Heckle (2020) User Reviews

Misses the target

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 9 March 2022]

Stand-up Joe Johnson (Guy Combes, Kill Ben Lyk) has just been hired for the role of his life, playing his hero comedian Ray Kelly (Steve Guttenberg) in a film about the dead funnyman's life. Except. That the last hack up for the starring role is dead and a heckler (Clark Gable III) is bound and determined to ruin his life and not only from the darkness of the audience.

Directed by Martyn Pick and written by Airell Anthony Hayles (who wrote and directed They're Outside), the film shows Johnson's Halloween party evening as he's haunted by the heckler with a flashback to just how horrible of a human being Ray Kelly was. Guttenberg is really great in this, just filled with venom and menace.

I would have loved to have seen more of how Kelly's character and how his darkness both shaped and inspired Johnson and less of the slasher scenes, which feel kind of grafted on. It's more of a gamble to make that type of dark film instead of a slice and dice which is easy to sell, one imagines.

At 81 minutes, for once I wish this movie was longer and had more room to breathe. Or maybe better structure and editing. It's frustrating because there's a great out of character performance by Guttenberg and a really good idea for a film buried under so much dross.

A generally disappointing slasher

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 4/10 · 22 March 2022]

After a disastrous experience at a show, a stand-up comic taunted by a rude heckler decides to help throw a Halloween party in order to lose focus on him and prepare for a major movie role, but the party descends into chaos when the guests start dying one by one and forces him to stop the killer.

This was a problematic enough genre effort. One of the few positives on display here is the setup into a slightly more psychological style of a slasher film than what would be expected. Since this one goes for the idea of the killer striking as a means of revenge for the heckling before finally twisting it around only after featuring the idea of calling him constantly with various heckles and sayings about his life. These factors serve this one quite well with the setup in the final half where he arrives at the party to begin dispatching the group in some by-the-numbers setups that offer some brutal kills and decent enough effects. The fact that they're so oblivious to everything makes for a fun time that has a lot to like here with how fast and enjoyable they are at this point in the film. It all doesn't amount to much but offers enough to like that it doesn't become a total waste. This one does have some drawbacks to it. One of the biggest issues is the rather discordant storyline that feels rather bizarre including the flashbacks to the comedian's life in the middle of the slasher setup. The idea makes no sense to introduce this element at just random intervals in the film with the scenes of him shouting at baristas or the encounter at the poker table which are supposed to give us an idea of who he was for the movie adaptation being set up for him which gives an idea of the character for later and is generally fine enough. The idea of featuring these scenes where they are, though, is the main issue that disrupts the momentum here much like the scenes of him coming undone by the taunts into obvious physical outbursts. The psychological toll this takes is fascinating to watch but holds the slashing scenes back while it goes through these energy-draining scenes involving the group at the party or breaking down due to the heckler's calls. The other drawback on display here is the rather underwhelming and unimpressive killer that's going around here. The psychological tricks he pulls are quite enjoyable and give him a slight edge, but very little of this one plays off that fear due to the flimsy clown mask being used, the unassuming hoodie they wear, and the overall unassuming physical presence that doesn't scare or intimidate in the slightest. On top of that, the rampage makes no sense as the whole idea is to serve retribution for what happened that seems to come out of nowhere with little build-up to that point as everything gets twisted around with reveals that don't have any impact on the plot at hand until then. They come off as an attempt at padding but aren't much more than that, leaving this one highly unsatisfying and just plain lacking.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.

This is what you get when you don't develop an idea

[cjwilkinson-81808 · 3/10 · 16 May 2023]

This is a genuinely badly-made film - poorly written, poorly directed and poorly produced.

You do at least get fair warning of this from the very start, where the music crashes into clips of dialogue during the introduction, which is accompanied by typography somewhat amateurishly overlaying the visuals.

The plot is utterly implausible, and totally unconvincing. The characters are all unlikeable - although the acting is not completely awful by any means - just that the actors have nothing at all to work with.

The problem is not that this film is low budget - it's that is completely devoid of anything - depth, imagination, fun, scares - even jokes - and the central character is supposed to be a comedian.

Instead of developing the idea of a heckler haunting the protagonist, it looks as if they wanted to make a slasher film and just used the initially promising concept as a way into making something much more formulaic - with predictable results.

Slasher Stand-Up Comedy Thriller

[rossboyask-1 · 6/10 · 13 January 2022]

A who-dunnit slasher in the vein of Scream, in that the identity of the killer (or is there more than one?) isn't actually revealed until the final act. The well-known cast includes Steve Guttenberg, Toyah Wilcox and UK reality star Dani Dyer.

A great retro ondoe slasher concept

[stampedemarketinguk · 9/10 · 28 January 2024]

I really like the idea and the vibe this movie was going for and i would love to see this redone with a higher budget because the foundation and core idea behind this is really so cool. The retro 80s feel is presented well throughout the movie with an instantly nostalgic feeling soundtrack, The movie has great potential to be a hit slasher, the vcr scene would sit perfectly.in most horror films that were popular during rhe 80s, the twist ending was genuinely surprising and sinister developments to the storyline add a good amount of depth. This film.is a great addition to the indie horror film world and hopefully gets expanded on over time.