Simon Says (2006)

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 | Burned To Death | Stabbed In The Back | Broken Ankle | Split Personality

Cast

Crispin Glover	...	Simon / Stanley
Margo Harshman	...	Kate
Greg Cipes	...	Zack
Kelly Vitz	...	Ashley
Artie Baxter	...	Riff
Carrie Finklea	...	Vicky
Lori Lively	...	Lonnie (as Lori Lynn Lively)
Bruce Glover	...	Sam
Blake Lively	...	Jenny
Oliver Dear	...	Hitchhiker
Leila Johnson	...	Molly
Erica Hubbard	...	Sommer
Bart Johnson	...	Garth
Daniella Monet	...	Sarah
Kelly Blatz	...	Will

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 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Grass Valley, California, USA

Company:

Simon Says Productions

Trivia:

WILHELM SCREAM: heard when Zack jumps and rolls down the big hill.

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 Back to the Future (1985)

Fellow Horror fans, Watch it for the kills...

When I first saw the trailer for Simon Says, I thought it looked ridiculously bad and I was put off the movie. However, I eventually gave this a watch and before watching it, watched the trailer again. I grew excited, but after watching the movie - I don't really know why I did. Simon Says is a B-Movie at best and nothing more, and shouldn't be bad mouthed for that reason definitely. It's a decent B-Movie, but at parts it could have been so much better...even at B-Movie standards. The plot is basically about a group of teenagers consisting of the slut, the pretty boy boyfriend, the heroine, the bitch and the stoner on their way for a gold mining trip. On the way there, they meet a creepy guy at a store in the middle of nowhere, and from then on the teens begin being picked off one-by-one...in over-the-top but great ways! That's the highlight of the movie definitely - the death scenes. If it wasn't for the death scenes, this would have dropped down from a 5 to lower. We have hundreds of flying pick-axes chasing characters through the woods, a human CD-player and more. Of course that sounds unrealistic, but that's what is so fun about them - they are unrealistic and fun and you can't wait to see what happens to the characters. Moving onto the characterization, the characterization itself is poor. Sure we are given the basics - one of them is a rich bitch, one of them is a stoner, but we needed more than that. None of them are really developed, and before we know it they are all being picked off one by one. The acting is a mixed bag though, and there are definitely no great performances in the movie. Kelly Vitz is good, as is Margo Harshman and Carrie Finklea. The males are decent, but annoying and Crispin Glover, unfortunately, gives a bad performance in the movie which I'm surprised at. His southern accent is horrible, and it actually becomes a nuisance listening to him speak "Simon Says" over and over again in that terribly fake accent. A shame really, seeing as he's a great actor. Simon Says however lacks in any real horror, and I'm not talking about Crispin's performance. The killer's back-story is at times a bit too confusing, sometimes it's a little too stupid for it's own good and at times a little bit over the place. The movie's killer is not scary at all and could have been a lot better. There's nothing much left to say apart from Simon Says is a decent B-Horror Movie with an enjoyable 80 minutes of ridiculous kills. Watch it for the kills really. Enough said.

5/10