Peur Blanche

An annoying bunch of 20 somethings go to spend a weekend at an abandoned ski resort. They plan to go "shredding" (snow boarding) and whoop it up. All the stereotypes are in place: the nice girl; his girlfriend; the female slut; the maybe lesbian; the crazy "funny" guy; the constantly stoned guy and the mysterious European guy they pick up along the way. Also the "funny" crazy guy is constantly videotaping everything and we get extremely annoying, jarring cuts to his footage. This has quickly become a cliché since "The Blair Witch Project". Can we put it to rest now? It also seems the resort was the site of an unsolved murder...and there are rumors that the killer is still around...

It all starts out great with a bloody, gruesome murder...then falls apart quick. All the characters are annoying with the girls constantly prancing around in their underwear and being used (and filmed) as sex objects. Some people have complained that there wasn't enough female nudity in this film. Well...you know what? Not EVERYBODY wants female nudity in a horror film! As a gay man I find it boring and pointless. This film deserves credit for not having too much. And they do have hunky handsome Brad Hawkins shirtless a lot! That's a good thing. Also we have to wait 40 minutes in till the next murder. There's also a really stupid final revelation at the end and I love how a dead person mysteriously is alive at the end! On the good side: the acting isn't bad. That's surprising in a film like this. The best acting comes from Hawkins and Juleah Weikes. The only bad performance is from Scott Weinger. It's not entirely his fault...he's given little to work with but he does try. And there are a few very amusing lines. At one point Cole (Weinger) is constantly accusing one person of being the murderer. When they find that person dead he say's "All right--it's not him. Let's get out of here!" Also when a woman finds some dead bodies in the basement she goes screaming upstairs. Pike (Weikes) confronts her saying, "For future reference, the next time we're stalked by a serial killer do NOT go into the basement." Also the murders are VERY violent and incredibly bloody (I mean this as a good thing). The film also really picks up speed and the final half hour is good, fast and violent. The film has high production values (for a direct to video feature). It has some nice direction during the shredding episodes and the cinematography is nice, clear and crisp.

A lot of people have blasted this film but...come on! It's a direct to video horror film! What were they expecting? "Gone With the Wind?" It's a fairly good, fast horror flick. Worth a rental but don't go out of your way to see it.