Director – Kyle Hytonen (A Drop of Blood, The Hobo and the Clown)
Starring – Eric De Santis (Max and the Showgirl), Adam Lemieux (Dark Side of Comedy, Cursing My Name), and August Kyss (Isleen Pines, Murdercise)
Release Date – 2024
Rating – 4/5
It’s hard to believe it but I’ve been writing reviews for 15 years now and 11 years of it has been spent at Horror Society. I’ve reviewed a lot of fantastic features, shorts, television, and web-series during this time, and I have no plans of stopping anytime soon. A decade ago, now I was asked to review the horror short Massacre at Femur Creek. I don’t remember a lot about this one, but I do remember enjoying it.
I was reminded about it a few days back when director Kyle Hytonen hit me up to review his new feature length film Massacre at Femur Creek. I didn’t ask if this was a remake, a continuation, or a whole new slasher using the same name as his previous short. Honestly, I didn’t care. I wanted to see this and immediately agreed to check it out. I want to thank Kyle for sending this one over for review!
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a group of men who head out into the woods to party as one of them prepares to marry soon. A getaway full of booze and bud ends horribly when a madman escapes an asylum and makes his way through the woods killing anyone he crosses paths with. **Spoiler Alert**
I wish I remember the original Massacre at Femur Creek short before I went into this, but it has been so long that I remember absolutely nothing. It’s because of this that I will be reviewing the feature as its own entity because I can’t confirm if it serves as a sequel, prequel, or remake to the short. However, I can confirm that it is an enjoyable horror comedy that reminded me why I love slashers so much.
The acting in this one is really enjoyable. While I was not a fan of the characters themselves, the cast did a fantastic job bringing their characters to life. They all have their own personalities that stand out and the cast has chemistry together.
The story for this one is a comedic approach to a very cliched slasher plot. We follow a masked maniac that escaped from a mental hospital as he kills people camping in the woods. I’m a sucker for slashers in the woods and I love that this one takes us back to the bloody roots of slashers. It has a lot of humor spaced throughout that I enjoyed but the characters are very generic and even though I was a fan of the cast, I still found the characters very unlikeable.
Finally, the film has a lot of blood and some cheap effects. If you are looking for buckets of gore and major practical effects, then you will be very disappointed. However, if you want kills that are reminiscent of the early days of slasher then you will be in luck. A lot of knife kills with minimal effects and a lot of blood. Overall, Massacre at Femur Creek is a by the book slasher with some humor that tends to find its mark. It’s not the most violent slasher I’ve seen but it’s a lot of fun especially if you want something you have never seen before. Check it out.
