This is a movie review... I will not outright spoil things, but if you want to really experience a movie fresh and clean, there is information below that will dirty you up! So beware of mild semi-spoilers.
Synopsis: A documentary team is contacted by someone who's hoping to make himself the next Jason, Freddy, or Michael Myers (in a world where all those guys, even including Chuckie apparently, are real). They follow him around, recording his preparations and inevitable serial killing. Friendly banter ensues!
Scariness: Not really! There is gore, but amazingly little. There are also a few things that are intended to be jump scares, but really aren't shocking at all.
Rating: 5/5 Hand Scythes.
Awarded:
The Scream Award for Excellence In Mocking Slasher Films. This is really what
Scream should've been.
Scream worked in that it was a fairly comedic slasher movie with a few little pokes at the 'rules', but this movie truly deconstructs and satirizes the slasher genre.
Good Stuff: This could've been very plodding, if the serial killer was the typical Jason type. Instead, when he's out of character, he's just making dumb jokes left and right and constantly chattering, keeping things very fun. The steps he goes through are amusing and make a great joke out of real slasher movies. Since the whole thing takes place in a world where those guys are real (but not supernatural - they just plan really well), there's a lot of fun with that premise, like meeting his friend from an earlier generation of slashers, who's now happily married to a very supportive wife, but still likes to spend time in his sensory deprivation tank, to train himself to fake being dead. The entire premise is completely ridiculous, because all the things he sets up and plans are pointless, unless you're trying to make a horror movie. This movie just glosses over that with a wink, with everybody acting like it makes perfect sense to walk towards your victims, but do lots of cardio so that you can do that fast enough to keep up with their running.
Most of the movie is in the documentary format, but every so often it will switch out to "reality", only reality is a total slasher movie, with the background music, polished look, and vapid characters. It's really fun how it will switch from very realistic banter in the documentary to suddenly showing a real world in which everybody acts completely cheesy. The movie does a whole lot with its premise, and you're basically grinning the entire time because everything is a little bit ridiculous but done in total seriousness.
Bad Stuff: Unfortunately, in the end it does pretty much boil down to a generic slasher movie after all the more inventive setup. There are some twists to that, but they were fairly predictable, and it's sad to see some of the characters making really dumb choices like they would in a regular slasher movie. Then again, maybe that's the point - this world wouldn't exist as it does if the people in it didn't act like slasher movie characters!
Classic Rules of Film: If a journalist is warned not to talk to somebody in Act 1, that journalist will be nosy like they always are in Act 2!
My Take: It's yet another really great movie showing up during this month! It's been a very successful month in movie-picking. I was expecting to plod through all kinds of garbage, but I think I've been hitting a lot of good stuff and I didn't think I'd find any truly excellent movies, but I can name at least three so far off-hand! Hint: they're the ones I gave 5/5 to. So yeah, great movie. Just a lot of fun, much like
Vampire Girl yesterday.
Artistic Nonsense: This movie actually contains a fair amount of artistic nonsense of its own, where Leslie explains some of the psychology behind his plans (which really means the psychology behind slasher movies, since he's performing one live). You can just go watch it and hear the nonsense for yourself!
Our next film will be
Spider Forest, a Korean movie about a guy who goes into a forest (I can't imagine what the forest's name might be), and then emerges with unexplained wounds. Presumably, explaining ensues. Also of note is the fact that
The Nameless appears to be playable now, so I will probably slip that into the coming list in place of a movie that is very unscary that I have planned. I really want to watch a bunch of scary stuff and stop being sidetracked with the horror-based comedy and unintentional comedy. I love those movies, but they feel like cheating.
