Mask of Thorn

I usually try to go into films without knowing anything about them, but afterwards it is often interesting to find out more about their production.

'The Mask of Thorn' is the second part of a trilogy. This concerns perceived do-gooder Bethany Lovell (Eve Kathryn Oliver), who suffers from suspiciously overbearing parents and an inability to fit in with her schoolmates.

To add to her troubles, the mysterious Thorn turns up to pursue her. Nice camerawork and lighting don't disguise the fact that he's an actor (Atticus Machiavellian - really?) in a mask (of Thorn, presumably, which is fair enough). He's even been given glowing eyes to make him more frightening. What really sells him, apart from his predilection for violence and killing (often in the same manner) is the sound design. Guttural breathing and snarling has rarely sounded so meaty.

Some acting is dire, some not so bad - there's a character in a horrendous 70s wig (this is set in the 80s). Conversely, my favourite character is foul-mouthed Julia (Lydia Cashman), whose line-up of expletives is wonderful.

For anyone who criticises the clearly tiny budget on display, MJ Dixon (the director responsible for the enjoyable 'Haunting of Molly Bannister' and 'Cleaver: Killer Clown') productions are a labour of love, financed by himself and fanbase crowdfunding enterprises. While the end result doesn't always match the admirable intent, it certainly has moments of interest and effectiveness. My score is 6 out of 10.

On the eve of her birthday, a woman wanting to party with her friends against her parents' strict wishes is taken away to an abandoned school by her friends to have the party anyway, unaware they're being followed by a ritualistic hulking killer looking to include her in a special sacrifice.

For the most part, there's a lot to like with this one. One of the finer aspects of the film is the intriguing and generally enjoyable storyline offering a fun twist on the nature of a family curse mixed with more modern slasher aesthetics. The central idea of the killer appearing and chasing after the mother of a child in a local hospital to continue his goal of appearing every Leap Year to wreak havoc on the citizens in town that includes the parents knowing full well what's going on and trying not to let their daughter fall victim by insisting on special precautions for her birthday celebrations. As everything comes together throughout the film including the series of rituals taken by the parents and other townsfolk to ensure their protection against Thorn while being unaware of the clandestine party being held at the abandoned school that her friends are throwing for her which draws the killer to them, the setup here manages to have quite a lot to like about it. That all sets the stage for the series of impressive stalking scenes featuring the hulking killer making his way through the cast. Opening on an impressive rampage in a hospital taking out multiple victims looking for his target that includes some suspenseful moments and several gruesome kills, there's a lot of fun to be had here before flashing forward to the modern story. The incredibly chilling setpieces in the abandoned school offer up plenty of fun as the clueless group is slowly slaughtered off in graphic fashion which leads to even more carnage as the darkened hallways, lack of lighting, and general disarray at the situation are put to good use. These offer up some classic slasher-style setups that go along nicely with the cult-like action taking place in the main hallway later on where the series of storyline reveals take place to help fill in the gaps of what's going on, generally giving this one quite a lot to like overall. There are some slight drawbacks here that bring this one down. The main issue here is the somewhat unnecessary length this one has for the kind of slasher effort. There's quite a lot going on here, mainly the involvement of the special cult and their connection to the killer going on around town that has to be explored as to why he's come back and the other figure going around trying to look for the daughter which is all expected yet still manages to drag out a lot of the running time. As well, the interactions with her friends while trying to go about their plans for the party which are the usual series of rich people belittling the poor friend, none of that is interesting enough to carry on as long as it does so it tends to make the film's running time noticeable. The low budget also shines through at points but isn't as detrimental as the other issues.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

The writing might have been on the wall for poor old "Bethany" (Eve Kathryn Oliver) when her indifferent parents don't care a jot for her sixteenth birthday. Luckily for her, though, her pals do and so they concoct a plan to kidnap her and hold a surprise party in their locked-up school. That's maybe not the best idea when this "Skeletor" type of fella with glowing blue eyes shows up and starts a-slaughtering her drippy mates. Doors and walls, even service tunnels, prove no barrier to this lurching menace - but what could he possibly want with her? Well quite possibly he blamed her for the appalling script and decided that she had to pay on behalf of the viewing public? Indeed, maybe he quite kindly decided to eliminate the whole shower of them before they could make a third film in this woefully conceived, low-budget, example of just how amateur film-making can be. Using the darkened school could have helped with aspects of the menace, but it doesn't - it just ensures that we can't see a thing for most of the time, taking the pressure off the make-up artist, visual effects person and enabling the actors to remain largely anonymous for the sake of their own future careers (in anything but acting!). Clarke Tribe merits a special mention in the credits, perhaps he bought the moonshine for the wrap party? He certainly didn't do anything at all to make this look or sound better on the screen - but then nobody else did either. One to avoid I'm afraid, even for die-hard fans of the genre.

Found this for a few quid in HMV,

An obvious 80's inspired slasher in the vein of Terminator, what really struck was the strong use of colours and music that really captured films of the 80's. Reminded me of the classic 80s VHS horror Prison.

Well worth your time if you can handle indie fair.

Would love to see more from Thorn.

After finding this title I was intrigued by the fact that it seems to be part of a shared movie Universe.

After watching it, I was perplexed, it seemed cheesy and a little campy, but was shot in a very modern style.

I looked into the film and suddenly realised that it was shot in TWO VERSIONS, but the main one was supposed to be a 'old square TV' style 80s version and as soon as I found the 80s trailer on youtube for it it all clicked.

This is a throwback to the 80s and although its a great, tight little story that 'borrows' from the films like Friday 13th and The Hidden it makes SOOOO much more sense that it was intended as a homage to that era.

Anyway, its pretty funny, has some great action and one of the kills in it, MY GOD, I'll remember that for sometime.

A great little no budget indie title that should get released in its original format.