Honeymoon Horror

Honeymoon Horror (1982)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

A husband goes out for cigarettes while on his honeymoon but when he returns home he finds the bride with another man. The bride busts her husband over the head with a bottle, a fire breaks out and he is burned to a crisp. Fast-forward a few years and the "bride" is still with the man she was cheating with and she's used the insurance money to build a honeymoon resort. Three love bird couples show up as well as a murderer.

HONEYMOON HORROR is an ultra low-budget slasher that borrows elements from THE BURNING and a few other films. The end result is pretty much what you'd expect. They obviously didn't have the money and in some cases didn't have the talent to pull off a very good picture but at the same time the film does have an interesting look and feel to it so fans of the genre who must see everything it has to offer will find a few nice things here.

The majority of the death scenes aren't the greatest that you'll ever see but again it's obvious they didn't have too much money to do them. MOre times than not we will see the weapon going towards the victim and then there's a cut to the aftermath. The body will be lying on the floor or wherever else with of course plenty of blood flowing. None of the scenes are terrific but at least they tried to give us some of the red stuff.

The performances are pretty much what you'd expect out of a film like this. They range from poor to "good-enough-for-the-genre" but to be fair, not too many of them went onto other projects. I will say that I really liked the look of the film as well as the setting. The plot is overly familiar and I'm sure most people will guess who the killer is. One wishes that there was some more action or a bit more energy but overall I've seen much worse than HONEYMOON HORROR.

Oh what horror...Now don't be fooled into thinking I'm saying that this low brow FRIDAY THE 13TH wannabe is scary, no far from it. I'm talking about the hilariously atrocious acting that I had to sit through for an hour and twenty minutes to write this review. Watch out for Marlo the shopkeeper (Mary Lou Wittman), her excessive and somewhat unconvincing 'down south' accent is worth the rental price alone!

In the pre-credits we're shown a woman - Elaine (Cheryl Black) - getting on with her lover Vic (Bob Wagner). This fact is emphasised by the music that accompanies the scene which, sounds like it would feel more at home in a seventies porno movie. As the randy couple begin to dress down for the occasion, there's a frantic knock on the door. All of a sudden it flies open and in bursts a rather miserable looking chap. We then find out he's Elaine's husband, Frank. He punches Vic, grabs him around the throat and begins to strangle him. Quick thinking Elaine smashes him over the head with a glass bottle (presumably with some super human strength because it knocks him flying!) and helps Vic to his feet. In the commotion a paraffin lamp falls on the floor and before long the cabin's up in flames...with Frank left lying in it. Fast forward a year and Elaine is back on Lover's Island with her new husband...you've got it, Vic! They've just finished rebuilding the cabins after the tragic 'accident' that occurred 12 months earlier completely destroyed them. Their first customers - three flirtatious sorority sisters with their newly wed husbands in toe - arrive, and all seems to be going accordingly. But before long feelings of content switch to those of fear when a severely mutilated corpse is found on the beach. Stranded and without any form of contact with the outside world, the group must pit their wits against the Island's resident psychopath!

HONEYMOON HORROR is the only period slasher I can think of that manages to look at least five years older than it actually is. The whole flick (especially Bob Wagner's haircut) looks suspiciously seventies! Hmmm. All the genre cliches are present and correct, including the lunatic with heavy breath, the comical lard ass sheriff and of course the aforementioned sorority sisters who make perfect victim material for a deranged killer! Director Preston even pulls off one pretty suspenseful scene. Towards the end, Elaine hears someone trying to open her back door while she's in the kitchen of her cabin - unbeknown to her it's the killer. She turns to open it, leaving you thinking will she or wont she! I wont spoil that short moment of tension by telling you the outcome, simply because that's about as good as it gets, sadly the rest of the flick is pretty much of a disappointment. For a start there's the diabolical acting. It's almost comical how the cast calmly drink coffee whilst they're randomly being picked off and dispatched one by one by the maniacal assassin. Its no surprise, that absolutely NONE of these actors went on to do anything worth mentioning since 1981 when this little 'beauty' was unleashed on to the unsuspecting public! And then there's the incredibly inept sheriff and his goofy deputy. The director tries to add a touch of humour here and there by showing us these two buffoons pulling silly shenanigans whilst accompanying every scene with music that would make Benny Hill blush. But instead of generating any sort of amusement he merely creates two annoying characters that I'd rather not see on my TV screen. He also tries to be clever by not letting us see the killer right until the end and giving us a few would be suspects, so we can play whodunit. But even this doesn't work because (and i say this trying my best not to give too much away.)he shows us a whole heap of clues throughout that point straight at the real murderer's identity. So sadly that's another bad move on the director's part.

I'd like to say that HONEYMOON HORROR is a good reminder of a vintage year for slasher movies - 1981. But sadly it's probably one of the better examples of what killed of the genre. Avoid

I watched it yesterday and it was sooo stupid! This movie is really a poor man's Friday the 13th. I felt like I was watching a film through a projection cause of the quality of the film and the sound! The blood? One word: Ketchup! Don't waste your time with this flick (even the ending was dumb!), and watch Friday the 13th instead!

let's get one thing straight...this is an obvious cliche in the genre of horror: people go on their honeymoon and the killings ensue. needless to say, i loved this film. i find nothing but entertainment value in this. the ridiculous plot and atrocious acting is what makes this both vomit inducing and wonderfully obnoxious. i recommend this this for the people out there who actually search out awful b-movie horrors and watch them in their entirety, loving every painful minute of it. if a movie is so terrible that it provokes anger and nausea within the viewer, it should be valued.

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Honeymoon Horror; before launching into my critique, here's a breakdown of my ratings:

Story - 0.50 Direction - 1.00 Pace - 0.75 Acting - 1.00 Enjoyment - 1.00

TOTAL - 4.25 out of 10

Honeymoon Horror would have been a better movie had the writers gone for a more mysterious approach and thrown in a few red herrings. Sadly they elected for a step-by-step structure, which leaves no doubt about the killer's identity. When using this formulaic approach, you need to have a brilliant director; one who can keep the audience's eyes on the screen.

And Harry Preston, who also co-wrote this story, nearly pulls it off. There is plenty of angled camerawork. I particularly like the scene where the girl answers the door. She comes out of the bathroom, and the camera pans down her body to her hand swinging by her side. But no sooner has the camera framed her hand than she reaches for the door handle to answer the knocking. The camera keeps the framing as she grips and turns the handle. It's a nice shot and better than the standard point and shoot that most would do. It shows imagination and skill. He is also talented when it comes to shooting in the dark. For the most part, the shadows are heavy, but you can still see the action. Unfortunately, a few scenes are in complete darkness, which is annoying. But the worst thing is the steady, unhurried pace. You need to use everything to entertain the viewers if they know the killer's identity from the start because there won't be a surprise at the climax. Even though the camerawork was fine, it didn't work with the movie's single tempo. There needed to be excitement, thrills, tension, and suspense. All of that was lacking.

The cast is another plus for the picture. All the performers do well in their roles. However, they are held back by stereotypically written characters.

I had the feeling Honeymoon Horror was written and shot to tag onto the Slasher genre that was doing so well in the 1980s. As such, it just misses the mark, though it could have been better. It needed a more powerful story filled with interesting characters. As it stands, I wouldn't recommend rushing to watch Honeymoon Horror. But, should you stumble across it online, it will pass an hour and a half. It's not all bad.

Please feel free to visit my Killer Thriller Chiller list to see where I ranked Honeymoon Horror, or better yet, to find something more entertaining.

Take Care & Stay Well.