Resurrection County

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.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was not about torture, but an unusually deranged family who were violent in some original and creative ways inspired by Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein. The film is an incomparable and timeless cinematic masterpiece which culminates in a terrifyingly bizarre dinner party.

This film conversely, is the typical overdone torture porn movie - the only similarity being the kids encounter rednecks in the country - with that empty don't-need-a-reason attitude. A perfect demonstration of how torture flicks don't belong in the horror genre due to their general omission of anything scary or creative - only unimaginative meaningless torture.

I couldn't finish watching Resurrection County. Mainly because it was disturbing in a most unoriginal way. And also because the script and interaction between characters was shallow and unbelievable. And it was just too boring.

Stop me if you've heard this one before: two couples are on a camping trip. En route, they fill up at a gas station, where one of the local rubes tries to come on to a female member of the party. They also meet a seriously dodgy cop. On the road again, they soon realise they are knee deep in redneck territory... when a naked man covered in tattoos tries to kill them during an unscheduled stop. They eventually arrive at their destination, and the lads decide to go motocrossing. Ignoring every single 'Keep Out' and 'No Trespassers' sign (And there's a LOT of them) they go way off the beaten track.. and run into some more of the local inbreds. Things quickly escalate from there...

I could name at LEAST 5 films with almost exactly the same scenario off the top of my head. Either this proves how worn out the storyline is, or I need to stop watching so many cheapo horror flicks. Regardless, it's as ugly and brutal as you'd expect just by looking at the cover. In the latter stages, there's almost nothing but torture and abuse, all 'lovingly' shot in close up by our voyeuristic director so we don't miss a drop of blood. Thanks, mate. That's not all: One of our leading ladies is PREGNANT. Think they might lay off her? Guess again. In fact, she probably gets the WORST suffering out of all them. Talk about taking no prisoners...

At least, if so inclined, you can get a slightly sick thrill out of these scenes. The rest of what's here is pretty much useless, including chase sequences that go on forever, some mushy relationship stuff and an old preacher (who seems to be the leader of this freak community) blathering on about how all of America is corrupt and unclean, apart from their neck of the woods. I... can't even ... describe how deluded... that is. Taken all into consideration, this maybe would have been better with the 15 or so minutes of serious gore all spliced together to make a fake snuff film. Let's face it... the main audience for this aren't going to be interested in the rest of the nonsense on display, are they? 4/10

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.

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/