Killer Movie

What had the potential to be a self-aware, campy fun slasher movie unfortunately is none of those things. Killer Movie has a good cast and premise with potential that could have been a spiritual relative to 'Scream', however it completely misses the mark.

It's not entirely awful or even unwatchable but the kills hidden behind actual shaky camera or obscured from view, minimising and scary potential. It could have been funny, but the jokes don't land and aren't as witty as they probably think they are.

What's the most disappointing is the unremarkable and entirely predictable end reveal.

A Hollywood film crew descends upon the small town of White Plains, North Dakota. They are filming a 'reality' show around the high school hockey team but plans change with a series of mysterious deaths. Jake Tanner (Paul Wesley) has been tricked by his agent into directing the show. Blanca Champion (Kaley Cuoco) is the entitled Hollywood starlet.

Leighton Meester has a small big role as a local. This may have been filmed before Gossip Girl blew up or else, the filmmaker would have given her a bigger role. Kaley Cuoco tries to inject a bit of light humor but most of the comedy falls flat. I don't like the confessional inserts especially with the high school kids. Their acting is generally flat except for the head cheerleader and I don't much like her either for a different reason. The film crew isn't fleshed out. This needs some better writing. The filmmaking is mostly uninspired. It's a weak horror flick.

Make no mistake it's not exactly good but I've seen worse!! I went into this with zero expectations but overall not a waste of time like so many others.

Killer Movie is a fairly entertaining teen horror movie very much in the spirit of the 80s, but without the nudity.

A small town that has never had a decent ice hockey team is about to win it big. Hollywood decides that this story would be perfect for a reality show. As the director arrives he finds out that the producer has other plans- to unmask all the towns dirty secrets, of which there are plenty as the former hockey coach just got out of jail after killing is ex wife accidentally. But then, more gruesome killings begin. The crew which doesn't get along entirely tries to just do their work. Eventually they too will be affected by the town's darkness.

Much is made of a celebrity character that takes the job of a PA to advance her career. But it's Hollywood that is also a principal character in this movie and the way it operates, through deception and manipulation. And that aspect of the movies is the most interesting and entertaining.

We don't really get a sense of the town and it's people because the crew is at the center. A masked killer starts killing random people and filming it all. Strangely, no one bothers to call the police but as always, the script requires a bunch of teens to start investigating things on their own in the middle of the night.

There are a lot of attractive ladies in Killer Movie. Even though we have no hint that this will turn out to be a whodunit, the identity of the killer turns out to be a surprise, it's an insignificant one because at no point are we asked to wonder about his identity.

As a slasher movie, this one lacks scary moments and gory killings. There are a lot of characters and few too care for, so the deaths don't have any impact. The main storyline of the making of the reality series isn't all that interesting really. But it's the intrigue that keeps things going.

A bunch of perfect 10's?! Come on!

Kaley Cuoco is literally the only good thing in this movie, and they totally underutilize her character. You're thinking, A-list actress in a horror movie, was she only on set a couple days? Nope, she appears "frightened" throughout the entire final act. Anyway, when she was in-character as the spoiled actress, I could listen to her potty mouth all day!

Killer Movie itself is much less a horror movie, more a reality show mired in a murder mystery. Sound enticing? You're right, it's not. Actually, I knew I was in trouble when I watched one dreadful trailer after another on this disc, and NONE of them were for horror movies. There are a handful of horror tropes in this film, anyway. There's a shower scene. The catch? It's a guy! And they break out the freaking bear trap. The slasher is masked. Ooh, who is it? I guessed one of the big "twists" about 15 minutes in.

Ice hockey plays a role in this movie, and I'm convinced the makers of this film know nothing about it. You don't practice with the coach playing street hockey in a gymnasium. You lace up the skates. AND this is supposed to take place in a cold climate!

Horrible soundtrack. I did not know corporate punk was alive and well in 2008. I could be wrong, I don't remember things like this. Also, how is half the content on this Blu-ray (from 2008) letterboxed? That's just unacceptable. The extras are a complete waste of time. The Behind the Scenes featurette is 13 minutes devoted to rump kissing.

I'm giving this an extra star for Kaley being the only interesting character in this mess, and ONE surprisingly great use of split-screen. Thanks Brian De Palma!