Mask of Thorn

After finding this title I was intrigued by the fact that it seems to be part of a shared movie Universe.

After watching it, I was perplexed, it seemed cheesy and a little campy, but was shot in a very modern style.

I looked into the film and suddenly realised that it was shot in TWO VERSIONS, but the main one was supposed to be a 'old square TV' style 80s version and as soon as I found the 80s trailer on youtube for it it all clicked.

This is a throwback to the 80s and although its a great, tight little story that 'borrows' from the films like Friday 13th and The Hidden it makes SOOOO much more sense that it was intended as a homage to that era.

Anyway, its pretty funny, has some great action and one of the kills in it, MY GOD, I'll remember that for sometime.

A great little no budget indie title that should get released in its original format.

The writing might have been on the wall for poor old "Bethany" (Eve Kathryn Oliver) when her indifferent parents don't care a jot for her sixteenth birthday. Luckily for her, though, her pals do and so they concoct a plan to kidnap her and hold a surprise party in their locked-up school. That's maybe not the best idea when this "Skeletor" type of fella with glowing blue eyes shows up and starts a-slaughtering her drippy mates. Doors and walls, even service tunnels, prove no barrier to this lurching menace - but what could he possibly want with her? Well quite possibly he blamed her for the appalling script and decided that she had to pay on behalf of the viewing public? Indeed, maybe he quite kindly decided to eliminate the whole shower of them before they could make a third film in this woefully conceived, low-budget, example of just how amateur film-making can be. Using the darkened school could have helped with aspects of the menace, but it doesn't - it just ensures that we can't see a thing for most of the time, taking the pressure off the make-up artist, visual effects person and enabling the actors to remain largely anonymous for the sake of their own future careers (in anything but acting!). Clarke Tribe merits a special mention in the credits, perhaps he bought the moonshine for the wrap party? He certainly didn't do anything at all to make this look or sound better on the screen - but then nobody else did either. One to avoid I'm afraid, even for die-hard fans of the genre.

I usually try to go into films without knowing anything about them, but afterwards it is often interesting to find out more about their production.

'The Mask of Thorn' is the second part of a trilogy. This concerns perceived do-gooder Bethany Lovell (Eve Kathryn Oliver), who suffers from suspiciously overbearing parents and an inability to fit in with her schoolmates.

To add to her troubles, the mysterious Thorn turns up to pursue her. Nice camerawork and lighting don't disguise the fact that he's an actor (Atticus Machiavellian - really?) in a mask (of Thorn, presumably, which is fair enough). He's even been given glowing eyes to make him more frightening. What really sells him, apart from his predilection for violence and killing (often in the same manner) is the sound design. Guttural breathing and snarling has rarely sounded so meaty.

Some acting is dire, some not so bad - there's a character in a horrendous 70s wig (this is set in the 80s). Conversely, my favourite character is foul-mouthed Julia (Lydia Cashman), whose line-up of expletives is wonderful.

For anyone who criticises the clearly tiny budget on display, MJ Dixon (the director responsible for the enjoyable 'Haunting of Molly Bannister' and 'Cleaver: Killer Clown') productions are a labour of love, financed by himself and fanbase crowdfunding enterprises. While the end result doesn't always match the admirable intent, it certainly has moments of interest and effectiveness. My score is 6 out of 10.

Found this for a few quid in HMV,

An obvious 80's inspired slasher in the vein of Terminator, what really struck was the strong use of colours and music that really captured films of the 80's. Reminded me of the classic 80s VHS horror Prison.

Well worth your time if you can handle indie fair.

Would love to see more from Thorn.

No idea what going on with these score here.

Looks like some people missed the point of 80's monster movies. This is what this is. It obvious that the directors knew that it was supposed to be like those old movies.

I thought it was great, deducting some points for some 'questionable' effects at some points, but well worth the few quid I paid for it.

The end of the film says Thorn will return in Wrath of Thorn, but there is another film called Legacy of Thorn, another just called Thorn and then a short film called Thorn which is confusing.