Kolobos51

The second this movie started and I saw a white boy in a letterman's jacket, I thought "Well, he's going to turn out evil then die." Since IT Chapter 1, it seems like every horror flick has to be about bullied nerds and outcasts and I'm legit sick of it. That is not everyone's school experience so maybe let's get a little variety in here.

Aside from that, generic slasher, not much terror, unmemorable all around, James Wan's influence is not felt at all.

Elijah Wood stars as a hipster that goes to visit his father in a remote, ocean side lodge. He and his dad have not seen each other since the dad walked out on him and his mom as a child.Once he arrives, Dad (Stephen McHattie of a History of Violence and Pontypool) greets him less that warmly. The old guy drinks too much, shows no remorse for ditching him, and screams into the phone late into the night.

Ultimately, our hero learns his father is not what he seems leading to a twisty, noirish story involving kidnapping, bank robbing, and sudden bouts of extreme violence. The movie seems to want to be a Joe R. Landsdale style weird mystery and I guess it is. It just never gets off the ground.

The two leads, Wood and McHattie, are good but they can't save the movie. Wood's character is the guy we're following and frankly, he just isn't that interesting. I've seen the movie's big twist before and done better. It's reasonably well shot and some of the violence, all of which is in the third act, is shocking and impressive but the movie takes so long to get going it just wasn't worth it for me. Not terrible, but not a recommend either.

I like slashers and I wanted to give this the benefit of the doubt because I like the lead actress. Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie's Halloween movies, Cynthia, Feral) stars as a high school student and yes, she is very, very clearly too old for her part. But I was willing to let that slide because I like the actress and let's face it, this is a movie set at Crystal Lake High. You shouldn't expect much, just some dumb slasher fun. Unfortunately, it doesn't even deliver on that.

Taylor-Compton is good in her role and it's actually one of her better parts. She's starring in the school production of Romeo and Juliet and is popular but has some problems. Her play's director hates her, she has a weird relationship with her mom's boyfriend (and honestly she only looks about four years younger than either of them), and she has a dark secret the movie is constantly alluding to. And she's pregnant, which is given away in the trailer.

That's all well and good. What sucks is how incredibly slow this movie is. It's really structured more like a high school melodrama with the kills few and far between. The movie is just dull and by the third act when things actually start happening, I was already pretty checked out. Considering how short this movie is, it's incredible that it still feels so boring and drawn out. I only recommend it for Scout Taylor-Compton's most die hard fans.