Trying to hang out with her friends, a teen and others in a small town try to convince her the series of dreams about a missing person that might be related to her father's disappearance are unrelated, but when her friends start dying off finds her quest interconnected with the rampage.
This was a fairly fun and enjoyable slasher effort. Among the better efforts here is the film's solid and overall effective presentation that evokes an old-school genre effort it tries to emulate. Not only is the central storyline here incredibly effective at setting up this atmosphere but it's also the visual ideas of what's going on that provide a lot of fine work to bring that about. The setup to the film, involving the idea of the murders striking the residents of the town who are set around the investigation into the initial disappearance of her father which she witnessed years ago, sets everything in motion rather well as the dwindling bodies strike as a fine way to bring about the police investigation into the murders who discover the connection with these events. As well, it's also rather obviously old-school cheese and presentation that helps to make this feel far more old-school than it otherwise would, ranging from the washed-out fuzz and grain that emulates the VHS-style look from that period, the purposefully off-kilter lip-syncing that makes everything feel post-dubbed, and a wholesale presentation with its editing that brings up that look rather effectively. The other effective aspect of this one is the great series of stalking scenes here that show the killer in action. With the initial attack showing off the great mask and brutality on display elsewhere throughout here, those become rather fun here such as the chase through the seaside community, a great double-kill at a house where a couple are knocked off together, and a beach attack on another victim among others. Given some great cheesy gore and a nice bit of traditional stalking alongside the fine mask and presentation of the killer, this all has a lot to like here to set about the rather fun twist that comes about here trying to get the identity and motivation of the killer revealed. All of these come together quite well to make this one quite enjoyable although there are a few issues with this one that do hold it down. Aside from the aforementioned personal preference for the overall presentation, the other issue here is the stuttering pace on display where this one brings about a series of storylines that don't need to be there. The interactions with the friend group who are trying to go about their lives are way too involved for what they should be, especially when it deals with who's dating who, and some of the issues with the bar scenes they hang out in also factor into this. As well, the lackluster investigation that's handled by incompetent officers who don't do anything a normal officer who does or acts like which just makes these scenes drag along at a frustrating clip trying to make sense of everything. Overall, these are the factors that bring it down.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.
