Being the offspring of any great legendary parent is always tough, an impossible mountain to climb, the expectations often too grand for most, they find themselves harshly judged, to escape this there are only two options either change one’s last name i.e. Nicholas Cage in connection with the Coppola’s or abandon that field; otherwise, they need to buckle for the rough road ahead and grow a thick skin for the turmoil and embrace it all.
BJ Hendricks and Kathy Lamkin
Cameron Romero (who was credited as George C. Romero) directed a cliché filled film, from screenwriter David Roundtree (Cut! [2014]) about a group of friends in the backroads of Virginia in 1969 therefore no cell phone problems who intend on heading to the rallies in Washington, D.C. After a so-called convenient ride from Quintin (Charlie Bodin) whose vehicle breaks down they all journey to a farmhouse and bed down in the barn until discovering the homeowners are your typical hillbilly crazies. The family includes god-fearing bible loving Louise (Kathy Lamkin (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre [2003])), and her oversized son Buddy (B.J. Hendricks (Auteur [2014])) and his granny Geraldine (Sherry Weston (Lost Lake [2012])) who is in a wheelchair, they all are quite freaky to say the least. It really doesn’t take long for the mostly nondescriptive group to start vanishing from the film, in gruesome fashion with a killer that does an impression of Leatherface but will not contain any originality to his killing intent or description of self-representation. The is not to say no one is without emotional convictions a helpless Boone (Kiko Ellsworth) showed immense heartache as his love-interest is ruthlessly killed before him and Paula Rhodes (Love in the Time of Monsters [2014]) as Trish provided the much-needed sympathy from any interested viewer; enjoy the brief role from Cooper Huckabee (The Funhouse [1981]).
Cristen Coppen, Iseluleko Ma’at El 0, David Rountree, Christine Carlo, Paula Rhodes
The film contains far too many clichés, tropes, and is painfully slow developing, but it does contain some graphic gore filled moments, so much which earned this quote “This is as scary as it gets” however that comes from the director’s father so a bit of bias might exist. For those horror fans seeking the gore-killings, well you could fast-forward about 40-minutes into the movie and not truly compromise any of the storytelling or even the plot as the early portion is rather plodding; although if you do this you will miss a quick line reference to Night of the Living Dead [1968]. We do see scenes of madness portrayed by a doctor and nurse procuring body parts from Staunton’s thoroughly gruesome detailed procedural method of dissection all while conveying sheer brutality to a living person. Obviously, the film contains unmeaningful dialogue as well as one the longest hunting-chasing scenes that doesn’t conclude with convincingly good pay-off for the viewer; yet the film is balanced with effective special effects and editing portions it’s just has poor storyline structure.
Overall, the film will entertain a core group of gorehounds, otherwise most will likely to pass on it quickly as it is not intended or directed to anyone outside the centralized horror genre. Therefore, understanding this film is checking the boxes of a typical send-up to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre [1974] film, however where that movie worked to immerse a viewer into the insanity of horror Staunton Hill demonstrates distance between what is seen and the connection to the characters. The movie is terrible or even dreadful, it’s rather mundane, and lacks in providing stronger convictions and more solid continuity to the story, simply the audience awaits to see who dies next.
TAGLINE: In God’s Name They Prey
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1118693/
IMDb Rating: 3.7/10
Baron’s Rating: 3.5/10