Shredder

This film, directed by Greg Huson, is about a group of teenagers (oh joy) who go away for the weekend to a disused ski-resort that apparently one of the teenager's fathers is planning to buy.

In echoes of such campsite slashers as Friday the 13th it seems that this deserted ski-resort is not deserted, a strange skier in black seems to glide around the slopes.

It's a shame this movie started off so badly as the last twenty minutes are pretty good fare for a teen-slasher. Much of this movie was bad, badly directed, badly acted and badly scripted.

Kimberley (played by Lindsey McKeon from 'Saved By The Bell: The New Class' "fame") put in one of the better, but still poor, performances but often seemed like she was forcing the words. However, she was playing a character that was trying to be seen as someone to detest, which she managed to pull off for a small while so credit for that. Of course, one may think that is due to the script, but no...There is so much useless dialogue and so much

lack of useful dialogue that it's hard to actually understand what's going on. At times it seemed like the actors were improvising. It all makes sense eventually, but you do have to look for your answers.

Except for one thing that is, towards the beginning of the film on their way to the resort, the teens stop off at a service station. After a girlie chat in the bathroom the girls run into a European guy named Christophe (Brad Hawkins). After talking with him for a couple of minutes they invite him along. One question - why?! How many women are there out there who would do that? I'm sure even the girls out there that act like Kimberley does in this film wouldn't do that. But anyway, I digress a tad.

Another problem with the film is the way they introduce the characters. Almost all the other characters in the film suddenly just make an appearance and then come back much later. Also the acting abilities of these extra characters (especially a pervy Sheriff) was highly questionable. For the short time that they are on screen though it doesn't really matter.

The directing for most of 'Shredder' was sub-par but, having said that, there were a couple of quite well done ski-chase scenes. They were fast paced and aesthetically good. I must also mention that there were some good scenery shots of the snowy mountains. Huson adopted an MTV-style approach to the direction which was mostly an annoyance. It seemed that there were (towards the beginning) many filler scenes which served no purpose to the script just so punk-pop music could be played on the soundtrack. Whether this is his style I don't know having not seen his only other film as a director, 'Decaf', and according to it's IMDb page, no one else has either.

The make-up quality was inconsistent. Sometimes the make-up is quite good, fairly realistic looking and quite gory but othertimes it is extremely fake looking and poorly done. The quality of the make-up generally improves later in the film, so maybe two different guys were doing the effects? Thankfully though, apart from a quick and unfortunately cartoony image at the end no CGI was used.

What's most important is the actual film though and like I mentioned previously, the ending helped salvage it. The first hour of the film is where most of the problems I've mentioned can be found. The last twenty minutes on the other hand seemed fairly well thought out. Admittedly there were a few consistency problems and the lack of previous and current interaction between the teenagers and the other characters in the film harmed the quality somewhat but I still have to give some credit where it's due. If the film had been given an extra 10-15 minutes, or hadn't used so much filler, it could have been improved. It's the lack of understanding that begins through the non-development of the characters and ideas that's the problem. A little more character interaction and some extra dialogue would have made everything much more plausible and coherent. Another thing that shamed the ending was the quick array of plot twists that were tried. None really worked well and unfortunately it made things a little sloppy. There were some good suspense scenes and a few moments that might increase your heart-rate but this film isn't really scary. Also, despite being a small gore content, most of the killings are either off-screen or a camera turn which flicks back to the finished result.

Will I watch this again? Yes, probably. I wouldn't say it's worth checking out (I definately wouldn't go out of your way) but there are much worse films out there. At least the last twenty minutes somewhat helped to salvage the film, though not entirely fixing the mess the first hour made the film definately upped it's rating from me in that time. If you see it and like the sound of it then you should check it out. Think 'Friday the 13th' with less of a story and set at a ski-resort and your getting close here. I'd say 5.5/10

Admittedly, this is not a classic horror flick but it is enjoyable nonetheless. The action takes place at an abandoned ski lodge - there is a killer stalking the snowboarders, known as 'shredders'. The teen characters (predictably, they look older!) are typical clichés of horror movies. There is a surprising amount of gore and you root for the 'good' characters. I liked the wintry setting, there are some good stunts and the whole movie is a guilty pleasure.

