Despite the very bland title (which did make me unsure whether to see it or not), 'The Windmill Massacre' showed promise with its cool and quite creepy cover and interesting and remarkably fresh idea. Also appreciate horror films, although not my favourite genre, and there are good slasher films out there.
'The Windmill Massacre' definitely could have been more, part of me was hoping it would be scarier and tighter in pace. At the same time it was far better than anticipated, was afraid of whether it would be amateurish and non-stop predictability and ridiculousness, being a less than modestly budgeted film (that all too often is not something in a film's favour), but to me it was competently made and had its creative and creepy moments.
Lets start with the good things. It doesn't look too bad with a very nice creepy setting. There is a slickness and eeriness, and nothing looks slipshod. The effects while not what one would call special were surprisingly better than average. Likewise with the acting, showing a capability that one doesn't expect to find for this sort of film. The music is a decent fit.
Some nice affectionate and creepy horror touches and the kills are suitably gory, without being gratuitous, and creative. There is enough freshness here and there is some suspense.
However, the pace could have been much tighter. A large part of the problem being that the film is bogged down by an over-reliance of overlong, dull and not always necessary flashbacks that don't always illuminate that much. They feel like they were there to pad out a story that felt too thin for the length and doesn't have an awful lot to it. The tension and suspense similarly could have been more consistent.
Script-wise, 'The Windmill Massacre' can be too predictable and also over-explanatory which does dilute the suspense. The climax is rather anaemic and easily foreseeable far too early. The characters, while never annoying, are developed with little depth or substance, there is effort here with the flashbacks but it is undone by the flawed execution of the flashbacks themselves.
Overall, watchable and better than anticipated but less than great. 5/10 Bethany Cox
'The Windmill Massacre' definitely could have been more, part of me was hoping it would be scarier and tighter in pace. At the same time it was far better than anticipated, was afraid of whether it would be amateurish and non-stop predictability and ridiculousness, being a less than modestly budgeted film (that all too often is not something in a film's favour), but to me it was competently made and had its creative and creepy moments.
Lets start with the good things. It doesn't look too bad with a very nice creepy setting. There is a slickness and eeriness, and nothing looks slipshod. The effects while not what one would call special were surprisingly better than average. Likewise with the acting, showing a capability that one doesn't expect to find for this sort of film. The music is a decent fit.
Some nice affectionate and creepy horror touches and the kills are suitably gory, without being gratuitous, and creative. There is enough freshness here and there is some suspense.
However, the pace could have been much tighter. A large part of the problem being that the film is bogged down by an over-reliance of overlong, dull and not always necessary flashbacks that don't always illuminate that much. They feel like they were there to pad out a story that felt too thin for the length and doesn't have an awful lot to it. The tension and suspense similarly could have been more consistent.
Script-wise, 'The Windmill Massacre' can be too predictable and also over-explanatory which does dilute the suspense. The climax is rather anaemic and easily foreseeable far too early. The characters, while never annoying, are developed with little depth or substance, there is effort here with the flashbacks but it is undone by the flawed execution of the flashbacks themselves.
Overall, watchable and better than anticipated but less than great. 5/10 Bethany Cox