Evil Laugh

EVIL LAUGH features one of the most irritating killers in horror movie history, picking off annoying med students one by one. All the while cackling like an imbecile. Said maniac also wears a mask reminiscent of those worn by Mexican wrestlers.

This movie does get points for being a parody of the slasher genre, exposing some of the absurdities therein. Yes, the story is lackluster. Yes, the characters are just animated furniture. However, it's humorous in spots, and its overall cheeeze factor wins the day...

There are three types of bad movies: (a) the ones that are so bad they're boring, (b) the ones that are intentionally bad in order to be funny, and (c) the ones that are so bad they are hilarious. No one wants to watch the first one. The second type has no value since the only reason for watching a bad movie is to laugh at its "badness" and if they do it on purpose, what is the point? So, it leaves us with the third type. If you enjoy this third type of bad movie, you will love Evil Laugh. I've seen a lot of unintentionally hilarious movies, and this is one of the best, right up there with Gymkata. The plot is as follows: a bunch of friends meet at a dirty old house. People start getting killed by a masked person with an evil laugh (just wait until you hear the laugh). My favorite scene: the killer drags a guys head into a microwave, but can't close it since it's still attached to the body. So he pushes start, and magically the microwave starts working, which is followed by the requisite head explosion. Oh, and then there is the Breakfast Club-like cleaning scene to cheesy 80's music. See this movie! If you go the video store, I can pretty much guarantee that no one else has checked it out.

An on-the-cheap, shot-on-video and quickly made 80s slasher that's enthusiastically pitched and made the more interesting for being made by Dominick Brasica (which Friday the 13th fans would pick up as being the memorable first death in "Friday the 13th: A New Beginning") in what feels like a labour of love. It might not be ranking up their with the best the 80s had to offer and could be seen as just another slasher, but the quirky "Evil Laugh" had its moments. Even some creativity, as some elements actually reminded of Wes Craven's 90s slasher "Scream". Plenty of self-knowing quips feed the shonky script (mainly from a horror-buff character) and there's a plethora of references to other horror mediums (horror magazine Fangoira to "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th"). The story is simple, as it builds up the standard conventions and its over-the-top macabre (which includes some dancing while cleaning and jittery music score) where a group of young medical students decide help out a friend re-open an abandoned orphanage, although they don't know of its terrible past which saw ten years ago the custodian murder the residents. But this weekend is not going to be any ordinary weekend, as people start disappearing and find themselves at the mercy of a jump suit wearing killer with a mask and beanie. Yeah, sadly the murderer doesn't live up the illustration on the artwork and naturally the heroine points out the horror fan for being the murderer. The execution does match the budget, as it's a slapdash of blood, nudity and humour. Sometimes things would happen off-screen, but other times we get flashes of tatty gore. The random performances are acceptable with Kim McKamy making a solid heroine and a decent Steven Baio (who also produced and co-wrote). Nothing new, but it's full of spontaneous energy.

"No legend is going to scare me".

Evil Laugh isn't particularly original or special but it's entertaining enough for a slasher film and has some decent death scenes. I think the lack of originality was what spoilt it for me, it's the same old routine of having a bunch of people in a house where they get killed off one by one. There's some amusing moments though, one example being at the beginning of the film when the killer takes out a mans heart, which later gets used in a meal that his friends eat. There also seems to be a bit of slasher film 'self referencing' going on too, with mentions of Halloween and Friday the Thirteenth. Some slasher fans like that sort of thing, but personally I think it brings the film down as it seems too self-conscious.

Overall a good addition to any slasher fans collection, but there's still much better out there.

I actually liked this a lot more than I should have. I wish I could see it in better quality. It's absolutely hilarious and I was surprised at the number of slashers it parodied, especially because it was only made in 1986! I had no idea that any films with this level of awareness of the genre were made so early. Some of the films it referenced had only been made 2 or 3 years prior while some were classics. This is Scream before Williamson had the idea. And while it's true that it's extremely silly, it's also pretty great and a lot of fun. Give this one a chance if you're in the mood for comedy.