Director – Craig Ross Jr. (The 4400, Prison Break)
Starring – Angel Vargas (Baywatch, True Love), Vera Yell (Stigmata, Imagine That), and Lee Marks (Crossing Jordan, The Protector)
Release Date – 2000
Rating – 1.5/5
I’m not one to venture out of my way to see an urban horror flick but there has been some that popped up over the years that I actually enjoyed. Films like Bones, Tales from the Hood, Vampire in Brooklyn, and Black Devil Doll have found themselves in equal rotation in my home but, for the most part, they are not for me. Most of the time the horror feels forced or out of place while the rest of the film consists of drugs, gangsters, and other stereotypes that make up most blaxploitation films.
Several years ago the small town I live in opened up their first Dollar General store. The town I grew up in had one so I was very familiar with them. When it opened I went in and was shocked to see a movie section. As I was browsing the titles I came across several Full Moon box sets. One of those sets was the Killjoy trilogy. For less than $5 I wasn’t going to leave it behind. I took it home and threw it on my shelf where it would gather dust until now.
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows a young man named Michael (Kareem Grimes) who is in love with a beautiful young woman who is dating a known gangster. He is jealous of Michael talking to his woman so he abducts him with the intentions of forcing him to leave her alone but he accidentally shoots him. Before his encounter with the gangster, Michael tries black magic to call upon the vengeful demon Killjoy but it fails. However, his death is able to resurrect him and Killjoy starts picking off those responsible for his death before setting his sights on Michael’s love interest.**Spoiler Alert**
I did not have high expectation for Killjoy. When Full Moon releases a film it goes one of two ways. It either becomes a hit and you see horror fans everywhere talking about it. Or it sucks and Full Moon immediately stops talking about it while shit bashers bash the shit out it. Killjoy is one of the few films I never heard any buzz about until the release of the third one. Without the support of the horror community and the praises of horror fans I went into this one knowing it was a dud.
The acting in this one is laughable at best. After digging through most of the cast’s imdb pages I’m shocked that the acting was this bad. The cast is half-assing their lines while attempting to be generic street thugs with no personality or distinguishable traits. Their dialogue delivery is awkward and unnatural making almost every scene laughable.
The story for this one is not that original but it does have some redeeming qualities. The idea of the vengeful demon Killjoy who can be summoned to kill those that have wronged you is very similar to the iconic horror film Pumpkinhead but does take the story out of the woods and places it in an urban environment. This opened up a door of infinite possibilities but is unable to actually pull anything together worth watching.
Finally, the film does have a few on screen kills. Most of which are full of horror CGI but we do get some practical effects. Mostly on the undead victims of Killjoy and not in the deaths themselves. Overall, Killjoy is a low point for Full Moon. I can see what they are going for but the execution is horrendous. Skip this one and check out Evil Bong.
