Scare Campaign

Who doesn't love a good prank gone wrong video? Where a pranker is acting like a douchebag and finally gets what's coming for them?

And here we have in a sense the movie version of just that (except more extreme of course as it is a horror) so this should technically be right up my alley.

But it just didn't quite hit the right mark.

First of all it's a little bit too silly at times, especially in the first half, where as I think it would have worked much better if they took a more serious approach.

Don't get me wrong I don't mind a good horror-comedy, but if the comedy is not funny (as in the case of this) then I prefer it to do more of the former than of the lesser.

Especially since the actual scenes of horror were fairly well- orchestrated and it had some cool twists.

The acting could have been a bit better as well, but partly of that could be because of the direction.

Had a look at the directors' resumes and it turns out that they directed '100 Bloody Acres (2012)' which I actually thought was stellar, and that was a horror-comedy as well... So it is a genre that they can do well in, in this it didn't quite come together though for some reason.

Contrary to most reviews here, if you have seen more than a dozen horror films, no later than the 15th minute in will you be able to smell the stench of all the forthcoming twists of this poorly executed, smug, superficial, obvious flick. Not to mention the overused topic of media violence and the blurring of what's real and what's not. At the end I simply could not believe that the supposed "twists" were all this film got. Abysmal, cynical tripe.

Sometimes when a film goes a little overboard on trying to be hard to figure out it loses direction so much it messes up the whole thing. That's sort of what I see happening here. A prank on a prank show and a little dose of real kinda made this one come out just about even on the score card.

Ladies and gentleman if there was any concerns beforehand surrounding the current state of Australian horror films, then let the Cairnes Brothers Scare Campaign put any of those lingering doubts to bed as this low budget yet often ingenuous little horror treat showcases that the genre is still alive and well in our fair shores.

On the back of fellow shoestring budget films like Wrymwood and Observance and the Cairnes Brothers previous film (which sadly got lost in a huge collection of illegal downloads) 100 Bloody Acres, Scare Campaign may not be a faultless experience but it's a downright fun one and one I can see making its way to Hollywood in the form of a remake sometime in the near future.

Having a blast with their pitch black comedy elements and skewering of modern day audiences thirst for bigger and better and in the case of this particular narrative, more bloody and ruthless, the Cairnes Brothers ramp up the gore-o-meter to 11 as bodies are dismembered, sliced and diced and generally dispatched in all manner of gruesome and it must be said inventive ways as our crew of reality TV filmmakers and actors realise they've bitten off more than they can chew.

Utilising the ready-made set at their disposal in the form of an old mental hospital near the boundary line of the Victorian and New South Wales borders, the Cairnes Brothers have a ball putting their willing cast lead by Meegan Warner's actress Emma and her director/on-off boyfriend Marcus played by Ian Meadow's into a terrifying situation that more than once takes turns into the depraved and unpredictable and while the brothers script work undoubtedly needs polish, their gleeful direction clearly showcases horror fans working on a project that is passionate to them as genre aficionados.

Showing inventiveness and a wittiness not often found in films of this ilk (plus a mastery of claret spilling), Scare Campaign is a quick-fire horror experience that will leave many horror hounds thoroughly happy with what the Cairnes Brothers have served up and on the back of two promising ventures into the horror genre from the brothers now in the bag there's reason to get excited on where the duo will head to next.

3 ½ rubber guns out of 5

I did enjoy the previous movie from the brothers. While it never achieved what Tucker & Dale did (no pun intended), it was a fun little movie. Though it would depend on your definition of fun I reckon. Something that can be also said about this movie right here. It is also very bloody and does not pull any punches.

But it is unfortunately very predictable. I can't imagine anyone being really surprised by the twists thrown here. Red herrings and all included, you'll see them coming. It's still set up nice and it's enjoyable enough, if you don't have problems with the amount of gore this includes and the obvious scare tactics it uses ...