7etenta e 5inco

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"?

Gory and unsettling at times, this movie gives somewhat of an original spin to the slasher sub-genre; however, it fails to expand on the killer's twisted mind and background.

The strongest points are some twists, the varied personalities of the group of youngsters being hunted down and the mansion chosen as the main setting.

The plot of 7EVENTY 5IVE involves college kids who play a cruel phone game that unexpectedly (to them, if not to fans of horror) gets them in over their heads. The STORY of 7EVENTY 5IVE, on the other hand, is that of a horror film that had a wee little bit of promise, sadly outweighed by really bad writing.

What could have been a fun, if somewhat silly, old-fashioned slasher tale is derailed early on by its filmmakers' misguided belief that the audience would enjoy watching a bunch of loud, whiny rich kids bitching at each other for most of the film's running time. With the exception of a police detective played by Rutger Hauer, (in a minor role that is designed mainly to add the movie's only star power) every character on screen is a different breed of young A-hole.

Male and female, black and white, straight and gay, an entire ensemble of shallow and shrill college kids carries the bulk of the film's narrative. Worse, since the tale deals with a PARTY game gone awry, most of the time the scenes are completely filled with these little b*****ds. Because of this, there are few breaks for the viewer, who must put up with the angry sniping of the thinly-drawn protagonists. Even though at least some of these people are supposedly friends, invariably all characters interact in a very hostile manner, long before any genuine conflict has actually arisen. This leads to the worst possible result in a slasher film: The audience, intended to care about the leads, instead not only cheers on the anonymous killer, but wishes that he had arrived to start picking off the vacuous brats far earlier.

The real shame of this poor characterization is that otherwise 7EVENTY 5IVE actually DID have some potential. Visually it's fine. First-time directors Brian Hooks and Deon Taylor know how to build a suspenseful mood. They also manage to deliver on some competent, if sparse, moments of classic 80s-style gore. Surprisingly, the production's cast is also fairly able. It isn't that the actors aren't capable of expressing realistic human emotion; it is simply that the screenplay (co-written by newcomer Vashon Nutt and director Hooks, who fared much better behind the camera than with a keyboard) is short of such moments.

7EVENTY 5IVE can hardly be recommended, as its familiar premise and few thrills can't outweigh the bad taste left behind by a story driven by a gaggle of unpleasant characters. In this tepid whodunnit, the real mystery is why anyone should care about a group of young folk who can't even manage to like each other.

Everything about this movie is standard stuff. Except for a few points. First, the killer in the first five minutes doesn't seem to have much motivation. Second, there are some really strange scenes. There are two scenes back to back that seemed to exist to promote condom use. It almost came across like it was product placement, although the idea may have been to insert a moral into the movie. Third, some of the characters are nearly offensive in how stereotypical they are. There's a gay character that exists to talk in a stereotyped fey voice. There are two black guys who talk and behave in a stereotyped "black guy" style.

There's nothing compelling about the movie, but aside from these things, there's also nothing worth looking for.

5 minutes into this movie I was hyperventilating, shaking, and writhing in pain. And not in the good way. The story is about a troupe of idiotic children making prank phone calls to a psycho which is always a good idea. Turns out psychos don't like prank phone calls because in 2 minutes time he's at their door killing poor Williams mom and dad. Well skip ahead 15 years and guess what? Still prank phone calling people. Yep you would of thought that a horrible murder would of deterred them from doing that ever again but no. So after about two hours later and way too many scream ripoffs I realized that this movie gave me nothing but a terrible taste in my mouth and a severe urge to take my own life. This piece of crap isn't even worth laughing at the shoddy production, the "acting", or Rutger haurs dwindling career. I love crappy horror movies but this is the most unsatisfying piece I've ever seen. Just don't.