I swear I've seen this before many moons ago, but I'm old and forgetful. I have to say, I'm enjoying watching this movie like it's the first time, though. Guess there's a benefit to being old. I remember seeing this movie cover lots of times over the years, the shadow of the big guy holding an axe, looming over the young campers. It's really cool looking and brings me back to the fun days of browsing horror movies in the video store.
This movie is about a group of campers in the woods, nearing the end of their camping season, sitting around a campfire telling scary stories. One counselor tells the story of Madman Marz, an abusive old farmer who lived near the camp. He went crazy one night and killed his while family, then when the townspeople found out they lynched him, and now if someone in the woods says his name above a whisper, he will show up and kill them all. Of course one of the campers screams out his name, and before they know it, the gruesome murders are happening again. Can the surviving campers stop Madman Marz before it's too late?
I'm not a huge fan of any of the characters in this movie, so the scenes of them interacting, talking, and even the sex scene (which lasts like 10 minutes and doesn't even have nudity) are boring and annoying to me. The best scenes are where people are wandering through the woods. The woods are dark and creepy and seem full of stories and secrets. I feel like the woods are the most interesting character in the movie.
I guess there are some cool kills here. There's an axe death early on, and a death by hanging that works too. Some of the deaths are too dark to really see anything, which is kind of a waste. After people start to go missing in the woods, it takes the other idiots way too long to realize that something is wrong. Some friends they are. Plus they really are stupid. How do you not notice a truck is covered in blood before you get in? And why are you so sure everything is ok after you see a big shadowy figure with an axe standing over your friend's dead body? And I know you're sad and scared, but there's no time for you to lie in the leaves and cry, you have to run away or the killer will get you.
There is one scene with a person trying to sneak out without the killer hearing her which actually manages to be scary. The 80s music gets distracting throughout the movie, but it works in this scene. There are actually a few cool chase scenes, and one of the counselors surprisingly has common sense, as she proves late in the movie, plus she even risks her own life to try and save her friends, so I guess I owe her an apology. There's something refreshing about this movie. It doesn't pretend to be deep or have a message or a big twist, it's just a guy chopping up people in the woods, and that makes it more like a campfire story than most other slashers I've seen. It was rocky for awhile there, but I ended up liking this movie
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