Directed by Rolfe Kanefsky
Starring Tiffany Shepis, Blythe Metz, Luciano Szafir, and special appearance by Richard Moll
A seemingly mediocre slasher flick suddenly takes a turn for the weird and not in a good way.
After receiving a tribal fertility mask in the mail somehow hoping it will help rekindle the romance in her marriage, Ellen instead finds herself terrorized by the mask. While being taken to a mental hospital by her husband to help with her problems of being driven crazy by a demon wearing the mask in her dreams, the car runs out of gas as Ellen finds herself alone waiting for her husband to return with gas. The demon manifests itself in human form and chases her through the woods trying to kill her. She is saved by a group of people vacationing at a home in the woods, but the group now finds themselves both in possession of a seemingly insane guest and a killer on the outside trying to get in.
Although there seems to be an interesting premise to start with the potential for having the viewer wondering whether the events are actually happening or the product of Ellen's mind, the film soon becomes predictable and it doesn't take a 5th grader to figure out who is responsible. However, after two-thirds into the movie it takes a freaky turn outside of slasherdom that I sure didn't see coming, and it's not a turn for the better. Let's just say it's Monty Pythonish as though the writer was stuck for a way to end this and improvised, grossly.
Technically there are many flaws with the production of the movie. The opening credits and some digital effects through the movie are well done, but this movie has the all too common problem of many movies which take place at night and that is poor lighting; at times it is difficult to tell what is taking place due to the darkness of a scene. Consistency is a problem such as exterior shots of the house always show it well lit while interior shots convey that all the lights have been turned off. The actors are competent, eh...mostly, but the script abandons them at times such as when friends are killed off, those surviving don't seem to be too emotionally affected.
Technically there are many flaws with the production of the movie. The opening credits and some digital effects through the movie are well done, but this movie has the all too common problem of many movies which take place at night and that is poor lighting; at times it is difficult to tell what is taking place due to the darkness of a scene. Consistency is a problem such as exterior shots of the house always show it well lit while interior shots convey that all the lights have been turned off. The actors are competent, eh...mostly, but the script abandons them at times such as when friends are killed off, those surviving don't seem to be too emotionally affected.
With its predictability early on, despite any flaws, it was on its way to being a mediocre at best slasher flick. If it had stuck with that I actually might have rated it a finger higher, but the sudden plot twist out of left field sank my opinion of the movie even lower. I've really got to stop reading the positive reviews on DVD cases as this was definitely not up the promise of those reviews.
My Rating: 2 Fingers
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