Jack the Reaper

So I just watched this movie. It wasn't particularly great, but I guess the short time Tony Todd is in the movie makes it worth it. Basically these high school kids get stuck on a Saturday morning field trip to make up for a writing assignment that they didn't do. None of them are particularly happy about it, but they don't want to repeat the grade. We're treated to quick introductions as to these "troubled" kids and their plights(Which on the by and by are never really used in the film, or even brought up later). Anyway, the kids end up going to this railroad museum which is where we get a small dose of Tony Todd and his wonderful creepiness, but alas it does not last. After leaving the museum the kid's bus crashes and they are suddenly alone the broken down bus in the middle of nowhere, when they see a carnival. Of course madness follows. The film is pretty predictable, has average to crappy acting, and all the effect budget pretty much goes into one thing(You'll know it when you see it). I have to admit the idea was good, but the lack of budget and poor execution brought the thing as a whole down. If you have nothing else to watch, or just watch pretty much any horror movie that comes out(I'm guilty of this) it may be an all right way to kill some time. Otherwise you may want to skip this one.

You know you're in for a cinematic marvel when the intro scene displaying the production company literally has a man crapping on the floor. That's how you know you're in for a treat! This movie is a mess of clichés and foreshadowing, all leading up to a twist ending that anyone could see coming from a mile away. We see all these bland characters introduce themselves and allude to their personal lives (which ultimately leads to nothing, so having these scenes is completely worthless) before getting on a bus and going to a railroad station. The bus crashes, and the students find themselves just outside of a carnival--how convenient.

For a long while after the cast finds themselves in this abandoned carnival, nothing happens except dickheads being dickheads. The only thing remotely suspenseful was the first "death" that literally happens off screen, and it's only at around the 50 minute mark when the killer finally shows up, and it turns into a murder spree that leaves very little time between deaths to even build suspense. Either that, or you just don't care much at that point.

I won't even bother spoiling the twist, as it can be inferred as soon as you piece what little you can together, and the ending leaves much to be desired and many questions that need to be answered.

The only thing I can praise is Tony Todd, the same guy who played Candyman and the mortician from the Final Destination franchise. He delivers a decent performance, but he only has about 5 minutes of screen time, so you may as well flip to another movie as soon as his scene ends.

It's interesting that this movie has such generally low numerical ratings here, but also several rave reviews. OK, given what a little-seen, low-budget effort it is, the rave reviews COULD have come from friends and family of the production itself (which was my initial suspicion), but having seen the movie, this phenomenon makes a little more sense now.

There is indeed nothing particularly new here. I won't give the "surprise" ending away, but it's one horror-movie fans have seen A LOT of, from ever since a certain low-budget film was made in Kansas in the early 1960's. The story involves a group of disparate students who have to go on a bus tour of a railroad town with their teacher after they failed to turn in a paper (OK. . .). The students are the usual types--the obnoxious jock, the black best friend, the outcast, the slutty girl, the homely girl, the overweight kid--but right away there are some off-beat elements. The fat kid has a hilariously profane grandmother (a cameo by Sally Kirkland, who also produced the film), who tells him to take no sh*t from the popular kids as she drops him off. The homely girls seems to have a strange, perhaps incestuous, relationship with her father. The girlfriend of one of the jocks tells him she's pregnant right before he leaves. The slutty girl rather than being the stereotypical "high-school slut" is actually kind of a sweet, troubled girl who has been taken advantage of by the jocks at her school (maybe some shades of reality there). There are also TWO black guys, and, rounding out their numbers, a deaf girl.

They stop at a visitor's center and meet curator Tony Todd who does his usual thing in an extended cameo and warns them of the legend of "Railroad Jack". Soon after they're involved in a bus crash and their teacher disappears. They take refuge in this this strange deserted carnival sideshow that is out in the middle of the desert for some reason where they are stalked by the creepy, eyeless "Railroad Jack". This is the other strength of the movie (besides the more interesting than usual teen characters),the deserted carnival is genuinely creepy. This is the rare modern-day horror film that actually relies on ATMOSPHERE as opposed to CGI gore and silicone breasts. True, some of the acting is awful (the performance of the actor playing the overweight kid is especially egregious). I never miss CGI effects, but a lack of female nudity can't really be considered an asset to a horror film either. But given there is only one particularly attractive girl here (Hope Jaymes, who plays the vulnerable slut) and she obviously has real breasts (only women with silicone breasts ever seem to do nude scenes in modern-day horror movies) the movie at least doesn't tease you with the promise there will be any.

There is some ill-conceived narration at the beginning and the end, and the end doesn't entirely work. Still, I found this to be refreshingly old-fashioned and off-beat and interesting in places. It's much better than the numerical reviews would suggest if not quite deserving perhaps of some of the more hyperbolic raves. It's worth seeing anyway.

Jack the Reaper (2011) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1552423/?ref_=sr_1

This low budget indie is about a group of teens that get stranded in the desert after a bus accident. As they all come to, they look out and see a carnival out in the middle of the desert. Once they start exploring the carnival, they come to find they are not alone. There were many creepy aspects to the film. I really liked the initial idea of being stranded and finding an empty, brightly lit, carnival. And the killer was actually really creepy looking, really awesome makeup. But there was really nothing new that you haven't already seen if you watch horror movies regularly. But it's not too shabby. It starts off slow, but it eventually gets going. There are a lot of silly parts that are in no way meant to be funny, for example, the black guy, Andre. When Andre is running from the killer, he acts like a spaz and its pretty hilarious. There is also a lot of unnecessary story detail regarding the characters that really should have been left out. At the end of the day, this movie isn't great, but its decent. Take it or leave it.

Side Note: Characters who wear sunglasses in the night that aren't blind, should be killed first… ALWAYS!

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A bus load of misbehaving teens find themselves in a sinister funfair, but they are being watched by ... something, or someone.

Tony Todd, who features briefly here, seems to have earmarked himself a career appearing in films like this. Modest productions that occasionally attempt to offer something new. In that, 'The Accursed' partially succeeds.

The usual collection of bratty kids is given slightly more depth than usual, their backstories making them more than the usual cyphers this kind of film usually features. This doesn't stop them from being irritating, but at least they're supposedly meant to be; damaged youths, as opposed to permanently drunk/horny teens.

The setting is what makes this stand out. I find seaside towns, funfairs, circuses and the like incredibly sinister when 'out of season', or, as here, simply abandoned. The funfair setting is quite well utilised. The story has enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. My score is 6 out of 10.