The Retreat (2005)

User Rating:

2.8/10   

Directors:

Matt Cantu
Lance Kawas

Writers:

Bob Brown (story) and
Matt Cantu (story) ...

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

"When the hood appears.....friends Disappear!"

Plot:

Set in the deep freeze of a northern Michigan winter, when a group of college students volunteer to assist their psychology professor with his research, their weekend retreat turns into a nightmare.

Plot Keywords:

College | Serial Killer | Winter | Sex | Retreat

Cast

Melissa Schuman	...	Nicole
Scott Vickaryous	...	Mark
Shanti Lowry	...	Chloe
Tobiasz Daszkiewicz	...	The Figure
Thomas Zellen	...	The Figure
Bob Brown	...	The Figure
Randy Bergeron	...	The Figure
Michael McKiddy	...	Brad
Walter Harris	...	Steve
Carey Shawn	...	Amy
Roger Bergeron	...	Derrick
David Craze	...	Pete
Chrissy Lawver	...	Sandy
Courtney Kling	...	May
Mike Kinney	...	Richard

Also Known As:

Silent Scream (USA) (new title)

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence/gore, sexual content and language.

Runtime:

USA:90 min | Argentina:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Spain:18 | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Harbor Springs, Michigan, USA

Company:

Mainline Releasing

Goofs:

Continuity: When Steve and Derrick are stranded after their car dies and Steve sneaks off for a cigarette, his jacket collar changes from up to down to up again.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs "I Love Lucy" (1951)

"This sucks on so many levels."

The above line of dialogue pretty much sums up this low budget slasher film. Although the acting is bad and the plot twist is inane, I did find a few positive things in this dreck. First off, we get a twist from the typical summer camp slasher, as this is a winter camp slasher. A group of students has been helping their professor with a semester long research project. To thank them, the prof sends them to a weekend retreat at his remote Michigan cabin. Which leads to the second positive: a LOT of people get killed, and it starts pretty quickly. There's even some decent gore, considering the micro budget. But on the bad side, almost all of the murders are shown twice. What the heck?? This film is twenty minutes too long anyway, so it's all just padding. In a nod to the classic 80s slashers, we do get boobs and sex, so combined with the gore and high body count, this wasn't a terrible way to spend an evening. Still, it's mostly inane and recommended for fans of slashers and overdone Michigan accents.