I expected the absolute minimal when renting "7eventy 5ive" and, even though the opening sequences seemed to confirm I was about to see yet another abysmal and irritating modern slasher flick, the whole thing eventually turned out to be an entertaining and moderately surprising movie. Sometimes the opening credits alone are enough to betray the quality-level of the entire film, and in the case of "7eventy 5ive" this already was a pretty bad omen. Luckily the movie got a whole lot better after that. The story idea (of the intro as well as of the whole movie) isn't too bad, but the execution is terrible, with the hopelessly unclear editing of gory murders interlarded with the most amateurishly accomplished credit you've ever seen. During some kind of party event, the kids of several couples are in the bedroom making prank calls to random people. The night ends in a complete bloodbath when the parents receive a visit from an axe-wielding maniac. The title of the movie refers to a prank call game where the player has to try and keep the other person on the line for at least 75 seconds. Ten years after the massacre, some of the survivors are still playing this game with their new college friends, but once again the prank backfires on them when another (or the same?) killer answers the phone and decides to make a house call after. "7eventy 5ive" is a pretty standard and unmemorable slasher movie containing all the basic screenplay ingredients (dumb bimbo girls, macho guys, transparent red herrings,
) but also a handful of mildly imaginative elements (like a neat attempt to a surprise end-twist, some okay humor and a even a little bit of suspense). The murders are, in good old 80's tradition, engrossing and plentiful. The hooded killer swings around an impressive axe, so you may prepare to see various brutal beheadings, limb amputation and more similarly repulsive stuff. The soundtrack somewhat annoyed me, but maybe that's because I'm not much of a hip-hop fan. The youthful cast isn't as bad and untalented as all the other reviewers claim they are (except for the main blond chick) and it was very nice to see Rutger Hauer in the brief supportive role of veteran police officer. I assumed his character would be the typically sarcastic and witty copper, but it actually was a serious role. If you choose to watch "7eventy 5ive" today, you'll probably won't remember much about it tomorrow, but at least it offered some fun and thrills while it lasted. Personally, I appreciate modest and small-scaled productions like this over boisterous and pretentious films that claim to save the genre, like, oh I don't know, "Hatchet"?
