Meet Cassandra. She's just an ordinary big-haired 80s Aussie gal living a ho-hum life until one day she stumbles upon her photographer father making out with his model. Unfortunately, discovering this affair (and her mum's lackadaisical reaction to it) is the least of her troubles. More concerning is her horrific nightmares about a familiar woman shooting herself in the face at the urging of some creepy kid! With some investigating she learns that her family may be harboring more than a few dark secrets.
Colin Eggleston, who helmed the minor Aussie classic "Long Weekend" (1978), directs this 80s slasher that's obviously influenced by many of the popular American horror films from the 80s. The film does suffer (or maybe it's enhanced, depending on how you like your 80s horror) from a dated feel during some of the scenes--a photo shoot where the model dances to bad music and strikes poses quickly comes to mind. The performances aren't particularly great. The girl who plays Cassandra gives a deadpan delivery and her character isn't nearly as interesting as the others, which is sort of a big pitfall if the film is named after her. Briony Behets plays Cass's mum and goes into weird territory with the role--all wild smiles and crazed eyes during the scenes where the character should be scared. I like Behets as the lead in Long Weekend, but I know she bugged a lot of other viewers of that film. If you didn't like her there, you'll probably hate her in this one.
So what makes this movie worthwhile? Cass's dream, which features a creepy kid growling creepy things in a creepy voice, is an excellent and horrifying opening sequence that immediately grabs you and makes you want to stay with the film. The editing is fast and flashy, but this works in its favor and enhances the fright factor (unlike in many recent films, where it just makes you wish you had a Dramamine.) Even though it starts to feel like a typical derivative slasher, it eventually goes into some unexpected and twisted territory with regards to the subject matter, which I can't get into without spoiling. It doesn't dwell on these themes--they are simply there, and there's something unsettling about that. There are also several situations in the film (for example, one character's reaction to their stalker when they're being chased with a knife) that set it apart from your typical 80s horror fare. I found myself rewinding the tape and watching some scenes a couple times.
By the time the story came full circle, I was left pretty surprised by what I had seen. Sure, there are some flaws and a lot of it feels dated or doesn't make any sense, but overall it's a darn frightening slasher with some unique plot elements. I totally dug it, but keep in mind that I'm a bit of an Aussie horror fanatic.
For trivia buffs: the poem "Who Killed Cock Robin?", recited in the movie by the creepy dream kid, was sampled by the band My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult in their song "Do You Fear for Your Child?"
