Lasso

I found this movie the other day. What a find. Lots of Blood and Gore. I Luved It. It did start out a bit slow, I was beginning to wonder if this was a horror movie. Usually these movies start out with a killing. Once the movie picked up, it got better. Good story and special effects. I would say it was pretty original. Glad that I saw it. I wouldn't say that for much of the horror movies that I see. Average horror movies rank at a 3-5, this is much higher. Check out this one.

On the surface, there could be a decent horror movie in this. Killer cowboys hunting down people? It's a silly enough that it could merit some entertainment.

Unfortunately, it's just not a great or even decent horror film. The characters are thinly written and sometimes completely pointless (did we really even need a senior tour group involved?), the acting is mediocre, the dialogue is awful, the pacing is erratic, the movie is not very scary and a lot of things happen at random with no rhyme or reason. Worst of all, too much of it feels like an excuse to showcase long, over-the-top torture scenes. Admittedly, some of the gore is effectively nasty and it's not badly directed in terms of cinematic presentation, but after a while you start to grow numb to the violence. One person's death means no more than the other's when we have no investment in their safety and there's nothing else happening in the plot to justify its existence.

Even more obnoxiously, it's clear that this was made by people who hate cowboys and rural culture, but have never been to a rodeo, talked to a real cowboy/ranch-hand or understand anything about them outside of cartoons. I know I'm asking too much from a mindless action movie that wants to have it both ways by being an over-the-top parody and a serious horror movie, but it comes off as amateurish and at times like ignorant animal rights propaganda (which is crow-barred into the story for no particular reason because it never plays into the story after its original discussion). All we know from this film is that cowboys are murderous human and animal abusers that need to be slaughtered just...because.

So yeah, this is a big ole pass, pardner.

This movie had a good premise but it soon became apparent it was not what was listed on the tin; this is not really a horror it is more of a horror gore comedy and not very good at that.

I think it must have been made by the animal welfare/vegan nutbag brigade as it definitely seems to turn the tables and put humans in the position of the cows/bulls and so I was looking for some interesting ideas/kills and the aforementioned reviewers mention of over the top gore and well I was most disappointed.

It was your usual low budget horror affair - poor acting, minimal script and that is fine as it is part and parcel of the usual genre but what lets it down are the poor kills and terrible gore effects. I was waiting also for the usual BLM and LGBT narrative and yip within 10 minutes we have a black transexual bodybuilder cowboy and for once it was actually the best idea in the whole thing. Add in a bus full of potential kick-ass pensioners and it could have been interesting as not many horrors involve offing a busload of our aged generation but the pensioners but one were all just cattle to the slaughter so to speak.

From the other reviewers I thought this was going to be a gore-fest but the gore was very tame; the blood looked like paint and the effects were really really bad. There was zero tension and suspense and no real horror as it was loaded with humour (I am not entirely certain that this was meant either). I counted 5 scenes I laughed at - the one armed cowboy become no armed, the pensioner being swung round like a whirlygig and head smashed off a few trees Alienvspredator stylee and 3 other scenes which I will leave you to find for yourself and that was the summary of the laughs.

I feel sorry for Sean Patrick Flannery - from the magnificent Boondock Saints to this...oh my oh my he must really be needing the cash badly and he was the only one in the thing who could actually act!

If you like to see buses of pensioners being tortured (badly) and killed or just not like old people then this might be right up your street but for me it was one of those movies your start and think is going to be interesting but you quickly start pressing the play button to see how long it has to go - never a good sign - Nevertheless it always gets a fair rating from me and its a sad 3/10 from me on this one!

This movie is for fans of the slasher genre. If you aren't one of those to begin with, then you might not care for it. But if you are a fan of the genre, then LASSO delivers the goods in terms of suspense and plentiful well-executed gore scenes. It also messes with some of the formulas in a fun way. Rather than hapless oversexed teens being dispatched by the bloodthirsty cowboys, we have a tour bus full of old folks. There's something extra fun about seeing old people fight back. There were a couple of scenes where I found myself clapping in my chair. This isn't CITIZEN KANE, but as far as modern slasher films go, it gets very high marks from this fan. A solid 9 out of 10.

So "Lasso" delivers the goods in spades with gore and some gnarly scenes. Psychotic Cowboys. A novel idea! Yes? A group of Seniors and a few stragglers on a field trip end up at a rodeo that is revealed to be anything but routine. Soon they end up on the proverbial chopping block.

The movie is a brisk 90 minutes and cuts to the chase... We don't get any backstory on the baddies. Nor do we get much backstory on the victims either. I was hoping for maybe more chase scenes. But overall It's no dealbreaker for me. Still it would've been nice to get just a little more story on both parties. Why are the Rodeo workers doing this? Who knows!

The film also looks and sounds great. The calibrated weapons of choice are also a nice touch. On paper a roving gang of homicidal Cowboys sounds silly. But it makes the most of the absurd premise. It plays it fairly straight.

Still with it's very minor flaws the film is pretty enjoyable. Shakespeare this is not. Rustle up some grub or a brew and enjoy the show Hoss. Yeehaw!