Bloody Murder

I usually try and I mean try and write a fair review of low budget horror movies, because of production issues, talent available and script writing.

But this movie is just AWFUL.

Even 4x fast forward doesn't help the viewer.

Let's make a stew...awful tiresome script, some pretty bland actors and actresses, (friends maybe of director), the most boring direction ever seen in mo pix history...look up bland white bread direction.. the reference is Bloody Murder. See what happens when you make cheap video products available to the general public...

Plot: Early adults go to summer camp, a killer lurks around, Sheriff comes late to help..minimal action scenes, no nudity, no cleavage, no tight shorts or skirts..hmmmm.

This must be one of those 'let's make a movie this weekend' type of deals.

Some think this movie is a spoof. HINT: A spoof has to be funny. See Scary Movie (all of them). This movie had no chuckles, no terror, and no interest in seeing the plot advance forward.

A waste of digital pixels or film if that was used. You know this was shot in a weekend and then a pizza/beer party afterwards.

Was this a calling card for the director? A calling card to work in a pizza joint. Check out any youtube video, it will be more entertaining.

Well you can tell by the cover of this movie that it's a Friday the 13th rip off, and ignore the chainsaw, there's only one killing with a chainsaw. It didn't have much blood and gore, and what blood was shown looked like red spray paint. Less than half of the characters were killed. This movie strongly resembles the form of the early 80's slasher, "He Knows You're Alone". It had the potential to be really good and it wasn't. If you're a hard core horror fan looking for a modern camp slasher, rent it, you may like it, but you'll probably be disapointed. 6 out of 10.

Take a look at the cover, can you guess what overrated horror franchise this movie wants to imitate? What is so scary with a hockey mask anyway? It has no features to produce eerie shadows, smooth plastic has no texture, it's round, and regardless of what the lighting it's 1 step away from a big white smiley face. It is far from intimidating. The only thing intimidating about Jason is the make up under the mask (which isn't that intimidating anymore since it's been revealed in so many films) and Kane Hodder himself, who is one big bad monster of a stuntman you wouldn't want to screw with. With that said, why rip that off? Sorry, Bloody Murder doesn't employ Kane Hodder so this killer--what's his name--is not intimidating.

I find it hilarious this film tries to mimic Friday the 13th so much; Friday the 13th didn't even try to be a good movie. Heck, Friday the 13th was fund raiser for Sean Cunningham that happened to get lucky. So it's no surprise that Bloody Murder succeeds very well in following in another franchise's footsteps, despite what F13 fanatics will argue. F13 and Bloody Murder share many things in common: they have bad acting, bad scripting, bad scoring, bad directing, bad sound effects, tiny budget, you get the idea. Friday the 13th's only high points over Bloody Murder is Tom Savini, the gore-master, and the fact that Friday the 13th had much fewer films to compete with and 'rip off' in the early 80s.

Bloody Murder does have a twist (still ripping off F13, but it is a twist) .. . the 'mystery' element thrown in for good measures; my personal favorite scene was the classic 'it could have happened this way . . .' narration over a possible re-enactment of what could have happened. Friday the 13th meets Clue? Yeah, that's a scary thought.

I'll give the filmmakers the benefit of the doubt and assume they knew all along how corny this was. With that stated, even though the result was intentional, it still does not work. Small budget--no excuse. It does not work as corny horror, horror/comedy, or any combination. Sorry, nada, not here. Only thing here are clichés that have been tapped into so much that they're annoying now, even if the filmmakers are trying to make fun of them.

Ultimately, a very forgettable horror film. Much like how Friday the 13th should have gone, but didn't.

Bloody Murder (originally Scream Bloody Murder) is an early 2000's slasher film in similar vein to Scream, Urban Legend and I Know What You did Last Summer nixed with classic 80's tropes for good measure. The comic relief character was good. The rest of the actors were bad to forgettable. I wish the cinematography was better. Most of it takes place during the over-exposed day. It felt very point and shoot.

The script was fine. Serviceable but could have been elevated with better directing and cinematography. It's a shame!

Bloody Murder is pretty much a straight forward rip off of the Friday the 13th movies. It takes place at a camp where the counsellors get knocked off one by one. The mask the killer uses is a hockey mask similar to Jason's. There is even an old man warning the teenagers of horrible things to come. Bloody Murder isn't all that good, but I enjoyed it as one of those "so bad it's good" slasher movies. The acting isn't very good except for the comic relief character of Tobe played by Patrick Cavanaugh. He did a great job as the funny guy who never seems to get the girl.

This is pretty much a hack and slash horror film without the excessive blood and gore. There are a few "neat" kills without much brutality. Interesting that the lead actress (Jessica Morris) hated the film and put it down. I thought she was a big reason for the film not being any better. Her portrayal of the main girl in the scary movie wasn't very well done. Surprising to me because I caught her in an episode of One Life to Live and thought she did much better in that. Maybe daytime is her thing.

Overall, fans of the genre might like it for it's cheesiness and for being a blatant rip off of the Friday films. There was a sequel made and from what I've read, it's a bit better.

5/10