I watched a lot of horror films when I was young, enjoying movies like The Shining, Halloween and too many others to count. I cannot point to one film that made me a horror fan; however, if this were the first horror film I had ever seen, I would likely totally hated the genre. I cannot believe that Elijah Wood cites this as his reason to enjoy horror films and one of the main reasons (besides the cheapness and horrible acting) is the fact it is barely horror. In fact, it at times seems like it is trying to be a comedy and the only reason I give it a two is that there were a couple of solid gore effects, but that aside the film literally has the killer wearing nun-chucks and carrying a mace!
The story, which to its credit you can say it has one, has a man walk in on his wife having an affair. Well he flips out (normal), goes for a drive (also normal) then picks up an imaginary hitchhiker and goes camping while mutilating himself playing truth or dare with said imaginary hitchhiker (not so normal). He goes to a mental hospital and the rest of the film is just him getting out from time to time to cause havoc and to try and kill that ex wife of his.
The movie is cheap, make no mistake about it. At times you have trouble seeing the actors' faces because the camera they are using is not top of the line. But beyond that, the film is still lousy with its strange tonal shifts going from hammy overacting to almost purposeful unfunny comedy. There is nothing about it scary in the least, no tension or dread, only hope for the film to end! So once again, a horror only in the barest sense of the word.
So if you think because the killer wears a mask that he definitely should not even of had in the first place considering he was in a mental institution and a bit of gore a horror movie makes then go ahead and watch it and introduce your friends to it as Elijah did. Me, I found it a bizarre attempt at perhaps a horror comedy that fails and would rather show my friends a whole heck of a lot of other films to introduce them to some good obscure horror films. This is not it, for me. Oh, I think it was Alien that made me the horror fan I am today...silly me, a horror film with tension and dread, not police chief having a bit with another cop in a Hawaiian shirt trying to do shtick.
The story, which to its credit you can say it has one, has a man walk in on his wife having an affair. Well he flips out (normal), goes for a drive (also normal) then picks up an imaginary hitchhiker and goes camping while mutilating himself playing truth or dare with said imaginary hitchhiker (not so normal). He goes to a mental hospital and the rest of the film is just him getting out from time to time to cause havoc and to try and kill that ex wife of his.
The movie is cheap, make no mistake about it. At times you have trouble seeing the actors' faces because the camera they are using is not top of the line. But beyond that, the film is still lousy with its strange tonal shifts going from hammy overacting to almost purposeful unfunny comedy. There is nothing about it scary in the least, no tension or dread, only hope for the film to end! So once again, a horror only in the barest sense of the word.
So if you think because the killer wears a mask that he definitely should not even of had in the first place considering he was in a mental institution and a bit of gore a horror movie makes then go ahead and watch it and introduce your friends to it as Elijah did. Me, I found it a bizarre attempt at perhaps a horror comedy that fails and would rather show my friends a whole heck of a lot of other films to introduce them to some good obscure horror films. This is not it, for me. Oh, I think it was Alien that made me the horror fan I am today...silly me, a horror film with tension and dread, not police chief having a bit with another cop in a Hawaiian shirt trying to do shtick.