Resurrection County

The first thing I noticed about the film was its promo image. It's effective: it's both brutal and spooky. Turns out is not an image from the film. The film's two female stars are a long-haired brunette and a short-haired redhead (the latter seems to be channeling Susan Ruttan for some bizarre reason... maybe someone was a huge fan of LA Law?). There are scenes that are highly similar to the image, though.

The major premise of this movie is that the main characters go off to the woods to ride their ATVs. They are going mudding, basically. It's a movie about rural people who happen to have some disposable income versus rural folks who are dirt poor and insanely violent from extreme politics. They are the type of bad guy that actually exists in this world, unlike ghosts and werewolves and genius serial killers and so forth. Normal rural people are also included in this movie, most dramatically in a law enforcement officer who demonstrates professionalism and tolerance. There are also some morally ambiguous characters to varying degrees. But the people who are villains are hardcore evil. For example, there are at least three attempted victims of nonconsensual sexual activity. But the filmmakers avoid showing anything except the violence,

The biggest problem with the film is that there's something off about the pacing. Most films have something to hook you and then a lead up to a flurry of activity. This one has big things happen, a conspicuously long gap in the middle where they added characters and nothing is really happening, and finally things happening again.

In all, it was maybe a slightly above average film, but it has nothing that's a must-see.

Two urban couples head to the countryside for some downtime; however, they're quickly introduced to the other side of 'roughing it' in the wilderness when the men's ATV excursion makes a collision course straight for hell, where the locals aren't keen to strangers. After a standoff with a couple of ill-tempered hillbillies, the residents of Resurrection County go from hostile to downright murderous, out to avenge the death of one of their own.

It's your run-of-the-mill redneck torture flick - city folks wander off into no man's land for some fresh air, only to end up being stalked (sometimes devoured, but not in this case) by a group of inbred loonies who possess the strength of Hercules and the Hulk combined. Lo and behold, the actors and actresses, a bunch of no-names, do a pretty damn decent job. The make-up department and special effects crew deserve a round of applause for creating very realistic blood and gore on a limited budget.

It falters midway through, courtesy of some slow-moving and unnecessary scenes that should have ended up on the cutting room floor, as well as succumbing to the stereo-typical errors that characters in horror movies make. There is a shotgun scene in the beginning that will satisfy sadists but, while gory throughout, there really isn't much on-screen torture or anything that qualifies as extreme, not to veteran horror fans anyway.

Although predictable, it's still intense with genuine performances, but lacks anything fresh or remarkable.

This movie is another redneck torture porn crap. It is boring, predictable and you can see the ending from miles away. There are no surprises there.

The only surprise for was based on fact the movie was described to me in the shop as a "gothic horror story" similar to the Children of Corn. Boy, these people have been so wrong!

Seriously I have no idea who could watch these redneck slashers on purpose. Are these movie designed so folks from American cities do not try to wander in the woods? Is this really supposed to be some religious replacement of hardcore porn sold as a story? Seriously, the only such movie which was fun was the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre and maybe The Southern Comfort. All other movies are so derivative and unoriginal. I would never watch another one unless being tricked to buy it by accident as it happened in this case. I have so wasted the money on this one :-(

When it comes to bad horror films, "Resurrection County" is slightly above average. Winner of Best Horror Film at the Bare Bones Festival (whatever that is), it's a low budget, straight-to-DVD slasher flick that entices you with its R18+ rating. I can't really see the need for it myself. Most of the gore is left to your imagination.

The plot owes heavily to the likes of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Wrong Turn"... to name a few. Two couples set up camp a little too close to a clan of Rednecks who "don't much like them city folk". Nothing new here. Fortunately it boasts a few genuinely intense moments and the acting isn't too bad. It sags a bit in the middle and it suffers from a few classic horror movie mistakes. Don't leave shotguns behind, don't waste bullets and don't stop for a quick smooch when you're surrounded by psychos.

If you enjoy the occasional bad horror movie, you could do much worse than RESURRECTION COUNTY.

Check out my IMDb List for some better suggestions. "HORROR/THRILLER: Obscure, Overlooked & Underrated" http://www.imdb.com/list/8QFZ78e4Ar8/

As a fan of Redneck Torture Porn, I became aware a long time ago of the narrow range within which the plot lines of nearly all movies of this type fall. A group of good looking young people venture into the backwoods, typically in the South, looking for adventure -- in this case, ATV riding. They stop for gas, a couple of them mumble some insulting remarks that are picked up on by the locals and then drive off to find a detour where there is never, ever cell phone coverage. "Resurrection County" is no different in many ways. But in others, it is quite watchable. The actors who play the locals are quit believable and a event relatively early in the story was so unexpected that it took my breath away. That scene in itself is worth the price of a Redbox rental. Critics who complain that there isn't a lot new here need to get a life. What did you expect?... for a pretty city girl to go off and marry an in-bred townie? Give this one a chance.