Starring the seriously underused/underrated Lindsey McKeon this is a highly colour by numbers slasher with a couple of redeeming features.

For a start the setting is great, set high up the mountains where all the snowboarders/skiers dwell. Next is the cast, better than you'd expected considering what type of film it is. And finally though they are deep into the film it does have some quite neat ideas! Blending the excellent Out Cold (2001) with one of a billion generic slashers pays off with bits of comedy thrown into break free of the predictable tedium of the genre.

You won't even easily predict the identity of the killer, I was astounded when it turned out not to be Reverend Green in the kitchen with the rolling pin! Flabbergasted I tell you.

Better than you'd might think but still instantly forgettable.

Coming up with a generic plot is often compared to shuffling a pack of cards in order to come up with a slightly different plot each time . Unfortunately by the end of the 20th century the pack of cards entitled " Bunch of teenagers get stalked and killed " had been shuffled to death and what the post modernist humour of SCREAM did was bury the pack once and for all . Guess how the producers of SHREDDER ( A made for video movie released in 2002 ) take a new approach ? That`s right they make the teenagers snowboarders !

Just to explain the reason why teenagers get bumped off in these type of movies is to introduce a subtest of proteastant ethics . Horny teenagers both slappers and studs who have sex just for the fun of it must be horribly murdered as retribution for being promiscuous while the gutsy virgin must survive the film as reward for keeping her honour , but unless I`m missing something there`s not one honourable virgin ( Well female ones ) in this movie or any sympathetic character at all . In fact if I bumped into any of these characters in real life I`d be hard pressed not to put an ice pick through their heads . Oh and there`s a scene at the end that can be described as cheating . I won`t spoil it for you but you`ll know the scene when you see it .

If there`s any film producers out there thinking of making yet another movie about horny teenagers getting sliced and diced can you please consider another career option

An annoying bunch of 20 somethings go to spend a weekend at an abandoned ski resort. They plan to go "shredding" (snow boarding) and whoop it up. All the stereotypes are in place: the nice girl; his girlfriend; the female slut; the maybe lesbian; the crazy "funny" guy; the constantly stoned guy and the mysterious European guy they pick up along the way. Also the "funny" crazy guy is constantly videotaping everything and we get extremely annoying, jarring cuts to his footage. This has quickly become a cliché since "The Blair Witch Project". Can we put it to rest now? It also seems the resort was the site of an unsolved murder...and there are rumors that the killer is still around...

It all starts out great with a bloody, gruesome murder...then falls apart quick. All the characters are annoying with the girls constantly prancing around in their underwear and being used (and filmed) as sex objects. Some people have complained that there wasn't enough female nudity in this film. Well...you know what? Not EVERYBODY wants female nudity in a horror film! As a gay man I find it boring and pointless. This film deserves credit for not having too much. And they do have hunky handsome Brad Hawkins shirtless a lot! That's a good thing. Also we have to wait 40 minutes in till the next murder. There's also a really stupid final revelation at the end and I love how a dead person mysteriously is alive at the end! On the good side: the acting isn't bad. That's surprising in a film like this. The best acting comes from Hawkins and Juleah Weikes. The only bad performance is from Scott Weinger. It's not entirely his fault...he's given little to work with but he does try. And there are a few very amusing lines. At one point Cole (Weinger) is constantly accusing one person of being the murderer. When they find that person dead he say's "All right--it's not him. Let's get out of here!" Also when a woman finds some dead bodies in the basement she goes screaming upstairs. Pike (Weikes) confronts her saying, "For future reference, the next time we're stalked by a serial killer do NOT go into the basement." Also the murders are VERY violent and incredibly bloody (I mean this as a good thing). The film also really picks up speed and the final half hour is good, fast and violent. The film has high production values (for a direct to video feature). It has some nice direction during the shredding episodes and the cinematography is nice, clear and crisp.

A lot of people have blasted this film but...come on! It's a direct to video horror film! What were they expecting? "Gone With the Wind?" It's a fairly good, fast horror flick. Worth a rental but don't go out of your way to see it.