Basement Jack

I picked up this movie at Blockbuster a while ago and I wrote it on a list to come home and look up on IMDb. Reading the reviews and ratings, I was a little put off, because it only had a 3.4 star rating. After much deliberation in the movie aisle, I decided to pick it up, and I am glad I did.

Not only did I get an excellent stalk and slash film, but the characters were played with an excellent degree of scare. The character of Basement Jack is one of the creepiest horror movie psycho's out there. I think what drew me to him the most is that he wasn't some half-brained zombie stalking after people like most horror movies are nowadays. Basement Jack was just a child that was horrendously abused as a child in sick, sick ways, so he was just mentally unstable, but not stupid. There was a certain level of elegance in his stalk and slash, not just stalk, stalk, stalk, kill.

On the negative side, some of the characters were a little lacking in the acting department, but at the same time, it made them seem like actual people and not actors trying to portray people. Also there are a few small plot holes that don't really ever get summed up.

But overall, I really enjoyed this film and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys to cuddle up with their most jumpy friends and watch someone slash up a bunch of towns people.

I rate this: Definite Watch.

Basement Jack was tortured by his mother growing up before he kills her and goes on a killing spree murdering family's during storms. He is released and the murders start up again. Yeah this is low budget but you can really tell the director tried with this. It was shot well and it had some good gore. All the acting is pretty terrible bar the main girl and weird choices were made like having a British speaking police officer in a small American town. It tried a little too hard in parts with some humor like the porn watching scene at the police station but the killer was suitably creepy and the gore was good for the budget they had.

I watched Basement Jack on a friends recommendation and it has some classic shots from a director who is clearly influenced by western flicks. Combined with Alan Howarth's score, you've got a low budget movie that frequently outshines it's funding. I see a few reviews here panning the movie, and while it's not Gone with the Wind, the shot selection, score, and strong performances from star Michele Morrow as well as several supporting cast give a flawed script it's fair share of very satisfying moments.

Michele Morrow (hottie alert) turns out a visceral performance as outlaw/hero Karen Cook, and while i understand the many "Sarah Connor" comparisons, i sense more of Sigourney Weaver's "Ripley" in her smoldering delivery. Lynn Lowry delivers another chillingly unhinged performance and Nathan Bexton as the manager is extremely fun to watch.

I was a little surprised to learn "Basement Jack" is director Michael Shelton's first turn at the helm, as he's delivered a solid film from start to finish - looking forward to seeing what he does next.

Let me start off by saying this movie is not the best movie out there by any means.

Its story is interesting at best and it really tries to make the killer have a personage and back story, so that you do not just see him as another murderer. On the other hand the actor playing Jack does a horrible job. To illustrate how horrible I thought his performance was, I will describe it this way: Every time I saw him on screen I wanted to gouge out my eyes with a spoon and jam chopsticks into my ears to pierce my brain so I would no longer have to see or hear anything he does ever again.If it were up to me I would run him out of town and never let him work again. Over the top? Maybe. You be the judge. It seems the only godsend of this movie was Michelle Morrow the actress playing Karen Cook. In my opinion, in these types of movies the killer should outperform the others in the sense of acting skills, but the exact opposite was the case. She was the star of the film hands down and the others are forgettable.

The only reason to see this movie is to get a chuckle out of the acting. It is a rent at best.

A serial killer, nicknamed Basement Jack because of his penchant for hiding out in his victim's basements before killing them, is released and returns to the small town of Downer's Grove to continue his massacre and finish off the one victim who was able to escape is slaughter years before.

This film desperately tries to be a throwback to 80's slasher films, but it is too slow-paced and padded with the killer's backstory that it commits the worst crime a slasher film can: it becomes boring. The pace does pick up in the end and there are some ambitious attempts at heavy gore; however, it is extremely fake looking and some is obviously CGI. However, the director is able to create some nice atmosphere is spots and, despite the fake looking gore, the film looks great. In the end, though, this is nothing you haven't seen before and it has been done much, much better.

FrightMeter Grade: D+