Emma's Ramblings on Supernatural Fiction

  I found this tongue-in-cheek film by chance when I was browsing horror movies online, hoping to find some gem I’d missed.  As soon as I saw the cast featured both Paul Wesley (The Vampire Diaries) and Kayley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory),  I was in.  For those who love a bit of trivia, this film also stars Torrey DeVitto, wife of Wesley and fellow TVD cast member, and for fans of  Gossip Girl Leighton Meester is here too as Jaynie.

Nestor Carbonell from Lost kicks off the plot by talking about reality television.  He is Jake’s (Wesley’s) agent and from the offset we know this is going to be a piss-take of the reality genre.    Blanca Champion (Cuoco) is here to act the part of the typical high maintenance actress/celebrity (think Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton) though she is actually much nicer.  Why did I keep watching when it was clear this wasn’t going to be a film I’d love?  Two reasons: one, the first girl to be attacked fought back, which is always something I appreciate in horror films and two, Paul Wesley is the lead!

So getting back to the plot, Jake and his crew are in the small town of White Plains, North Dakota to shoot a reality tv show about a local high school ice-hockey team’s comeback.  White Plains is a strange little town with dodgy cell service, no internet and locals who don’t bat an eyelid when one of their own teenagers dies horribly.  We are told again and again this town is cut off from the rest of the world, i.e. don’t expect any outside help when something goes wrong.  The town is summed up in one line by a  local high school kid, “cops here are actually pretty laidback about actually, um, working.”

The death count starts to rise and Jake’s bitchy co-worker/boss wants to shift the focus of their show from the high school drama to the strange deaths.    Members of Jake’s crew start to be bumped off one by one, making it difficult for the director to do his job.  (I didn’t care who died just as long as Wesley was last in line).

Killer Movie is a slasher satire but it didn’t have enough excitement or bite to really work.  The acting from almost everyone is decent, so the cast get full marks for this, but the film just isn’t very funny or interesting.  We’re also subjected to interviews with crew and cast in between the action, which were probably meant to add to the humour.  They don’t.  The terrible clichéd ending (let’s hope this was just a continuation of the director’s mocking humour) does not help matters, but I’m sure a lot of viewers won’t make it that far.  I myself wouldn’t have made it to the end had it not been for the likeable cast.  Oh and one last thing to end this review on a positive note: I liked the opening song and credit sequence.  **

Check it out on Amazon HERE