Ditch Day Massacre

So many horror movies today try to out gore the viewer, it's nice to see a horror movie that throw's you back to a time when the story, music and the actors made the film fun to watch. We see in many movies in varying genre that the hero and villain are clearly outlined. This is one of those movies that might leave you asking who is who.

Enter into the arena "Ditch Day Massacre" a slasher film that brings it and adds some of it's own little fun twists. The movie starts out like your old school slasher with a little back story and tragic events! Fast forward to a cute school girl with a dark secret and her nice looking boyfriend hiding out from dad! Folks are leaving so it's time to party like a bunch of high school kids right. Back at the school word goes out and some of the cool good looking kids are going to a fun ditch party. We have the good looking couple and the freaky friends that share that "tension" between them. Kind of standard I know, but it's a time honored formula that works for a reason.

When we see our villain, we get into it right away. Non stop action and I must note some really good lines. Bill Oberst Jr. really works it as the villain. He brings his talent and passion into the role like you wouldn't believe. He made me question if he was really a mad man with an ax or trying to get his own brand of justice. The music in the film goes with the scenes. The pace of the film starts out a bit slow but when it hit's the gas hold on. The mechanical effects are really sharp and nice to see that CGI hasn't taken over everything that we've seen on the screen today. The sound was really good and on mark to say the least.

With so many Horror movies out on the market it was nice to see a movie that was a joy to watch. This movies made me watch, listen, and pay attention for the little details in the movie. Kind of makes you sad that there are few movies that get it. This was a 1st time shot in the the Horror movie genre from the crew. I must admit for a 1st timer on the block they have lighting in a bottle. There are few movies out there that a must see. This is one of them. If you like horror movies and watch them for the fun the bring watch this film.

A film that tries hard and takes itself seriously but is far from being good. The plot is boring and typical, and the characters are uninteresting, especially the protagonist and the slasher. Not a fun slasher at all.

My quick rating - 4,8/10. You don't always have to reinvent the wheel to get noticed. This movie takes a typical slasher approach, minus any super-human powers ala Jason or Michael but just an everyday person turned killer by circumstances. I won't go to much into that since it is part of a twist or two but the killer (revealed early in the film) is pushed over the edge and hunts down a group of young adults that are taking a day off school to party. Nitpicking this film would be far too easy but if you just sit back and take in the old school slasher that it is, you won't be disappointed, well, not much that is. The kills are fairly mundane and don't get focused on gore, which is fine. The killer (Bill Oberst Jr.) is pretty convincing in his role, often letting his facial expressions do the talking. I will say the "kids" in this film all but one act pretty stereotypical but the goth chick steps out of the norm (scene is pretty funny, all I will say about that). Worth a watch for slasher fans but don't use this to try to recruit a newbie to the genre since it doesn't wow you at all. For a small budget and a lot of newcomers from cast and crew, this is nicely done.

When I stumbled upon this 2016 movie "Ditch" from director Joe Hendrick here in 2025, I had never heard about the movie. And the release that I had gotten a hold of was titled "Ditch Day Massacre", oddly enough. Regardless, with this being a horror movie, of course I opted to give the movie a fair chance.

I made it 31 minutes into the ordeal before I pulled the plug and gave up out of sheer and utter boredom. I virtually had no idea what was going on in the movie, aside from Vick Taddler, played by Bill Oberst Jr., just walking around randomly killing people. But everyone else in the movie was there for filling. They had no purpose or storylines to participate with. I have no idea what writers Daniel P. Coughlin and Ryan Coughlin were trying to accomplish with their script, but it failed miserably.

The only familiar faces on the cast list were Bill Oberst Jr., yeah I've watched enough low budget movies to be familiar with this guy, and Lynn Lowry whom had a far too small role in the movie. The acting performances in the movie were fair, I suppose. Not really a whole lot of in-depth acting going on from what I sat through.

This movie was a boring swing and a miss of a horror slasher. I will never return to attempt finish watching the movie, because I just simply didn't care one bit about the characters of the lacking storyline.

If you enjoy horror and slasher films, like I do, you need to wide "Ditch" a wide berth.

My rating of director Joe Hendrick's 2016 movie "Ditch" lands on a generous two out of ten stars.

I liked this movie a lot. The thing I hated was how the officer hard to get within 2 inches close to everyone. All I can say is , you should give this movie a look.