Hair-Trigger

A bunch of hapless criminals find themselves living in the home of some cannibals. The general idea? I love it! But how is the film actually?

For a microbudget deal, it's okay overall, hyped up way too much by the guy covering it on IG. It's not that crazy haha In fact it's very predictable. Incredibly so. But I also think that was the point... The movie comes off more as a question of what if "A" movie's tropes slammed into "B" movie's tropes. The movie is filled with tropes and held up by tropes. It's just a trope movie.

Every character and every moment you have seen before. At a higher budget and in a better way. The only thing with Hair-Trigger is that it's meshing these characters and moments into one movie. Which is fun, although sort of undercuts any suspense or horror to wink at you and your expectations. Which can be frustrating and less interesting at times.

Anyone who is giving this a 10 is out of their mind. It's not that good or crazy. People who are giving it a 1 are out of their mind as well. It's not nearly that bad, maybe it's just not the movie you thought it would be.

It's completely passable albeit pretty sloppy and uninteresting at times. But still a fun experiment with plot mashing. I really like the films it's based off of, so there is a guilty pleasure element there. If you go into this blind knowing it wasn't made for any money, you probably won't mind it. If you go in expecting the greatest horror movie ever made, you will be very disappointed.

Seeing that this was the product of a bunch of film students coming together to make something is really really cool.

The concept is really fun, some of the acting is pretty solid for being nobodies and I enjoyed the sort of Midwest humor and sensibilities of the film. However, the film is far from perfect, and has its issues. I get that it's mashing genres, and sometimes that works. But in certain circumstances it hurts the film I feel. It leans far more into the vein of cooky crime than intense thriller. Pretty slow burn, but still does feel it has some pace to it.

Positives:

• Great score.

• Fun concept.

• Solid acting from the leads.

• Cool locations.

• Looks good.

Negatives:

• Doesn't commit to being entirely serious or entirely a joke.

• Some of the worse acting took me out of it.

• Sluggish middle act.

• Doesn't seem to have much interest in being actually scary.

Overall, probably more of 6.5/10 than a 7. But it feels that a lot was done with a little, so I'll round up.

With a bright future as a writer / director Steven Warkel demonstrated his eye for detail, strong plots, and creativity. The unique score and engaging visual flow results in this movie being a twisting, thoughtful, and well executed ride which only can result in future continued success for Warkel and the strong cast. I look forward to what the future will hold for this talented ensemble. #youngdirector.