Apparently, I wasn’t the only one drawn in by the gimmick, because the showing I went to Saturday night was almost completely sold out. The show after mine was completely sold out. When you get the chance, go see this movie in theaters with as big of a crowd as you can muster. Go on Friday night, or Saturday night, in prime time. You won’t be sorry. Ten years later, time moves on. Tom fell off the face of the earth after the murder spree. Sarah and Axel got married, and Axel is the sheriff. Irene is still Irene. The one thing tying Tom to Harmony is Hanniger Mines. Tom owns it (after the death of his father), the massacre happened there, and as it turns out, it’s the only thing keeping Harmony afloat. Guess who else comes back to Harmony after disappearing ten years ago? That’s right, Harry Warden’s back and he’s looking to get his revenge on the survivors of his previous massacre. The acting in this film is nothing to write home about. Things are pretty one dimensional. For the most part, nobody falls onto their face, but there’s nothing really stand-out required. Some running and screaming, some jealous husbandry, and some conflicted-looking Jensen Ackles. The script isn’t anything spectacular, either, but it manages to entertain with its list of clichés and a pretty decent mystery story when people aren’t being chopped up. There are some funny moments, both intentionally and unintentionally, though it feels as though the screenwriters, Zane Smith and Todd Farmer, realize that they’re being unintentionally funny and don’t shy away from it. Considering Todd Farmer wrote Jason X, I’d imagine he knew what he was doing when he piled on the fromage in this script. One of the things I liked most about this movie was the fact that it was a legitimate horror film. They did not shy away from any number of blood and gore shots. Indeed, the filmmakers wisely chose to revel in the gore and blood, with a lot of seriously amusing (yet gristly) shots. There’s no shortage of blood and gore in this film, and it’s better for it. A weaker PG-13 (12-A to you wonderful Brits) just wouldn’t have had the amusing impact that this movie packed. Another great thing about this movie was the fact that they bought wholeheartedly into the 3-D gimmick. Bullets come flying at the viewer. Pick axes come flying towards the viewer. Breasts come flying towards the viewer. Anything they can use to make the 3-D effects sell is used in this movie. None of the old tricks get neglected, and even some new tricks get invented as director Patrick Lussier flogs this film’s champion gimmick for all it’s worth. I’m a big fan of this new Real 3-D technology that they used to make this film, and the new cooler-looking 3-D shades. US correspondent Ron Hogan is glad to see a return to 80’s-style horror movies. Find more by Ron at his blog, Subtle Bluntness , and daily at Shaktronics and PopFi. 19 January 2009
