555 (1988) (V)

User Rating:

2.7/10   

Director:

Wally Koz

Writer:

Roy Koz (writer)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Shot in Blood-Vivid Video for Your Viewing Pleasure

Plot:

A spate of killings of teenagers by a maniac dressed like a hippie causes a detective to check the records for similar killings...

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Hippie | Nudity | Violence | Slasher

Cast

Mara Lynn Bastian	...	Susan Rather
Charles Fuller	...	Colonel Wayne
Bob Grabill	...	The Killer
Scott Hermes	...	Tommy
Greg Kerouac	...	Sgt. Connor
Greg Neilson	...	Ralph Kennedy
B.K. Smith	...	Detective Haller

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

King Video Productions

Trivia:

In the first warehouse scene among all of the graffiti on the wall W.K. + L.K. can be seen spray painted inside a heart. This stands for Wally Koz (the director) and his wife, Linda Koz.

Endearing, Fun, and Humorous-As-Hell dialogue

Of all the crappy, low-budget, gore-filled, cliche'd and unscary slasher flicks I have seen, there is something that is endearing and fun that makes 555 stand out amidst the other claptrap horror films.

The film's title is laughable: 555, and its meaning is even more so: every 5th year, within 5 days, couples "fooling around" are murdered. And whats the third five mean? I still don't know, even though I've watched the film a few times now.

One of the qualities that makes 555 so fun to watch is that you can TELL its been shot on a shoe-string: the cops on the case seem to all work out of one office: its bare, small, and easily a set. There are no police cruisers to be seen; everyone drives a regular sedan with an attatchable little siren that goes on top to identify them as police. The gore effects ( of which there are many) are gratuitous, at most times very much fake, and the screams from the victims are annoying as sin: you want them to die just so they'll shut the hell up!

The actors, all amateur and some looking as if they were borrowed from the local porn studio across the way, all seem to enjoy the material.

The lead detective, however, Greg Kerouac, shines above them with his hilarious outbursts and especially his confrontations with a reporter: she calls him an a**hole, and he shoots back with "And you're a c***!" Hysterical. He truly makes the film a campy enjoyment. You can also tell the film itself was shot on a camcorder of sorts.

Don't expect to be scared while watching 555. Some of the effects may not be for the squeamish, but you certainly won't be afraid to go to bed that night. It's campy, it's low-budget, yet it's also charming, managing to make the viewer care about a few of its characters, a feat which many multi-million dollar Hollywood production can achieve at all.

7 out of 10.