My latest marathon on Prime was definitely an interesting selection, so let’s get right into them.
BURIAL GROUND MASSACRE (2021)
If you were around in 1996, you’ll remember there were loads of cheap, copycat slashers released in the wake of Scream. Burial Ground Massacre feels very much like one of those.
While focused entirely on a bunch of college kids partying in a house built on a Native American burial ground, this film flips the finger at contemporary verbiage, so the word Indian is used instead of Native American. On top of that, the whole film is based on appropriation more than an actual “Indian curse”. The killer runs around in a fricking tribal mask and a hoodie.
The kids become oddly interested in researching Indian legends while they should be partying and having sex. As a result, they end up in possession of an artifact the killer has been hunting for.
Therefore, the guy in the hoodie has to start killing them off. The film is way too long at 100 minutes, the kill scenes are bland, there’s little in the way of tension or scares, there’s too much filler of the kids just hanging out, the kids are not distinct or memorable (except the shirtless cutie below, of course), and the attempt at surprises and twists in the final act just weigh down the pacing with tons of exposition through dialogue.
And finally, considering horror veteran Michael Madsen is listed in the credits and we never see him throughout the film, the ending is essentially spoiled.
PSYCHOPATHS (2017)
There is very little I can say about this movie. It is horror eye candy with little in the way of a discernible plot.
I’ll put it to you this way. Imagine Dario Argento making The Purge, and you get Psychopaths.
It’s simply a series of stunningly shot and gruesome and violent death scenes as people in masks go nuts and torture and kill other people during the course of one particular night.
Footage goes from bright Argento neon to black and white, we get split screen, there’s some narration, there is a quirky musical performance, there are cringe-worthy visuals, and there’s no making sense of any of it.
EVIL EVERYWHERE (2019)
Running only 64 minutes long, this throwback film is more about getting the early 80s direct-to-video feel right than delivering a plot of any substance.
We are informed briefly that two years ago in 1985, members of a senior class were killed off alphabetically, and a young man and a mysterious girl tracked down the demonic killer then went into hiding.
Now the evil force is back and the main guy has to hunt it down once more. A grind house filter and several cool now wave tracks set the tone, and there are plenty of supernatural kills, as well as an occasional appearance of a demon in a hood, but there’s not much story or character development to speak of.
In the end the main kid and some friends have to go to an old mansion to exorcise the demon in an array of bad 80s-style special effects that look mostly like sparklers on the Fourth of July.
If you’re really itching for some throwback horror, you might as well check this one out, because it definitely gives you the vibes and is only an hour long.
