Punishment

This movie has so many horror movie clichés that for a moment - actually, a great part of the film - I thought they were going for a "Cabin in The Woods" kind of thing. Making fun of its own genre. I mean, the cellphone signal, the car that doesn't start, the woman that trips when tries to run, the stereotypical characters, the usual lack of character depth, and on and on. Frankly, I don't know if this film is brilliant or just another stupid exploitation movie that on the five - I counted - scenes it looks original, if loses you with boredom. Or maybe I just don't want to believe that a movie can be that bad. So I'll give it a 5.

If I wanted to watch Friday the 13th, I'd have watched Friday the 13th. Writer/Director just steals from everything that came before this and then calls it a "homage". Let's just hope a sequel is never made. Actors did their best with what little they were given as far as story/character development or lack thereof. Blame rests solely on the shoulders of the "writer"/director. Go watch paint dry. I promise you, it'll be more original.

There are horror films coming out all the time, but when it comes to the slasher genre there are multiple elements that are a must for it to work. You have to have a great kills, a cool story, and above all else a memorable killer. The latest to try their hand at the genre is Nobody Gets Out Alive that attempts to deliver homage to 80's slasher flicks, but does it work?

Nobody Gets Out Alive follows a group of partying teenagers who head out to the woods for a weekend of camping fun. But when each of them is slowly killed off they believe that the legend of the town lunatic might prove to be more than just a story. This film has almost everything it needed to become a memorable hit, but sadly is missing one of the biggest parts which is the cool killer. The story works fine, but the killer itself lacks anything to really bring the fear level up to anything other than bland. This plays more like a thriller featuring some slashing as opposed to a full on slasher flick. The performances are pretty bad, with a few that deliver average at best, but that's pretty normal for a lot of these films, but you make up for it with the great kills and nudity, but not so much here. There are some decent kills that are fun to watch, but it still plays it too safe to deliver the goods.

This is one of those slasher flicks that had every element it needed to work, but missed the mark. Even the average killer had a decent back story to create the legend, but still struggles to do anything. It takes a long time for anything to start happening and by the time it does you may have already lost interest.

As I was sitting through this "flick", as Jason Christopher likes to call it, I couldn't help but notice something: this movie is bad. I have seen my fair share of bad horror movies, and this is right up there with the worst of them.

In the horror genre, there is a line that a movie can cross over where bad becomes funny, and when this happens the movie becomes somewhat enjoyable. Unfortunately for Jason Christopher, his flick sits just behind this line, causing it to be completely unwatchable. Everything from acting to camera work to lighting was terrible. Multiple shots, excuse me, most shots, in this movie were either under or over exposed, making it hard to see what was going on. The score was almost non- existent, but when it was, it hardly fit the mood of the scene. It seems that Mr. Christopher spent the majority of the budget on Clint Howard's paycheck, which was a complete waste of a role. The screenplay itself was horrible, so I can't blame Jason Christopher for making a bad flick. But actually, he is to blame because he wrote it. With characters that are completely generic, a killer that wears size 7 boots (very intimidating), and dialogue that doesn't make any sense, do yourself a favor and spend your night looking at a wall, it will be more enjoyable.

I found this movie for about $2 in the local secondhand DVD store, although the DVD cover is carrying "Punishment" as the title. Being a lifelong horror fanatic I bought the movie without having any prior knowledge about the movie or story.

The story was, well, lets just be fully honest and say unfathomably stupid. A man watch a his daughter is killed by a drunk driver, and then he disappears for years and people starts to be killed in the forest. Right, so because his daughter was killed by a drunk driver, the man decides to go on a killing spree and kill everyone who drinks. Right... Very plausible.

While this movie does have a few elements from the forerunners of the slasher genre, then "Nobody Gets Out Alive" will never become a noteworthy participant in the slasher genre. The killer just had no edge, nor any characteristic trademark like Jason, Freddy or Michael.

The kills were, well, not impressive. Sounds bizarre saying that, but in a slasher movie you want to see blood and gore in spectacular kills. This movie just didn't have that to offer.

One thing that was good in this less-than-mediocre-slasher-movie was the acting. People were doing good jobs with their given roles and characters. But it didn't do much to salvage the movie.

If you enjoy horror and slasher movies, then your time and money is better spent elsewhere.