Grab some popcorn and enjoy.