Thursday, July 12, 2018

The Redwood Massacre, Dismemberment and Cannibalism Galore

Fans of the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974) will notice many similar plot devices in 2014's "The Redwood Massacre." The 1974 classic, oddly enough, had very little blood in it as much of the carnage was suggested or in the shadows. Our feature today doesn't follow this style, there will be a lot of blood and gore and not much will be merely suggested. Perhaps this is why the elite reviewers of IMDB have given this horror film from Scotland a 3.3/10 rating.
Critics of this bloody slasher film will point out that there is nothing new here and the acting is poor. Oh really! Like the new "Wonder Woman" film which everyone is going gaga over offers anything even remotely interesting and new, or contains any acting of any competence! Please! The classic slasher plot always has utility in a box office age in which superhero films get a pass by critics in every category. Okay, six campers come up with a bright idea to go camping at the site of the Redwood farmhouse. 20 years ago a farmer hacked to death his family with an axe and ate them. Uh oh, someone is in the woods, with an axe, collecting campers, bringing them back to that farmhouse and...well...you'll see.
When Bruce (Mark Wood), Jessica (Rebecca Wilkie), and Mark (Adam Coutte) are abducted by an axe-wielding fiend, it is apparent that something survived the massacre 20 years ago...but who or what? Pamela (Lisa Cameron) and the grouchy and mouthy Kirsty (Lisa Livingstone) now search for their missing friends. Meanwhile in the farmhouse, the fiend has chained up his prisoners and one by one...well, you'll see, but the trio is in store for fates worse than death. Not getting the memo of what not to do in a slasher film, our two surviving campers make their way to the farmhouse, make lots of noise and annoy the monster. On cue, our butcher pursues these two. Pamela seems the most adept at staying alive, but her run in with the hulking figure will be quite bloody, but not fatal. Now our cannibal has a foe which may offer some fight, and puts Pamela on the menu.
Will Pamela survive and be able to save any of her worthless friends? What are the details of the farmhouse massacre 20 years ago, and what might have survived it? Does our axe-fiend have special plans for the super-annoying Kirsty? Gory to the max, and many of you will turn your heads or avert your eyes as the fiend goes to work on the campers. Directed by David Ryan Keith, "The Redwood Massacre" may be cookie-cutter, but the ending is quite biting and refreshing. Look at the low rating on IMDB as a badge of honor, and find "The Redwood Massacre."

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