Bloody Homecoming (2013)
Starring: Jim Tavare, Rae Latt, Lexi Giovagnoli
Writer: Jake Helgren
Director: Brian C. Weed
Synopsis (from RLJ):
Three years after a tragic accident
left a student dead at the annual dance, a group of seniors find
themselves haunted by a deadly visitor from their past. Unable to
bury old demons, it looks like it's finally payback time, and
someone's out for blood. Before the night is over, the halls will run
red as they are stalked, staked and butchered by a relentless, savage
killer hell-bent on revenge. They must stop whoever is hunting them,
or this year's dance is going to be a killer.
Review:
Part of the gig of being a blogger is
being honest about a movie. I used to somewhat enjoy giving a
downright hateful review of a film I didn't like. Somewhere along the
line I ended up feeling bad for doing that kind of thing. At the end
of the day, I am no filmmaker and I never will be. I could
definitely never make something up to the standards of a favorite
film. But ya know what? I could never make something up to the
standards of a movie I don't like, either. So, being all “clever”
and bashing a movie just isn't my thing anymore. I'm not gonna sit
here and sell Bloody Homecoming down the river, because I am sure
there are people out there who will like this movie way more than I did.
Bloody Homecoming has as premise that
sounds great, and word of mouth of it being a throwback to 80s
slasher films had my interest. I just didn't get that feeling after
watching it, unfortunately. I didn't dig the writing, the direction,
or the main characters. There was just no connection at all. There
are some movies that are so bad and they make you laugh hard, but
it's a good laugh. Then, there are movies that are so bad and they
make you laugh hard, but it's more of an embarrassing type laugh.
Where you just feel out of touch with what you're watching. That's
Bloody Homecoming in a nutshell, for me.
There's something wrong when you're
given a large group of youngsters that you are supposed to feel for
but don't. In Bloody Homecoming, my favorite characters were a creepy
janitor and a perverted principal. And these are not likable people;
they're downright deplorable. But, they aren't as off-putting as the
leads. If I had to pick one character out of the teenagers in this
movie that I didn't mind so much, it would be Nora, played by
Elizabeth Bigger. She was the most believable and enjoyable. She had
a angsty punk rock aesthetic about her, and I kind of got along with
that. But it ended there. For everyone else, I didn't care if they
lived for the whole movie or died right away. Honestly, I forgot
most of their names as soon as I learned them.
Makeup FX would probably be one of the
higher points for Bloody Homecoming. The kills are admittedly not too
bad. Sadly, the antagonist never gets creative enough to put you on the
edge of your seat. The killer does look cool, though, and a few of
the stalking scenes are staged well enough. But it's not anything you
haven't seen before.
I generally prefer a film score over a
rock soundtrack in horror films. If I get into a rock soundtrack,
that means it's something truly special. Fastway's Trick or Treat
soundtrack, or the music chosen for Donnie Darko. Those soundtracks
not only fit the atmosphere of the movies they accompany, but they
enhance it. Bloody Homecoming could have benefited from more score and less rock. It's all pop ditties that sound like
generic (for lack of a better word) spinoffs of well known music. The
soundtrack took me out of the experience right away. I just couldn't
identify with it.
Final Word:
I'm not going to be the guy who tells
you to avoid Bloody Homecoming like the plague, because we all have different
opinions. If anything, I hope you will take those words into consideration and
check the movie out. It could be for you what it wasn't for me.
Available September 24th, 2013 from Image Entertainment. Order the DVD HERE. Available for digitial download HERE.
- Eric (Brobocop)
