I’m always up for body count flicks, but does this trio of films deliver? Let’s find out.
DEATH CAMP (2022)
This movie probably should have just been shelved if all the roadblocks it came up against during filming as mentioned on IMDb are true: shooting was hampered by the COVID pandemic, the director almost killed most of the cast and there was legal action taken, in an effort to release the unfinished film they just scraped together whatever footage they had and edited it into some semblance of a movie. I definitely believe that last part. There is a generally simple, supernatural slasher plot, but that eventually gets lost in the shuffle as random elements are forced into the mix to pad the running time.
Horror king Bill Oberst Jr. plays an ex-military man who snapped, holed himself up in a cabin, and thrived on conspiracy theories, like believing children were being led from innocence into evil. He killed a load of kids twenty years ago at his cabin, kept one girl captive, and then shot himself when the cops came for him.
In the present day, a group of teens comes to the cabin for one last high school bash. In other words, this isn’t a death camp so much as it is a death cabin. I did really like the early 2000s teen slasher vibe the movie gives off, but it most definitely falls apart fast. The main girl fancies herself a witch, so she gets everyone to do a séance in the basement, where they also find a body part, troublesome letters, and a fricking VHS tape with video of the murders. Apparently the cops from 20 years ago really sucked at gathering evidence.
It seems the kids unleash Oberst’s evil spirit, and in between supernatural kills we get some backstory via interspersed scenes of him interacting with the girl he was holding captive 20 years before. In other words, Oberst isn’t in the film all that much.
Kills include impalement on a tree branch, death by vines, a swarming insect attack that leads to an asthma attack, and a girl being levitated then dropped. It’s all fine enough for a supernatural slasher, but then a bunch of random plot points are tossed in that completely confuse matters, like some sleazy redneck dude with a knife forcing one girl to show him her tits…after which she roundhouse kicks him then finds a can of beer on the ground, shrugs, and opens it and drinks it. It suddenly felt like I was watching a totally different movie. Not to mention…the ending is abrupt and kind of explains a final act instead of actually giving us one.
All I can say is that the filmmakers should have called it a loss instead of trying to piece together the disjointed end result to market to an audience. I do wonder how the actual finished product would have turned out, because there was promise here.
EVERYBODY DIES BY THE END (2022)
This is a mockumentary style flick about a film crew documenting the making of a promised “masterpiece” by a famed horror director. Bill Oberst Jr. appears in this one as well, but he gets only one scene in the beginning as an interviewer questioning the director.
The interview doesn’t go well, so the director decides to hire the documentary crew to create hype. The director is played by Vinny Curran, who should have a bigger indie horror career because he’s both a good actor and nice to look at.
He kind of has to carry the movie, because it’s not much of a horror film—it’s really a mockumentary in which the cast and crew get interviewed and the documentary team films the director’s antics as he makes his movie. It’s made pretty clear from the start that the director is a nut, so you kind of know where this is all going (the title says it all).
The director goes to some unconventional lengths to get the performances he wants out of the actors, and eventually some of them start to revolt, which is when the killing starts. But this isn’t a slasher. It’s more like the director is making a snuff film, for the actors die while filming so that the director can get the most realistic footage. This all happens in the final act, with no suspense, scares, or gore.
Even a prop mask is introduced early on, so you would think it would play an integral part in the murder proceedings. But alas, it’s just not what this film was going for. So you have to decide whether you want to watch a fairly predictable plot with the horror theme being merely a backdrop for the events that unfold.
TEDDY TOLD ME TO (2023)
What a relief! A Halloween haunted attraction movie that just goes for that good old midnight movie feel with loads of practical gore, tits, and more!
Two friends decide to resurrect a haunted attraction that has been closed since the 90s. Halloween is never specifically mentioned, but there are fall leaves, mention of being in business until November, and jack-o’-lanterns galore at the attraction, so this one earns a spot on the complete holiday horror page.
The two main characters buy the place from a realtor, played by Lisa Wilcox of Elm Street 4 and 5. The caretaker is CJ Graham, who played Jason in Friday the 13th 6. He’s one hot daddy.
There’s a montage of the leads holding auditions, including one guy who does his best Tarman impression. There’s also a haunted attraction set up montage to a cover of Loverboy’s “Working for the Weekend” with rewritten lyrics about haunting. Awesome.
The attraction’s newly hired crew comes together to sit around a fire, which is when we get the story of murders that occurred years before, when a crazy dude in a bear mask slaughtered a bunch of people. Shown as flashbacks, it features Felissa Rose as the killer’s mom, Trent Haaga, who played Killjoy after he went white, as the dad, and delivers grindhouse fun and gore.
Once the attraction doors open, we get a haunt montage and then the killing begins.
My only complaint is that it’s always choppy edits, flashing lights, and shaky cam, but it’s definitely a splatterfest, and the body count is stacked! There’s even a chainsaw fight, and one character was as excited about it as I was. This one is the winner for me in this trio of films.
