[Killer Movie]
Plot:A reality television shoot goes terrifyingly awry when its crew becomes stranded in a remote Northern town. A killer is on the loose, stalking cast and crew one by one.

Cast:Paul Wesley, Gloria Votsis, Kaley Cuoco, Al Santos, Jason London, Andy Fischer-Price, Cyia Batten, Torrey DeVitto, Adriana DeMeo, Robert Buckley, Maitland McConnell, Leighton Meester, Jennifer Murphy, Hal B. Klein, Nestor Carbonell.

My Thoughts:Pretty decent.

Review:"Killer Movie" is one of a long line of slasher movies that tries to use the filming of a movie, show, or other...as a jumping off point, a springboard...if you will, for it's overall story. The end result in movies like these is usually not very good. Trying to balance both mediums, making the filming of the film or show interesting...and then making the movie itself interesting, proves to be very difficult for most filmmakers who take on this challenge. But in the case of Jeff Fisher, he gets the job done with decent results.

The movie follows the incidents which occur in a small border town in the Dakota's called White Plains. A Hollywood crew descends upon the town to film a reality tv show, but they tell the townspeople that they're there to cover the local Hockey Team. But when a local girl (Meester) is murdered in what the locals are calling an "accidental death"...the overall tone of the shoot changes. And as more people are picked off after being marked for death by the mysterious killer...the showmakers are soon forced to confront the possibility that they might not make it back to Hollywood in one piece.

What's most to like about this film is that the characters are very entertaining to watch. They aren't the best people from a character standpoint, and they kind of represent the typical Hollywood cliches. Kaley Cuoco plays a really famous blonde bombshell who is looking for some serious dramatic material so she can escape playing as she says..."dopey teenager" roles. She's the typical startlet stereotype, self-obsessed, vain, annoying at times, and bitchy.

Then there's the casting agent who takes advantage of her clients in more ways than one, the creepy crew guy, the tough girl, the sort of nice girl, and of course in the middle of all this...the all american nice guy who chances are will live to tell about all of his co-workers getting decapitated on set. Not much diversity here, but it works because the actors play up to their strengths, and play out their roles really well. The film also has the typical subplot of locals versus out-of-towners.

And how the locals don't like coastal types infiltrating their neck of the woods to shoot, and how the coastal types think the way the smalltown locals live is something to be mocked, made fun of, and insulted. This aspect of the movie isn't played up very high, but it's kept more subtle...and still manages to work within the framework of the overall movie. Especially because the characters from Hollywood are very Hollywood-like, and the rednecks are very redneck-ish.

So the contrasts are quite astounding. The killer in the film isn't very creative in his look nor his method of doing things. I'd rank this killer as the standard B movie killer which you've seen in atleast 50 other slasher films. The killer dresses in dark clothing, sports a mask, and surprises their victims per usual. They get the upperhand against most of them, per usual, and end up killing them off, per usual again.

Except when the film gets to the final act, where of course certain characters are written to manage to escape the killers grasp, again...per usual. The only thing I'd say makes this killer atleast slightly unique, is the lack of lurking. This killer lurks in the bushes once during the entire film that I can remember. They aren't the type to peek around corners and watch people constantly. They pretty much stay hidden for most of the film, and only show up when it's time to do someone in.

So if you're a fan of those moments where the killer is watching a girl in the shower, or watching their intended targets in general, then you're gonna be disappointed with this movie because there's not much of that here. The kills aren't very impressive either, and this cuts back heavily on the blood and gore. Beyond one particularly brutal hanging death, which ironically happens to one of the movies most hateable characters...there's not many memorable emises within this picture.

Nor many bloody ones. But the movie does possess a certain charm from a performance and character standpoint, so in the end it's worth the time spent watching it. The film also has a very cool twist ending which may come off as plain and kind of done before, but at the same time it possesses a sort of novelty and camp factor which a film like this really needs. "Killer Movie" may not be a true slasher movie in the terms of blood, gore, and violence...but it still has the high camp factor, and overall cheesiness that make B-slasher movies likeable in their own way.

Positives:A high camp factor, somewhat likeable characters, above average performances, a clever ending.

Negatives:Not enough blood and gore, too low on the violence levels.

Overall:Three out of four stars.





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