This was a pleasant surprise. The longer runtime for a slasher movie allowed for more defined and interesting characters. The Hayward, Wisconsin filming locations are great. This movie actually addresses PTSD in an interesting way for a slasher movie. There are some well done comedic moments, some of which may be unintentional. The kills are bloody, though most all look the same which is the trouble with any slasher movie where the killer uses the same instrument. The killer's motivation though and what activates their bloodlust is one of the more interesting and ridiculous things in any slasher movie. It also bridges different generations and people from different cultures working together to catch the killer in an interesting way.
A young boy named Peter (Mark Jacobs witnesses the death of his grandfather who, while playing some music on the dock of their lakeside cabin, disappears after falling into the water. 17 years later, after inheriting the cabin, the Peter returns to the cabin. Peter brings a group of friends along. The friends are Peter's girlfriend Anne (Lisa Jane Todd), fishing enthusiast Finner (Christopher Whiting), punk rocekr type Rodney (Patrick Danz) and the stylist type Kiersten (Sara Hauser).
Their arrival coincides with the area's Muskie Madness contest and festival where someone sees if they can catch the biggest muskie fish. Their is revealed to be a past between the caretaker of the house Wayne Duerst (Paul Drake) and Peter's grandfather as Wayne apparently shot him once when they used to bring fish to the shore and shoot them. They are told this by the area's interesting bait shop owner LeRoy Leudke (Don Winters). Meanwhile Peter gets more paranoid and prone to flashbacks as he is having a hard time dealing with his past trauma of being at the cabin. Many tourists start being killed by a giant fishing hook bobber.
There are many things I enjoyed about this movie. The Hayward, Wisconsin location feels real and I enjoyed seeing the giant fiberglass muskie as part of the film. Every camping location looks like the same type of camps I could find on the Belgrade Lakes here in Maine. It gives me the feeling of being at those camps and is more real than cinematic.
The giant fiberglass muskie on display in Hayward, Wisconsin also featured in the film
I enjoy some of the comedic elements in the film. There are subtle moments like when Rodney asks Beverly, "Is anyone gonna die if I take a look at this disc collection." Or when the kid in that tourist family featured in this film says, "Something is wrong around here, something is really fishy." One of the characters later pleads to the killer before dying, "we can just tell everyone you killing people was an accident. if you want to kill me I can handle it." Moments like that.
There is some substance to this. I'm not entirely sure if it is confirmed Wayne was a soldier but he later teams with the younger city kids in Peter's group to find the killer. Evelyn, Wayne's son who did fight in Vietnam later also teams with them. They didn't like the kids at first and Wayne is basically a harbinger of doom character who goes through an interesting progression. Beverly D. who lives in the area and works for the festival has a complicated past with Evelyn and had his kid. She starts a relationship with Finner that feels way more like a romcom than something from this film. Peter struggles with his PTSD and has to face his girlfriend Anne always trying to psychoanalyze him and Kierstin who is attracted to him and tries to make moves on him.
Spoiler Section
The family tourists that come in are fun. The mother wants to leave after father and husband says he is only interested in fishing. As she goes to leave she is hooked under the dock. This happens when the cicadas are chirping. Rodney is killed when he takes a boat out. The father of the tourist group is killed on his boat. Beverly is killed when she goes for a swim. Finner is killed when he goes out near Leudke's shack. Finner had brought a CD and him and Rodney are killed whne they play the music. Peter, a gifted music student eventually figures out that the cicadas, combined with the tone of the music set off Leudke's trauma because of a metal plate in his head, the result of a lobotomy during the Korean war. How is that for a killer's motives?! Even more ridiculous Peter wants to learn to cast as good as his grandfather so he can kill Leudke the same way. Very Dennis Hopper in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Peter gets his chance and his Leudke in the neck but doesn't kill him. They fight in his shack. He rescues Ann whom Leudke had kidnapped earlier. Leudke was taking the bodies, storing them and grinding them up to use as bait. The movie ends with the Sheriff and Wayne searching for Leudke, an interesting attempt at ambiguity and one of the few slashers that doensn't end with definitive punishment for the villain.
The best kill in the movie is easily Finner's as he is finished off with a gaffe hook after being hooked by the normal hook. After killing him we see the bloody ear mutilation where the first hook was but Leudke also puts a rope through his mouth and the back of his head which is the best effects moment in the movie. This movie has a great location and could easily be just a fun summer camp movie and that is why I like it.
SLASHER MOVIE ANATOMY:
- Prior Evil: A man's experience in the Korean War leads to a metal plate being put in his head which activates some of kind of murderous rage when he hears certain music combined with cicadas
- Body Count: 6
- Whodunit: Yes
- Mask or outfit: Not really anything particular, Fisherman's clothes
- Locale: lakeside town with a fishing contest
- Best Kill: Hook through the ear and then finished with a gaffe hook
INSTRUMENTS OF DEATH
Giant fishing bobber hooks: 5
Finishing off with gaffe hook: 1
SLASHER MOVIE TAXONOMY
· Kingdom: Troma Movie
· Phylum: Serious but fun, darkly comedic at times
· Class: Slasher
· Order: 80s
· Family: Some sideboob from Anne, no other nudity that I saw
· Genus: Some red herrings, quirky characters, never meant to be outright comedy
· Species: Not too bloody but not tame.
Rating: 7.5/10 I would try to find the longer version of this movie. Troma Now has the Vinegar Syndrome Print
Trivia: Makeup effects artist Jim Suthers got pulled over for speeding one night on his way to production. Much to his alarm the policeman noticed his car was full of fake body parts that were going to be for the movie. However, after Suthers showed him the props and demonstrated how they worked he was let out of the speeding ticket.
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