Honeymoon Horror

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.

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.

Awful Friday the 13th. ripoff with an extremely low budget about several newlywed couples taking their honeymoon at a new island hotel designed with just newlywed couples in mind. However, they soon begin to fall prey to a killer lurking in the shadows and spying in the windows during love making sessions.

Avid horror fans might want to rent this because of a cool looking effect on the back of the tape box, but trust me this film is really awful. Just about everyone is miscast in this film and give nothing but wide eyed, jaw dropped heavily performances. The actors expressions remain almost the same no matter the situation. The director of this film, has given this film a murky, sleazy feel when it should at least be romantic at the beginning. The script copies Friday the 13th. all the way. This flick isn't even good for T & A since most of the cast members are in their mid 30's to 40's and are not attractive at all. Do yourself a favor and forget about this flick.

Rated R; Violence, Nudity, Sexual Situations, and Profanity.

Honeymoon Horror is your typical early 80s regional slasher for the straight to video market. Obviously influenced by the trendsetter Friday the 13th and pretty much on the cheap (supposedly $50,000 budget). It clearly shows with its padded out subplots (like the tone deaf sheriff) and shoddily executed death scenes. Sometimes they happen off-screen (especially the first couple), while other times it's poorly staged in a less than imaginative manner of shoddy gore and falling body limbs.

Still there's no denying these early slashers do create lingering atmospherics, and here it's a secluded island of woods and lodges. As the killer, a severely burnt maniac (and former owner of the getaway island) terrorizes the (lousy) honeymoon island lodge seeking revenge. The story is rather silly and one-note but just wait until the sheriff and deputy come onto the scene. It's almost like they're from another movie. But what can kill it, is the lack of excitement and momentum. Also surprised to see Sony attached to this production in the opening credits.

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!