Director – Kyle Hytonen (The Hobo and the Clown)
Starring – Nigel Grinstead, Andrew Barr, and Dean Young (Die Cody, Die)
Release Date – 2014
Rating – 4/5
Tagline – “It’s a cruel, cruel summer”
Slashers, as I have said before, is one of my favorite sub-genres out there and the slashers of the late 70s and 80s are my favorite. I love all slashers but I have a fondness for the slashers that take place in the woods or at camp. These are the slashers I grew up watching. The last few years the horror genre has saw a huge influx of slashers trying to capture that spirit of the 70s and 80s. Some are able to capture what made those original slasher so fun while others completely miss it.
Recently, I was asked by director Kyle Hytonen to review his short filmMassacre at Femur Creek. A slasher with a title like that had to be seen. Thank you Kyle for giving me the opportunity!
**Spoiler Alert**The film opens with a beautiful young girl hitchhiking. However, after a car passes her up a man wearing a mask and a Christmas sweater similar to Freddy Krueger starts running towards her. He then buries a knife deep into her belly spilling her cuts upon the pavement. We then jump to a group of men who are heading out into the woods to get fucked up and camp. One of the young men it taking pictures to record the camping trip.
He snaps a picture of his friend and in the exposure he spots someone standing behind his friend. The man in the mask is back and kills his friend. The two remaining men run for their lives before stopping to make a stand and fight for their lives. They attack the masked killer and one of the men cuts his pecker off. They then run through the woods until they reach a set of train tracks where they stop for a breather…but is the masked man dead?**Spoiler Alert**
I have seen so many slashers in my life and a good portion of those take place in the woods. However, out of all those slashers that takes place in the woods not a single one of them was a short. Hell, most are at least an hour and a half in length full of awkward dialogue and poor character development. We don’t watch slashers so we can get to know each character. We watch slashers to see a few sets of tits, a masked killer, and a slew of deaths. Massacre at Femur Creek knew that and cut out a majority of what makes most slashers slow and boring and went straight to the good stuff…with no tits!
The acting in this one is solid by the entire cast. They all did show inexperience but they made their roles believable and that is what matters when making a movie. The story for this one is one told time and time again. We have seen so many slashers that feature a group of twenty-somethings heading out into the woods to party only to be murdered by someone or something wearing a mask. Most of the time we eventually get the killer’s back story of why they kill. Sadly, this short skips that which is essential for any real slasher story.
Finally, the film has a few on screen kills that channels the same kills that made the slashers so popular back in their hay day. The special effects for those kills are great making them very effective. Overall, Massacre at Femur Creek is a great throwback to the slashers from the golden age. It has some great kills and it takes no time to get into the action. This film is essential for all slasher fans. Check it out!
