The Redwood Massacre (2014)

Summary :

For five adventurous friends, visiting the legendary murder site of the Redwood House has all the hallmarks of being an exciting and thrilling camping weekend away. A popular site for revellers and party goers, each year on the exact date of the famous local family massacre, people from around the country head out to the site to have fun and scare each other. Events take a bloody turn for the worse when the innocent campers discover the Redwood legend is in fact a horrible bloody reality.

Genre : Horror
Country : UK

Cast :
Benjamin Selway : Evil Highlander
Lisa Cameron : Pamela
Lisa Livingstone : Kirsty

Director : David Ryan Keith

My opinion

The only thing I'll remember from this movie are the most ridiculous and bizarre eyebrows on the forehead of a member of the group who are doomed to be slashed. As for the rest, "The Redwood Massacre" is a slasher film that adds nothing new to the slasher genre. The 80's were the era of gory slasher films with of course "Halloween", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Friday the 13th". Jason Voorhees hid his face behind a hockey mask. Michael Myers used a white mask. Leatherface used the skin of his victims. In this film the Scottish bloodthirsty killer came up with the brilliant idea to use a potato sack. Is this killer the crazy farmer who massacred his family? Or is it the buried and afterwards missing farmer's son? That's not entirely clear. And you shouldn't expect a statement from the wildly chopping killer, because throughout the whole movie, no sensible word comes out of his mouth.

I know slasher movies aren't famous for their sophisticated storylines (although the first Friday the 13th was a bit more than just simply slaughtering teenagers) and Oscar worthy performances. Ultimately, the starting point of such films is showing disgusting, sickeningly images such as cutting up unfortunate, innocent campers. Liters of blood flowing at that time is a logical consequence. In "The Redwood Massacre" they probably received remains of blood from other slasher films because the way blood is gushing here, you won't see anywhere else in your lifetime. So excessive, that it gets downright ridiculous. A hefty punch already ensures gushes of blood splashing in all directions, as if a number of main arteries are being sliced. A firm nosebleed results in blood-soaked clothes and hair. As if, just like in "Carrie", a bucket of pig's blood is thrown on them.

Among the group of youngsters once again the same characters occur. Obviously, there's a spoiled bitch (Lisa Livingstone as Kirsty) who actually does nothing but complain all the time and clearly didn't want to participate in this venture. It amazed me that she didn't start to discuss with the serial killer about the fact that he probably used the wrong laundry detergent, since there are still bloodstains visible on his lumberjack shirt. Then there's the characterless masculine part. Their only function is being part of the company and being transported to the slaughterhouse. There's also the party-girl Rebecca (Rebecca Wilkie) who, as I mentioned earlier, only stands out because of her ridiculous eyebrows. And finally there's Pamela (Lisa Cameron). Perhaps the most down-to-earth member of the whole group and waiting for her boyfriend. The latter apparently got lost and wanders through the woods. Getting lost is apparently a habit in those Scottish forests, because the so-called party in the ruins of Redwood turns out to be rather lifeless without the other partygoers . Also lost? Or worse?

The pace of this brutal slasher is damn high. The opening scene immediately shows a horrific murder. The sadistic brute is revealed in closeup the first moment. I guess the writers decided not to be too mysterious about that. And before you know it a couple camping somewhere in the woods, a lost mountain biker and two members of the group disappear and are being chopped into pieces. The massacres are brutal, gory, sadistic and sickening. What do you expect from a straight-in-your-face slasher?

And yet this film isn't exactly excellent. The dialogues are totally ridiculous. The characters are highly irritating and extremely stupid. Eventually they deserve to end like filet Americain. The bloody scenes are excessively bloody. At times it seemed as if it was engine oil dripping from the victims. Stupidities pass the whole time. The bloodthirsty killer could hear the slightest sound. But two people talking to eachother was beyond his hearing spectrum. Certain developments seemed utter stupid like for instance the disappearance of two group members overnight. This was so abruptly and without explanation. As if they forgot to include it in the film. The history of the serial killer remained vague. And finally, there was also a completely useless character in the form of the father of a murdered teenager. His contribution to the whole was banal and his reaction to Pamela was bizarre. And how the hell can you drive in circles when there's only one straight road through the landscape? Can someone explain that to me? But most of all there's the fact the movie is so uninspired. When you intend to make another slasher movie, please include something new or original. This was just another colorless hack and slash horror. But for lovers of gory movies, this surely is a must see.