Catcher: Mort dans le Stade

After watching THE CATCHER, I said to myself "I've seen everything now".

Who ever thought of combining baseball and horror? Nevermind BASEketball.

Seriously, the concept here is very odd but not too odd to be completely dismissed if the incongruous elements were handled correctly. But in this case, the sport of baseball is just a flimsy premise for the makers of this oddity to create horror where horror usually never lurks. Unless showering with full grown men or men wearing protective cups scare you.

Because the acting in THE CATCHER is atrocious, this very important element kills any chance of this odd premise to be believable under any circumstances. The look of the film is somewhat interesting. I believe it was shot of HD video and it looks polish and sleek. But the actors populating the scenes get in the way and the idea of a psychotic catcher who kills people because they're in the way of his baseball glory never goes beyond its ludicrous premise.

And to add more oddity to this film, THE CATCHER is filled with such blatant homoeroticism that THE CATCHER looks like a long lost David DeCoteau film. The scene when one hunky baseball player gets duct-tapped to a locker room bench by the killer, who then proceeds to sodomize the player with his baseball bat is not the most subtle scene ever shot in the history of cinema. Those with a fetish for violence and baseball will definitely get a kick out of that scene or the whole movie itself, all ten of them out there.

'The Catcher' is a low budget and obscure SOV baseball themed slasher flick from the late 90's that features an interesting concept, some memorable death scenes and a fantastic set location namely the baseball stadium that's perfect for a sports themed slasher flick. But despite a few fun moments and a handful of moments that show ambition, this movie falls rather flat due to its poor storytelling and lacklustre execution which makes this a wasted opportunity.

The Plot = Beginning in 1981 where a young baseball player named Johnny (Fred Meyers) murders his cruel and demanding father (Joe Estevez). Then 17 years later he's released from the local insane asylum and returns to the baseball stadium to begin a killing spree.

For a low budget direct to video flick the movie does looks quite decent with the production having a polished look to it with the stadium itself having a cool eerie vibe to it and gives off a sense of atmospheric dread. The use of dolly tracks and steady cams are handled quite well and there were a couple of inventive kill scenes. The biggest issue that I have with this is the narrative which felt like it was missing a lot of key elements especially when it comes to connecting the past with the present, it felt like it needed more fleshing out and the characters were way too paper thin and weren't given much to do apart from wonder around the dark and empty hallways. I know that this is a cheap slasher flick and not to go into this expecting something fantastic, but the lazy writing and lack of suspense really lets this one down.

The performances for the most part range from bad to unmemorable but there were a couple of standouts such as David Heavener who gives a noteworthy performance as Walker and Monique Parent adds a touch of class as the female lead Terry and gives an okay performance. Joe Estevez was really hammy in his small screen time and just comes off as an annoyance.

Overall 'The Catcher' does feature some fun moments and a brisk running time, but on the whole it's a pretty weak effort.

I rented this movie the other night and I was totally disappointed

I was hoping it would be a horror comedy (along the lines of Uncle Sam & Jack Frost), but it turned out to take itself too seriously

I hate movies which have a silly premise and goofy death scenes and STILL try and scare ya!

It has to be done right and The Catcher just wasn't

It was a very boring movie, with really rubbishy effects.

the only saving grace was the baseball bat up the butt scene (made me laugh)

and the fact that it starred the gorgeous Monique Parent

Avoid at all costs

Years after murdering his father for forcing him into playing baseball, a psychotic man goes after the players on a baseball team on the last day of their season.

Even though this isn't a very expensive production, there's enough creativity to help you power through the reasonable hour and fifteen minute runtime. Some of the murders include death by pitching machine and a nasty baseball bat up the butt. Some of the editing, acting, and cinematography are on the amateur side, but it's entertaining enough for at least one viewing.

The 1990s weren't exactly the best and most productive years for the slasher-horror genre, especially when compared to the 80s, and then halfway through the decade there came a film - Wes Craven's "Scream" - that changed everything for good. This is probably one of the reasons (next to being a dud...) why "The Catcher" mercilessly ended up in total oblivion. It was made in 1998, and thus at least ten years overdue. If this little low-budget flick had came out in the mid-80s, more or less simultaneously with other sport-themed slashers ("Olympic Nightmare", "Killer Workout", "Iced", "Night Game", ...) it * might * had gathered a modest cult following (but probably not).

"The Catcher" opens with the biggest cliché imaginable. A brute and obsessive father absolutely wants his 12-year-old son to be good in baseball, so he yells and throws the ball increasingly harder until Junior snaps and beats daddy to death with his bat. Seventeen years later, the lazy and rebellious catcher Walker is about to kicked out of his team by the stern new manager Terry Mitchell. On the night of his forced exit, a sadist killer in a catcher-outfit starts butchering everyone still present in the stadium.

The script wants to be clever and mislead you the entire with regards to the killer's identity. Again, though, if you know your 80s slasher-stuff, you will not be tricked by any of the red herrings. Several of the kills are quite brutal, bloody, and imaginative, but there seemingly wasn't enough money left for good make-up effects and steady camerawork. The grotesque and theatrical finale on the field is cool and dumb at the same time. Pity that "The Catcher" isn't slightly better, but still it's worth a peek if you enjoy slashers (moreover because it lasts even less than 80 minutes).