Film Review: THE MAJORETTES (1987)

High school girls start showing up dead in THE MAJORETTES (1987) based on the novel by John A. Russo (writer for the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD).  Here, Russo also writes the screenplay with another alumni of NOTLD Bill Hinzman taking over here as director.  Like many derivative slasher films of the late “80s, The Majorettes has sex and gore and nudity, but little else.  The film lacks the ambiance of Halloween or the sheer (implied) brutality of Texas Chain Saw Massacre.  It lacks the originality of Hellraiser or the makeup FX of The Burning.

In fact, there is very little to The Majorettes other than the star talent behind the camera as the cinematography is lacking as the iconic music.  It’s interesting that this is the first of the only two films Hinzman directed (the other is FLESHEATER, which also is not that good of a film either).  Russo, on the other hand, wrote the screenplay for the film based on his novel and went on to write, produce, and direct other films based on his novels.

The Majorettes is a film for Russo and Hinzman fans and little else even if you can appreciate the the trash cinema of the ‘80s slasher boom.

Film Review: FRIEND REQUEST (2016)

Social media will never be the same in the horror film FRIEND REQUEST (2016) that sees popular college student Laura (Alycia Debnam-Carey) confront her greatest fear when she “unfriends” someone on a networking site. Laura has a good life.  She’s successful in school.  She has a great boyfriend. She has lots of friends.  She also has a stalker by the name of Marina (Liesl Ahlers) whom she unwittingly friends on a networking site thinking that the girl just needs a friend.  When Marina, who is an artist with dark and gothic overtones, starts to squeeze herself into Laura’s life Laura tries to end her friendship.  Marina doesn’t take being unfriended lightly and ends up committing suicide by filming it on her laptop and putting on social media for everyone to see.  Thinking that she may have been a reason for Marina’s suicide, Laura’s guilt and life gets weird as her friends start to die around her and videos of their deaths are posted on her social media site.

Everything get worse when there is no way for her to delete the death videos nor shut down her site.  It seems that someone or something is taking over her personae online.  She gets blamed for the death videos; the cops think she has something more to do with the cases than she is saying; and it seems as though Marina is still manipulating her from beyond the grave.  Now she must figure out what is going on before all of her friends die leaving her the only one left with a connection to Marina.

Although the production values are good, the film lacks suspense or any sense of horror.  There is nothing in this film that you haven’t seen done better in other films.  It’s actually hard to believe that the film is Rated “R” as it contains very little gore, sex, or even profanity and is way too tame for the typical horror fan.  If not for Debnam-Carey the whole film would be completely forgettable as it is good to see her in something other than the hit TV series Fear the Walking Dead.

Film Review: OPEN WATER 3: CAGE DIVE (2017)

The latest sequel in the ever-expanding franchise OPEN WATER: CAGE DIVE (2017) finds two brothers Jeff and Josh (Joel Hogan and Josh Potthoff, respectfully) and their friend Megan (Megan Peta Hill) decide that the most daring thing for them to do for an audition tape for a reality TV show is to go cage diving with real sharks.  While on the open seas with a couple dozen other daring enthusiasts, a freak wave capsizes their boat causing them to be stuck out in the open ocean in shark infested waters.  Now they must find a way to stay alive until they are rescued with not only deadly sharks still roaming around but lethal secrets that may test all of their friendships.

Written and directed by Gerald Rascionato this film retains the “found footage” style of the previous two films but little else.  Despite having some amazing cinematography from Rascionato and Andrew Bambach, the film’s filled with two-dimensional characters that are not all that interesting and it’s a travesty that the Megan character is a cliché of a woman doing and making all the bad decisions (and down right stupid in some instances) that puts them all in even more danger.

As sequels go, the “found footage” genre should disappear for a few years so that the conventions can be later re-invented as this film offers nothing new or interesting for either the genre itself or fans of these types of films.  Only those that have been sticking with the franchise need bother with this latest entry.