Director:
Rex Kramer
Studio/Production Company:
Disruptive Media
Genre:
Horror
Length:
Feature
Website:
http://www.springbreakmassacremovie.com
Score:
3/5
If real life more accurately mirrored life in the movies, college students would be handed a list of ways to survive their four years of school. High on the list would be:
When taking a road trip with friends, avoid detours down lonely, unmarked country roads.
Right under it on the list might be:
When looking to party with your friends, avoid abandoned houses/factories/psychiatric hospitals --- most bars and nightclubs will serve your needs.
Also:
Pay attention to the media, if they report on an escaped serial killer it might be best to postpone your trip/party in the woods.
Additionally:
Don’t bully/mock/torment shy, withdrawn quiet sensitive loners in your school. Be nice, you never know who might act out on a grudge they’re holding.
Now there is the new, but less widely applicable rule:
If you make rural Illinois your Spring Break destination, you’re asking for trouble.
Less a genuinely scary film and more a loving valentine to the old school slasher films of the ’80’s, “Spring Break Massacre” makes all the right moves and, hey, thanks to some 21rst century post-production tricks, the casual viewer might even think, for a second or two, that the film really is 25 years old and, in this case, that might be the greatest compliment a reviewer can give to the film.
Let’s face it, first and foremost, while beloved by many, the bulk of the films from the “golden era” of slasher films, were not especially good, not particularly well produced, written, directed or acted and it is exactly this type of low art that the team behind SBM aims to achieve.
Trotting out a familiar scenario involving sexy college students partying at a remote house and getting killed one by one, SBM does not disappoint. While it is probably played for laughs --- okay, a group of college students traveling to rural Illinois for Spring Break has got to be some kind of joke --- director Rex Kramer, writers Michael Hoffman and Meghan Jones make the wise move of keeping the comedy toned down, avoiding an over-the-top spoof and, impressively, winding up with a film that really hugs the line between subtle mockery and expert reproduction.
It would have been easy to simply throw an attractive cast of just-asking-for-it college kids together in a location and chop them while wink-winking at the audience and lampooning familiar stereotypes and cliches. However, the SBM gang take it up a notch or two, delivering a genuinely handsome, well-shot and creatively edited production. In addition to horror veterans Reggie Bannister and Linnea Quigley, the largely unknown cast is fun to watch and does their best in performances of characters that are deliberately one dimensional.
Besides the old-school vibe and the aforementioned production values, what really stood out for me was the genuinely half-decent plot involving:
-a registered sex offender renting the house next to the girl’s cabin,
-a young man convicted of the decade old murder of a local girl
and
-an unscrupulous local businessman.
all of whom might have more than a passing relationship with one another.
As a reviewer for IndieTalk.com, I see a lot of micro-budget horror films and have seen certain patterns emerge. I see far too many filmmakers focusing on gore and other special effects as if plot, dialogue and characterization are just necessary elements that a film has to have in between the kill scenes, essentially filler. No, I am not saying that anyone is going to confuse “Spring Break Massacre” for Shakespeare (though, now that you think about it, the end of “Hamlet” is pretty darn savage) but the filmmakers took some time to come up with a generally coherent story with some legitimate twists and, unfortunately, at this stage in the (indie-horror) game, that is saying a lot.
“Spring Break Massacre” is everything it sets out to be from start to finish and, based on what I am hearing from “sequel central”, the massacre might not be finished yet...
Rex Kramer
Studio/Production Company:
Disruptive Media
Genre:
Horror
Length:
Feature
Website:
http://www.springbreakmassacremovie.com
Score:
3/5
If real life more accurately mirrored life in the movies, college students would be handed a list of ways to survive their four years of school. High on the list would be:
When taking a road trip with friends, avoid detours down lonely, unmarked country roads.
Right under it on the list might be:
When looking to party with your friends, avoid abandoned houses/factories/psychiatric hospitals --- most bars and nightclubs will serve your needs.
Also:
Pay attention to the media, if they report on an escaped serial killer it might be best to postpone your trip/party in the woods.
Additionally:
Don’t bully/mock/torment shy, withdrawn quiet sensitive loners in your school. Be nice, you never know who might act out on a grudge they’re holding.
Now there is the new, but less widely applicable rule:
If you make rural Illinois your Spring Break destination, you’re asking for trouble.
Less a genuinely scary film and more a loving valentine to the old school slasher films of the ’80’s, “Spring Break Massacre” makes all the right moves and, hey, thanks to some 21rst century post-production tricks, the casual viewer might even think, for a second or two, that the film really is 25 years old and, in this case, that might be the greatest compliment a reviewer can give to the film.
Let’s face it, first and foremost, while beloved by many, the bulk of the films from the “golden era” of slasher films, were not especially good, not particularly well produced, written, directed or acted and it is exactly this type of low art that the team behind SBM aims to achieve.
Trotting out a familiar scenario involving sexy college students partying at a remote house and getting killed one by one, SBM does not disappoint. While it is probably played for laughs --- okay, a group of college students traveling to rural Illinois for Spring Break has got to be some kind of joke --- director Rex Kramer, writers Michael Hoffman and Meghan Jones make the wise move of keeping the comedy toned down, avoiding an over-the-top spoof and, impressively, winding up with a film that really hugs the line between subtle mockery and expert reproduction.
It would have been easy to simply throw an attractive cast of just-asking-for-it college kids together in a location and chop them while wink-winking at the audience and lampooning familiar stereotypes and cliches. However, the SBM gang take it up a notch or two, delivering a genuinely handsome, well-shot and creatively edited production. In addition to horror veterans Reggie Bannister and Linnea Quigley, the largely unknown cast is fun to watch and does their best in performances of characters that are deliberately one dimensional.
Besides the old-school vibe and the aforementioned production values, what really stood out for me was the genuinely half-decent plot involving:
-a registered sex offender renting the house next to the girl’s cabin,
-a young man convicted of the decade old murder of a local girl
and
-an unscrupulous local businessman.
all of whom might have more than a passing relationship with one another.
As a reviewer for IndieTalk.com, I see a lot of micro-budget horror films and have seen certain patterns emerge. I see far too many filmmakers focusing on gore and other special effects as if plot, dialogue and characterization are just necessary elements that a film has to have in between the kill scenes, essentially filler. No, I am not saying that anyone is going to confuse “Spring Break Massacre” for Shakespeare (though, now that you think about it, the end of “Hamlet” is pretty darn savage) but the filmmakers took some time to come up with a generally coherent story with some legitimate twists and, unfortunately, at this stage in the (indie-horror) game, that is saying a lot.
“Spring Break Massacre” is everything it sets out to be from start to finish and, based on what I am hearing from “sequel central”, the massacre might not be finished yet...