This movie is very odd.
It starts with a memorable, yet awkward, accidental matricide that causes an irreparable rift between father and son, setting the tone for the rest of the movie. Or so one might think. The tone established minutes earlier is flushed right down as we open the next scene on a wince-inducing rountable of terrible and generic dialog between the now grown son and his college friends that seems like it belongs in a diffierent movie. Apparently they don't have anything to do for their fall break from school except mope at the bar and "set a new high score on video machine." That's a real line of dialogue from the movie. A character refers to a game that they're good enough to set high scores on as "video machine." This gem is followed by her deep voiced boyfriend saying "I'm gonna watch." Wow, what a fun bunch!
Well, the son's estranged dad calls the bar unexpectedly to ask him to close his beach condo for the winter and "Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am" we have plans for fall break! Yeah! As we soon find out, the call to close the condo was just a way to lure everyone to said condo so that Pops could kill everybody. I'd like to use this opportunity to talk more about Pops for a moment. What's with this guy? He never says anything. I mean it. Not once. Even the phone conversation at the bar is just the son reacting to silence. How did this kid get raised? He's in college, so he did well enough in life to get good grades. He has friends, so his social skills seem passable enough for a guy that killed his own mom. How did he get from point A to B with a dad that never says anything, drinks all the time, hates his kid enough to want him dead for killing his wife, and is deranged enough to frame a picture of dead dude he ran over with his boat? I really want to know. That's a very interesting collection of missing years there. Why didn't we get a movie about that?
Anyway, the horrendous dialogue continues. I swear it feels like we're watching a PG coming of age movie. And then the killing starts. Holy crap! The kills in this movie are awesome! I have come to love all the cheesy character development we have to suffer through because the kills are so much more satisfying because of it. It isn't particularly special that an 80's slasher flick is filled with people that you wish were dead. What is special is that these doofuses are killed in such a beautifully gory fashion that it juxtaposes their inept and amatuer performances. The kills are the star of this movie. We have a boat motor kill, an ax decapitation, a pitchfork to the throat, and as mentioned in my description, a hook right up a girl's hoo-hah. Keep in mind that these characters suck. I hate everyone of them. It feels like Pops is saving us from having to spend anymore time with these people than we have to, all while punishing them harshly for their bad acting. And for this, I love him. Thanks Pops!
So yeh, this movie is odd. It's a corny PG movie for 75% of the run time with dashes of gore that would make Tom Savini smile. I hate this movie and love it at the same time.
It starts with a memorable, yet awkward, accidental matricide that causes an irreparable rift between father and son, setting the tone for the rest of the movie. Or so one might think. The tone established minutes earlier is flushed right down as we open the next scene on a wince-inducing rountable of terrible and generic dialog between the now grown son and his college friends that seems like it belongs in a diffierent movie. Apparently they don't have anything to do for their fall break from school except mope at the bar and "set a new high score on video machine." That's a real line of dialogue from the movie. A character refers to a game that they're good enough to set high scores on as "video machine." This gem is followed by her deep voiced boyfriend saying "I'm gonna watch." Wow, what a fun bunch!
Well, the son's estranged dad calls the bar unexpectedly to ask him to close his beach condo for the winter and "Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am" we have plans for fall break! Yeah! As we soon find out, the call to close the condo was just a way to lure everyone to said condo so that Pops could kill everybody. I'd like to use this opportunity to talk more about Pops for a moment. What's with this guy? He never says anything. I mean it. Not once. Even the phone conversation at the bar is just the son reacting to silence. How did this kid get raised? He's in college, so he did well enough in life to get good grades. He has friends, so his social skills seem passable enough for a guy that killed his own mom. How did he get from point A to B with a dad that never says anything, drinks all the time, hates his kid enough to want him dead for killing his wife, and is deranged enough to frame a picture of dead dude he ran over with his boat? I really want to know. That's a very interesting collection of missing years there. Why didn't we get a movie about that?
Anyway, the horrendous dialogue continues. I swear it feels like we're watching a PG coming of age movie. And then the killing starts. Holy crap! The kills in this movie are awesome! I have come to love all the cheesy character development we have to suffer through because the kills are so much more satisfying because of it. It isn't particularly special that an 80's slasher flick is filled with people that you wish were dead. What is special is that these doofuses are killed in such a beautifully gory fashion that it juxtaposes their inept and amatuer performances. The kills are the star of this movie. We have a boat motor kill, an ax decapitation, a pitchfork to the throat, and as mentioned in my description, a hook right up a girl's hoo-hah. Keep in mind that these characters suck. I hate everyone of them. It feels like Pops is saving us from having to spend anymore time with these people than we have to, all while punishing them harshly for their bad acting. And for this, I love him. Thanks Pops!
So yeh, this movie is odd. It's a corny PG movie for 75% of the run time with dashes of gore that would make Tom Savini smile. I hate this movie and love it at the same time.
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