If you follow my reviews you'll know I love a good horror flick, sometimes I even love a bad horror flick but most of all I just love the genre. I have scored films high that very few others would agree with me on but I just find them incredibly entertaining. Reeker seemed to me to be one of those low budget campy horror flicks that might be a hidden gem in the sea of other horror flicks. It is that. The problem with the film is that the concept of the 'monster' that is attacking them is very cheesy/campy and the special effects are incredibly weak. Despite there being some strong characters they don't really go into much development and the characters and story are a little bit predictable or in some cases a lot predictable. Usually that isn't something that bothers me too much since I think a good genre film should have certain ingredients that are the same in every film. I guess I just kept waiting for something bigger and better to happen and nothing ever truly does. I guess I have to give them kudos for trying to slap a big twist at the end of the film but it too is mostly disappointing.
Scott Whyte plays Trip, the wise cracking party animal who survives a surprisingly long time. He never loses the wise cracking part meaning that even when things turn serious he is still the clown and its hard to take the character seriously at all. He does a decent job but the character is really vapid. The lovely Arielle Kebbel plays Cookie who surprises as a decent character. What I mean is that her typical blonde, eye candy character usually just gets picked off but she actually gives a decent performance before getting picked off and she is definitely eye candy. In an odd turn of events Tina Illman comes mostly from doing video game work and she does a solid job as the lead heroine Gretchen. She shows a certain amount of intensity and solid leadership in the cast. Devon Gummersall plays the lead male in the film with a decent subtle strength. He sort of seems weak next to Illman's performance but he does a decent job. He does have a lot of experience behind him in Television and film which helps. His character being blind definitely helps with the intensity behind him and his performance. In a bit of an odd turn veteran character actor Michael Ironside shows up for a small cameo. He doesn't really add anything brilliant to the story and yet he is well enough known that his presence helps the cast. Derek Richardson rounds out the main cast as really just another of the 'extra' friends to get picked off. He really sort of sits in the background until its his time.
Dave Payne write and directs the film and this really does fit straight into his genre of expertise. He has done a lot of straight to video campy films none of which I have seen other than this. He also writes most of what he directs which means, every character, every shot, every event is exactly what he wants and imagined and that is sort of scary. If I had to guess I think David Payne just really likes toying around with ideas and gets them made by being director and writer. Reeker is not a terrible slasher flick, it is just very shallow and that might seem funny but horror films can have a lot of depth and strength to them and Reeker just runs through the motions and when its over you likely won't ever remember it again. I will probably sit down to watch the spin-off/sequel because I do that sort of thing and we can hope maybe it adds more depth to this story. 6/10
Scott Whyte plays Trip, the wise cracking party animal who survives a surprisingly long time. He never loses the wise cracking part meaning that even when things turn serious he is still the clown and its hard to take the character seriously at all. He does a decent job but the character is really vapid. The lovely Arielle Kebbel plays Cookie who surprises as a decent character. What I mean is that her typical blonde, eye candy character usually just gets picked off but she actually gives a decent performance before getting picked off and she is definitely eye candy. In an odd turn of events Tina Illman comes mostly from doing video game work and she does a solid job as the lead heroine Gretchen. She shows a certain amount of intensity and solid leadership in the cast. Devon Gummersall plays the lead male in the film with a decent subtle strength. He sort of seems weak next to Illman's performance but he does a decent job. He does have a lot of experience behind him in Television and film which helps. His character being blind definitely helps with the intensity behind him and his performance. In a bit of an odd turn veteran character actor Michael Ironside shows up for a small cameo. He doesn't really add anything brilliant to the story and yet he is well enough known that his presence helps the cast. Derek Richardson rounds out the main cast as really just another of the 'extra' friends to get picked off. He really sort of sits in the background until its his time.
Dave Payne write and directs the film and this really does fit straight into his genre of expertise. He has done a lot of straight to video campy films none of which I have seen other than this. He also writes most of what he directs which means, every character, every shot, every event is exactly what he wants and imagined and that is sort of scary. If I had to guess I think David Payne just really likes toying around with ideas and gets them made by being director and writer. Reeker is not a terrible slasher flick, it is just very shallow and that might seem funny but horror films can have a lot of depth and strength to them and Reeker just runs through the motions and when its over you likely won't ever remember it again. I will probably sit down to watch the spin-off/sequel because I do that sort of thing and we can hope maybe it adds more depth to this story. 6/10