Jolly Roger: Massacre at Cutter's Cove

Ah, low budget horror like everyone knows...most times it's very awful and sometimes...it's really great. Jolly Roger, despite a dumb title is actually a pretty great little film. For real it was everything I was hoping it would be after being burnt one time before on an Asylum production (the same company that made Jolly Roger) with Scarecrow Slayer which I was disappointed with. Now back to this film, I have to really give it up to the director of this flick, Gary Jones, for really making this film look like a real film(with lots of cool camera movements). Most Direct to Video films don't have that since they're all shot on digital now and so most directors use the point an shoot but rarely do you get a sense of movement to the film. So I was really feeling the camera movements which gave this film a certain edge above the rest of the DtV films I've seen. Now I have to say this is one fun movie, I was just loving every moment of this flick. It's fun, gory and pretty well made. The film gets almost everything right right from the start by showing killing and boobs just in the opening minutes. That's always a plus in my book. The script is really quite good and has a pretty good story behind it. Did I see the future plot lines coming from a mile away? Of course but who cares...I had a blast getting there anyway. Man, I just really enjoyed this flick. Everything about it screamed I know what the fans want to see so we're going to give it to them...and that really makes me happy. This film knew everything that was expected and gave us more...great over the top gore, nudity and really cool deaths. Is this film gonna the most well regarded horror flick ever? No, but it does know what it is and what it's not. It's a great little horror film with a pretty story. The acting...almost everyone is right on except for the Woman who played the Mayor...god, she couldn't act for crap..but she dies so all was forgiven. The two leads, Tom Nagel and Kristina Korn, were great except for Tom who had a lot of off moments in this film were it looked like he was "acting". Kristina was great, I just loved her. She handled her part really well and I actually liked her character in a certain way ,that I've never seen a low budget horror film female lead, she played her kinda of scared, kinda weak, and always worried. She was the real surprise of the movie, I actually believed that she could be a real person while Tom I feel, couldn't keep up with her which is kind of sad because I feel it would have really made this flick even better. Another small beef was with Jolly Roger himself, I mean he looked cool and all except that I think they should have altered his voice a bit and made it deeper and more eviler. When he first shows up looking all bad ass and stuff you know he's gonna be one cool mother but then he talks and it's like"what was the hell was that?" His voice really doesn't match the look of the Jolly Roger. It's kinda hard to take him seriously as a threat when he speaks like a wimp. But he hardly talks so it's all good.Much Props to Gary Jones again for making an actually well directed, very few bad actor filled fun ride of a horror/ slasher movie. I really liked this flick a lot...I can't wait to start spreading the good word about this film...I was really impressed with it.

My Rating: A Bad Ass flick. Man, this flick has it all and then more. It's a fun blood filled ride with some actually great directing and some solid acting from most of the cast (except for a few) and just plain fun. This is a flick for horror guys like me that know what we want to see and delivers with shining colors. Great show.

I'll just cut to the chase. Instead of renting/buying this movie, take a few bucks out of your wallet, throw the money in the toilet and take a big ole dump on top of it. Flush.

There. Same difference.

Of course, THE ASYLUM has produced little watchable product so it comes as no big surprise, but this one is worse than usual. It looks like it was filmed as quickly as possible with absolutely no regard for logic, style or even entertainment. There's some gratuitous female nudity thrown in no doubt designed to try and draw your attention away from the fact that this is nothing but a steaming pile of cinematic poo. I'll be hardpressed to try anything else from these people. Avoid at all costs.

My husband rented this DVD and said usually Asylum put out pretty good, low-budge campy movies. I said, "ok, let's watch it." You know, it was pretty good! It was no big epic, movie classic or anything, but for a "B" grade movie I enjoyed it. The casting seemed good, the young actors seemed to fit their parts well. The acting by everyone seemed good (again) and believable. The plot was something different, I would have called the Jolly Roger a serial killer but strangely nobody used that term. He really cut a swath through the town. There was plenty of murder/attacks/scary scenes etc. pretty much evenly distributed through the movie to keep your attention. It had a good flow to it. Like the other reviewer, I agree that the bar scene was a hoot, just trashy enough to be believable and humorous also. I had to laugh out loud at many of the bar scenes. You probably will too. I liked the town where the movie was set, it was kind of gloomy and rainy and dreary for some good pirate atmosphere. All in all it was enjoyable and I actually wouldn't mind watching it at a future date.

What happens when you combine the Lower-echelon (of) Actors Guild with what appears to be the masterful effects of a high school editing suite? You get this oh-so-very-bad film.

From the outset, you know it's bad and the producers don't seem to want to hide from this.

The heads bouncing around like basketballs were fab and the camera techniques were non-existent. One in particular took the cake, in which a CCTV camera captured the murders in a strip joint. Watching the replay of the murders, you'd expect the security camera's angle to be used. No way! The sequence is just a repeat of the murders (from all different camera angles), only in black-and-white.

Don't get me started on the fact our skeleton pirate's white skin can be seen in the final sequence.

Thar! This Blows!

Jolly Roger: Massacre at Cutter's Cove isn't without its redeeming qualities. The strip scenes are amusing, Kristina Korn is easy on the eyes and likable and, although his character is made too much of a wimp at times, the talented Rhett Giles does give a decent performance. Unfortunately, that's the only praise I can give. It is a cheap-looking film, though I've seen cheaper, with dull lighting, very annoyingly slipshod photography and special effects that are so fake and lacking in any finesse or technical value. The music is obvious, unfitting and has nothing memorable. Jolly Roger: Massacre at Cutter's Cove also has some of the most sophomoric dialogue I've heard in recent memory, the story holds no surprises, as we have seen it all before and executed far better, has no atmosphere or nail-biting suspense and is eye-rollingly ridiculous at times too. Some of the scenes are clearly repetitive of others in the film, but clumsily disguised to not make it look so. There are no likable characters, again I don't mind stereotypes and clichés as long as they are written well and interestingly, which Jolly Roger: Massacre at Cutter's Cove failed to do. Jolly Roger is the one character you sort of root for, though Korn does decently with really bad material, the others are obnoxious in the worst sense. There are many killings, but they offer no genuine sense of horror, they're bloody but crude-looking and unoriginal and they are often very randomly placed. The acting is generally awful, Tom Nagel is bland while everybody else, especially in the scene where the Mayor talks to the kids about LeChuck, overacts to the point of utter embarrassment. Korn and Giles are the only two exceptions. All in all, not terrible or the worst movie ever, but it is a good idea to skip this one. 3/10 Bethany Cox