Scott Rantzen (Brady Simenson) is a horror movie loving misfit who is teased by the popular students in school. When a date with the very popular and very beautiful Erica Carpenter (Stephanie Leigh Rose) backfires, he feels as though his life is ruined. Ten years later, the gang reunite for their class reunion. Little do they know that someone is waiting for them and ready to see that they pay for what they did. Is Scott back for revenge and will the old gang survive to tell the tale? It'll be more gore for Class of 04. Don't Go to the Reunion is written by Kevin Sommersfield and is directed by Steve Goltz. The acting is good, the camerawork and editing is good and the soundtrack is excellent! There is a nice and familiar feel throughout the flick, there are a couple of scenes that are excellent (don´t wanna go into spoilers). The pacing is good. There´s humour in it but it never forgets that it is a horror flick. There is a multitude of references and homages to other movies in the slasher genre. There´s brief gore, Don't Go to the Reunion isn´t a gorefeast but the set pieces, the kills, are set up and shot in true slasher fashion (it´s evident that Kevin Sommerfield and Steve Goltz love the genre). There brief female topless nudity and some male ass on display.
Support independent horror and buy your copy from http://www.slasherstudios.com/ .
This review is based upon the region all (region 0) DVD release from Slasher Studios.
Rating: 6½ out of 7. Don't Go to the Reunion is a loveletter to the slasher genre and it features all the ingredients, I like it, I liked it a lot and it is evident that the Slasher Studios crew are sharpening their skills, they´ve earlier made short movies such as the excellent Teddy which has been reviewed on this blog. The only thing I´m kinda missing in this otherwise excellent feature is some gory set pieces, yeah I know, it´s the old gorehound in me speaking....
/JL
First of all, I have to thank my good friend and fellow reviewer Dave James Parker aka Mr Parka on youtube for helping me getting a DVD of this seemingly hard to find flick. The town of Deer Creek is just a sleepy little, country community. Until an act of revenge results in a morbid battle for survival against an onslaught of murderous rabid freaks. Welcome to Deer Creek is written and directed by Jim Roberts and he also plays one of the main characters. The acting is so and so, there is good camerawork and editing. The soundtrack is nice. The pacing is fast and furious. There are moments of humour in this and it works. Welcome to Deer Creek is very violent and very gory and it´s all practical fx. The make up fx is ranges from decent to very good. No T and A in this.
This review is based upon a DVD provided by a good friend who has contact with the director.
Rating: 7 out of 7. I loved Welcome to Deer Creek! With this, and Tonight You Die which I reviewed earlier this month, Jim Roberts shows that he is a very talentend director/filmmaker. I sincerely hope to see more from this incredibly talented indie director. Welcome to Deer Creek is highly recommended but it might be hard to locate a copy as it hasn´t gotten wide spread distribution yet, someone should try to pick up these titles for distribution ASAP!
/JL
First I´d like to thank Joaquin Montalvan for sending me a screener.
In a lonely backwoods shack, Carl Henry Jessup spends his time drinkin' and thinkin' bout dem good ole days with only his halfsister Rae Lynn and his friend Billy Wayne to keep him company. He lives an isolated existence - that is, until folks start tresspassin' on his property, and Carl gets off his ass and becomes the Hillbilly Butcher. Legend Of The Hillbilly Butcher is written by Eunice Font and Joaquin Montalvan who also is the director. The acting is pretty good, the camerwork and editing is good, the flick has been manipulated to look older than it really is and even if I ain´t the biggest fan of that technique it works in this, it looks good! The soundtrack is very nice. The pacing is a bit slow, in parts, but that´s not necessarily a bad thing. There´s some practical gore fx, especially a decapitated head in the beginning of the flick looks really good. There no T and A in this.
This review is based upon a screener provided by Joaquin Montalvan.
Rating: 5½ out of 7. Legend Of The Hillbilly Butcher is a bit uneven but it´s certainly one of the best tributes to the grindhouse era that I´ve seen and a very nice addition to the backwoods genre. It wasn´t as violent or graphic that I was expecting especially considering the title. If you´re a fan of the backwoods horror genre or appreciate the new era grindhouse flicks you should make an effort to check out Legend Of The Hillbilly Butcher!
/JL
