Simon Says (2006)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

William Dear

Writer (WGA):

William Dear (written by)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

You forgot to say..... SIMON SAYS

Plot:

Five college friends choose to spend their vacation debauching at the riverside. They find the perfect place to camp out...

Plot Keywords:

Twins | Hanging | Stoner | Decapitation | Split Personality

Cast

Crispin Glover	...	Simon / Stanley
Margo Harshman	...	Kate
Greg Cipes	...	Zack
Carrie Finklea	...	Vicky
Kelly Vitz	...	Ashley
Artie Baxter	...	Riff
Lori Lively	...	Lani
Bruce Glover	...	Sam
Erica Hubbard	...	Sommer
Blake Lively	...	Jenny
Daniella Monet	...	Sarah
Bart Johnson	...	Garth
Kelly Blatz	...	Will
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chad Cunningham	...	Young Stanley
Chris Cunningham	...	Young Simon
Oliver Dear	...	Hitchhiker
Adam Johnson	...	Chavez
Brad Johnson	...	Quinn
Leila Johnson	...	Molly
Ernie Lively	...	Pig
Robyn Lively	...	Leanne
Max Moody	...	Shag
Michael Moody	...	Buzz
Dean Shelton	...	Joey
Harold Smith	...	Sty
Tofu	...	Reggie B

MPAA:

Rated R for bloody horror violence and gore, drug use, language and brief sexuality/nudity.

Runtime:

USA:87 min | Greece:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Germany:18 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:MA (2009) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Grass Valley, California, USA

Company:

Simon Says Productions

Goofs:

Continuity: When Stanley is shot with the paint balls, they first hit him just above his waist, then, later in the film they are higher up his chest.

Movie Connections:

References The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Cartoonishly wacky and fun backwoods slasher

I wanted to like Simon Says more than I did, but even so I found it to be a solid piece of mindless entertainment with a substantial quantity of gnarly scenes. Its a pretty typical set up, with a bunch of young folk who make the mistake of going down to the woods and encountering the deranged, murderous twins Simon and Stanley. What ends up going down is unlikely to surprise in its fundamentals and the joy comes from the gusto that the film musters up once it really gets going, as well as the engagingly far fetched killing going on. See, the twins are technical wizards with a love of pick axes so the film has a number of wacky trap and weapon based kills that utilise in some way or other, flying pick axes. There are even one or two scenes where the film oddly resembles House Of Flying Daggers, albeit with flying pick axes. Which is a good thing, obviously. There's a good bodycount and a decent amount of the red stuff, but whilst there isn't too much obvious cgi in this one, the film doesn't dwell on the slaying long enough for the grue to really have as much effect as it should do. The film is only a 15 certificate in this country and it definitely feels like it would have more of a punch if the camera stayed on the grue, instead of just giving us a look and then moving on. Don't get me wrong its still fun and satisfying and the sheer outlandishness counts for a lot, but I still craved a little more. As the twins, Crispin Glover pulls off a great performance, delightfully skipping between menace and dark humour to create a great impression. I didn't think much of the youngsters, though Greg Cipes does a good job as the hapless stoner Zak, and Margo Harshmann is pretty effective as Kate. The writing is enjoyable enough, nothing too profound, but the kids aren't to irritating and Simon and Stanley are nicely drawn characters. The direction is solid, drawing some shocks, thrills and the odd nicely creepy moment. There's a good ghoulish humour going on too which is pretty handy. All in all, this is entertaining schlock with some good imaginative mayhem, fun splatter and grisly humour. It's hardly classic cinema but it sure is a blast to watch.