The premise of Reeker is so stupid that it makes my head hurt. I spend most of my spare time watching horror films of wildly varying quality and find myself pretty immune to nonsense but a slasher film about an odorous grim reaper type creature that hides under beds and in toilets with an electric hand saw is just stretching credibility one step too far. This is unfortunate because, aside from the laughable story and some unimpressive special effects, Reeker is a competently made and appealing horror movie.
David Payne begins the film with a fantastic sequence that will have animal lovers squirming. A car collides with a dear, coating the car in blood. The car swerves along a deserted highway as the driver attempts to clear the windscreen and control the vehicle at high speed. Despite the promising start, the remainder of the film never lives up to its potential. The basic story involves a group of college students driving to a party in the desert. Unfortunately, their car breaks down and they find themselves stranded at a creepy diner. This situation gives the characters a chance to develop while simultaneously building some tension with a series of weird happenings. The group is comprised of the usual horror movie stereotypes, perhaps with the exception of Jack, who is blind. None of the characters are particularly appealing and when mutilated people begin appearing and the students start getting picked off, I can't say I was particularly upset.
Despite the frenzy of horror movie clichés, this part of the film works well. The effects are gory and visually effective. The director milks the suspense by separating the characters and having blind Jack stumble around over cadavers. The events have an eerie quality and the isolated desert location is atmospheric. The film begins to crumble into the ridiculous when the students start getting hacked up - by the above mentioned grim reaper with poor personal hygiene. Apart from the inherent lunacy of the concept that death hides under beds and in lavatories waiting to slice people up with his vast array of saws, the story is illogical even within the film's own mythology. How does an apparition stink and why would a demon be frightened of a gun and physical violence? Furthermore, what's with all the lurking? For an embodiment of death, this reaper or "reeker" is pretty damn timid and useless. The depiction of blind jack as some kind of demon sniffer dog is also one of the most moronic things I have seen in mainstream horror.
In the midst of all of this idiocy, the film does manage to sustain a sense of momentum and suspense. David Payne knows how to direct an action sequence and the actors are all reasonably impressive, particularly Devon Gummersall as Jack. The special effects vary in quality from the excellent gore of the opening ten minutes to the appalling "reeker" effects, which sum up everything wrong with using computer effects in horror movies. The finale involves some nice stunt work but the daft twist ending just makes the entire movie all the more obscenely and unbearably stupid.
Reeker is not a bad film, just an oppressively illogical one. I love a good (or even a bad) horror franchise - but I really hope the Reeker has jumped out of his last toilet. This idiotic villain needs to be laid to rest.
David Payne begins the film with a fantastic sequence that will have animal lovers squirming. A car collides with a dear, coating the car in blood. The car swerves along a deserted highway as the driver attempts to clear the windscreen and control the vehicle at high speed. Despite the promising start, the remainder of the film never lives up to its potential. The basic story involves a group of college students driving to a party in the desert. Unfortunately, their car breaks down and they find themselves stranded at a creepy diner. This situation gives the characters a chance to develop while simultaneously building some tension with a series of weird happenings. The group is comprised of the usual horror movie stereotypes, perhaps with the exception of Jack, who is blind. None of the characters are particularly appealing and when mutilated people begin appearing and the students start getting picked off, I can't say I was particularly upset.
Despite the frenzy of horror movie clichés, this part of the film works well. The effects are gory and visually effective. The director milks the suspense by separating the characters and having blind Jack stumble around over cadavers. The events have an eerie quality and the isolated desert location is atmospheric. The film begins to crumble into the ridiculous when the students start getting hacked up - by the above mentioned grim reaper with poor personal hygiene. Apart from the inherent lunacy of the concept that death hides under beds and in lavatories waiting to slice people up with his vast array of saws, the story is illogical even within the film's own mythology. How does an apparition stink and why would a demon be frightened of a gun and physical violence? Furthermore, what's with all the lurking? For an embodiment of death, this reaper or "reeker" is pretty damn timid and useless. The depiction of blind jack as some kind of demon sniffer dog is also one of the most moronic things I have seen in mainstream horror.
In the midst of all of this idiocy, the film does manage to sustain a sense of momentum and suspense. David Payne knows how to direct an action sequence and the actors are all reasonably impressive, particularly Devon Gummersall as Jack. The special effects vary in quality from the excellent gore of the opening ten minutes to the appalling "reeker" effects, which sum up everything wrong with using computer effects in horror movies. The finale involves some nice stunt work but the daft twist ending just makes the entire movie all the more obscenely and unbearably stupid.
Reeker is not a bad film, just an oppressively illogical one. I love a good (or even a bad) horror franchise - but I really hope the Reeker has jumped out of his last toilet. This idiotic villain needs to be laid to rest.