The Redwood Massacre (Review)

Director – David Ryan Keith (Attack of the Herbals)
Starring – Mark Wood (Attack of the Herbals), Lisa Cameron (Lord of Darkness), and Lisa Livingstone (In the Spider’s Web)
Release Date – 2014
Rating – 4/5

Tagline – “No one is safe”

My short time here at Horror Society has saw me review numerous horror flicks from various sub-genres but my favorite is easily the slasher.  I love when I come across a new slasher that tries to tap into the 1980s slasher craze and give us a masked maniac with a bloodthirsty appetite that will only be curved with the blood of teens who are in the woods doing things they shouldn’t.  I am always on the lookout for a new slasher to check out and review but the last few days has not been a fruitful time for slashers.

However, I was able to find one slasher flick titled The Redwood Massacre.  This U.K. based slasher is from director David Ryan Keith who is the man behind the horror comedy Attack of the Herbals.  I came across the film one evening while playing around on Facebook.  I messaged the page and they were kind enough to send me a link to an online screener.  Thank you for that!

**Spoiler Alert**The film follows a group of twenty-somethings who head out into the woods for a little camping.  The group consists of a young man, his new girlfriend, his ex-girlfriend, their mutual friend, and a guy one of the young girls likes.  However, the spot they chose was once a spot where a Scottish man went crazy and butchered his family.  This tale has been told for years and has now turned into a campfire tale.

The young man’s new girlfriend tells everyone the story and then they head off to bed.  The next morning the guy’s girlfriend and friend awaken to find everyone missing.  They go looking for them and run into a man wearing a rag sack mask and wielding sharp objects.  The hunt is on as he stalks and kills everyone in his woods.**Spoiler Alert**

So many modern slashers try to re-create the vibe and style of slashers from yesteryear.  I fucking love it when it is done correctly.  However, it seems that we are in a current trend where filmmakers try to make slasher throwbacks.  This is cool and all but sometimes I want a more modern take on the slasher sub-genre and The Redwood Massacre takes us there.  This film did not follow a trend but attempts to set their own and succeeds!

The acting in the film is great.  The entire cast is perfect and each character was perfectly cast.  All the characters are believable and some are able to draw in the crowd.  It is not often that the cast of a slasher can make you sympathize for them.

The story for this one is a more modern take on the slasher story.  Typically, we get a slasher story that follows someone that was wronged donning  mask and murdering those that wronged them only to be unmasked at the end.  We did not get that with this one.  Instead, we get a dark back story that takes unsuspecting youths down a bloody path with no hint if the story we are told around the campfire is true or not.  I really like that approach to the film.  It gives the slasher fan something a little outside the ordinary.

Finally, the film is home to several on screen deaths.  Most of these deaths are fucking bloody and brutal.  These kills really did catch me off guard with the brutality.  I was not expecting them at all.  The special effects for these kills are also great making them even more effective.  Overall, The Redwood Massacre is the slasher film of the year.  The film is brutal and relentless. Fans of bloody films and slashers should really check this one out because you will not want to miss it!