That's a Wrap

Having just finished filming, the director of an upcoming horror film hosts a special cast screening party to give everyone one more chance to say goodbye, but when someone dressed as the killer in the movie starts killing everyone off they must find a way to stop the deadly rampage from continuing.

There's quite a lot to like with this one. Among the brighter spots to be had here is the fine setup of what's going on that gets things off on a fun note. The whole idea of the self-confident-if-delusional director trying to hold the contained wrap-party for the cast who use the time to get to know each other better leads to plenty of intriguing conversations about their movie roles or other personal issues. This provides the kind of touch to give us enough to get to know them and get a suspect list going while setting up the location used here to great effect as the part continues. This allows for the high-end use of strong slashing scenes taking place throughout here. The opening shot of the actress stalked by the killer through the facility is a solid setup using the film's emerging proclivity for neon-lit scenery and lighting that generates a solid stylish ploy. That type of appearance and style becomes a prominent part of the film going forward as the backstage locations where each of the attacks takes place focus on using the bright red or blue neon surroundings that end up allowing the killer to hide in plain sight and strike due to how well they're hidden. That continues on to the later scenes where the extended chase scenes throughout the facility. With stand-out scenes such as a victim showering to clean up after a drink accident, a couple trying to get together in a darkened hallway, or another couple being intimate on one of the sets alone offering up some fun scenes, there's a nice mixture of genuine staking scenes with brutal, over-the-top gore gags. The other big confrontation between the last survivor and the killer is a solid offering as well, featuring some fine cat-and-mouse moments and a fun resolution to all come together nicely for quite a lot to like. The film does have some big issues that hold it down. Its biggest factor is the whole motivation and reveal of the killer, who not only seems incredibly obvious but is one of the lamest reveal motivations in the genre. The whole point of the rampage is laughably stupid to think it could be pulled off successfully and is justifiably written off only to generate a new twist that's slightly better if still outright terrible at being a motivation for going on a rampage. As well, the film's idea of comedy where characters make meta references to movies only to have that happen to them is insulting, being the issues that bring it down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Full Nudity, a sex scene, and drug use.

Seems to be a lot of overly positive reviews for this movie early on, i'm guessing it's probably by the cast and crew trying to pad the ratings here. I get what the Director was going for with the lighting, but when every single scene is lit with the same colors, it starts to lose it's effectiveness very quickly. There were a couple decent kills, and there is no shortage of nudity. Those two things alone will more than satisfy a section of the horror fan community, but those looking for a coherent story...need to look elsewhere.

That brings me to the acting. Not terrible, but no real standouts here, maybe Sarah French. Sarah has been at this a long time and seems to be stuck in a rut of ultra low budget movies, that's not necessarily a bad thing...just expected her to break through to more mainstream movies by now.

Overall this is passable for a background movie while you clean the kitchen maybe.

Oh yeah, that open was about 7 or 8 mins too long.

Finally, Marcel Walz makes a decent movie. Is is perfect? God no, but it's better than anything he's done before. The director of the absolutely horrid remake of Blood Feast had made several really lousy direct to video then streaming films and this had the look of yet another. Surprisingly, this turned out to be decent. The acting - for a change is actually alright. No one's winning an award, but nobody really stunk it up either. The script is acceptable, not brilliant but alright. Then there's the direction. Let's be honest, til now Marcel Walz has been Uwe Boll with a breast fetish, but he reigned it in just enough for this to be a watchable and fairly entertaining movie.

As a fan of all of Marcel Walz' films to date, and a massive fan of Italian "Giallo" film in particular, I was anxiously looking forward to his newest film, "That's a Wrap", and it definitely did not disappoint! Full of sly in-jokes to the Hollywood behind the scenes process, subtle jabs at current culture, and of course a loving homage to Giallo and Dario Argento films in particular, this film is a real treat! Featuring the always fabulous Sarah French, along with a number of modern indie-horror folks and 90's late-nite stars and even a Tom Savini cameo, along with some clever kills and a cool killer-design, this movie should not be Missed!

If you're a fan of well written, well-acted, and well directed slasher horror films, check out "That's a Wrap." It's a fun film with creative kills and a terrific story about the cast of a slasher horror film stalked by a slasher at a wrap party. Marcel Walz did a wonderful job directing, and Joe Knetter and Robert L. Lucas wrote a phenomenal screenplay with great characters and plenty of gory scares! The cast, led by Sarah French, Cerina Vincent, Monique Parent, and Robert Donavan, is amazing. It's these types of creepy and awesome horror films that make me a horror fan for life! Highly recommended!