Let's start this off by saying that the comedy/horror genre of movies isn't my favourite. I love horror and I love comedy. I just don't feel like the two should date. So please, if you like the genre, take this review with a grain of salt.
The movie started off really strong in the horror sense. The music was there. The creepy vibe was there. The creepy "Campfire" story for the killer was present. We had a good start to a slasher flick that I would have probably really liked. But, the nosedive happened about ten minutes into the film.
This movie's main problem, in my opinion, was it stayed very flat the whole time. It wasn't really scary during the horror parts, and it wasn't really funny during the comedic parts. It was just, well, blah. There were parts that make you snicker of course, and there were certainly suspenseful or creepy parts. But you can't expect a second here and a second there of these moments to end up making a masterpiece.
Unfortunately, the movie missed the mark as a horror and as a comedy. This really surprised me actually because Vince Vaughn is well known for his comedic escapades, however, in this film, I thought he did his best acting when he was the killer. He was ruthless at times, creepy, engaged, focused. Everything a good serial killer needs to be. But we don't get to see him like that very much throughout the movie. In Jumanji, Jack Black was hilarious as a female; Vince, not so much. He certainly tried, but there were many scenes that he just seemed to be over-acting, or trying way too hard. It's unfortunate because the premise of the movie was fantastic. The setting, and even the story, for the most part, were very well planned out. I really think more emphasis should have been put on making the movie hilarious. I could have looked past the horror not being scary if it was really funny, but it just wasn't.
The classic horror tropes were all present: The chainsaw, the comedically large kitchen knife even a mask is prevalently used. The directors clearly liked horror movies because there were little Easter-eggs spread out all over the movie; From a manikin's head full of nails imaging Pinhead from the Hellraiser series to the blatant use of a chainsaw during some of the (few as they may have been) murder scenes. The movie struggled with sense and pacing. There were many instances that the characters make, we'll call them questionable choices. Choices that no level headed, regular person would generally make. The dramatic scenes were too long in between the very short action sequences. The movie really seemed almost hollow in trying to establish if it should be funny or scary.
I've certainly watched worse movies, but that doesn't make this a good one either. I don't say this often, but if you can wait for this to go digital to watch in your house, then do so. Don't waste the $12 and the chance of COVID to see this in the theatre.
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