It's hard to talk about expectations when I knew as little as possible about this long pending Bustillo/Maury project. Alas, I ended up disappointed just the same.
First of all, after the previous films that helped them make a name for themselves and get recognition from the fans, it was natural to expect next level from experienced directors which was not to be the case here.
Film opens up with the grim picture of dysfunctional,'white trash' family during Halloween in a recognizable, gory manner, in which directors basically homage themselves. A little psychosis, and bucket of blood for good measure. Strangely, as film proceeds, along with weird pace and questionable reasoning, much of the killing occurs completely off screen whilst in other instances villain lingers and enjoys inflicting pain to his victims. So, I'd say the motivation for this gory - but - not - in the right - places treatment boggles the mind. We all know how this duo of directors love their gore and do not shy away from it...so...what the heck?
Soon enough though, film takes new turn so instead of 'inbred, disfigured backwoods monster family' we get an homage to classic slashers with all the familiar tropes. Okay, Bustillo/Maury more or less abandoned the idea of following their own aesthetics and went for Halloween homage instead. So, this is where real problems started.
As per usual for most slashers protagonists are bound to act irrationally and as dumb as possible. These people took the cake. Soon, everything goes down the drain, half-established backstory of the killer (which, by the way, is one of stronger points, given his medical condition), the motive for killing, the choice of victims, the timeline becomes iffy, important kills completely overlooked, stupid and careless law enforcement officers acting totally useless once they'd showed up. No comedic relief, and the said police could have easily been turned into one, the effect could have been better cause otherwise I'm not sure what was their purpose in this film.
To say something about the scare factor; admittedly the film had some tense moments and practical fx was rather admirable. That's not the problem, we all know these guys can direct. But what happened to the script and who turned this story into a convoluted mess is another thing completely. Shame, because it could have been so much more, had the vision and script been clearer and same goes for intentions regarding the course of the story.
If you need gore, nice fx and masks to get you going, this film is not half bad, but if you also happen to need a logical, sensible narration, well, you might have to look elsewhere for your 'fix'.
First of all, after the previous films that helped them make a name for themselves and get recognition from the fans, it was natural to expect next level from experienced directors which was not to be the case here.
Film opens up with the grim picture of dysfunctional,'white trash' family during Halloween in a recognizable, gory manner, in which directors basically homage themselves. A little psychosis, and bucket of blood for good measure. Strangely, as film proceeds, along with weird pace and questionable reasoning, much of the killing occurs completely off screen whilst in other instances villain lingers and enjoys inflicting pain to his victims. So, I'd say the motivation for this gory - but - not - in the right - places treatment boggles the mind. We all know how this duo of directors love their gore and do not shy away from it...so...what the heck?
Soon enough though, film takes new turn so instead of 'inbred, disfigured backwoods monster family' we get an homage to classic slashers with all the familiar tropes. Okay, Bustillo/Maury more or less abandoned the idea of following their own aesthetics and went for Halloween homage instead. So, this is where real problems started.
As per usual for most slashers protagonists are bound to act irrationally and as dumb as possible. These people took the cake. Soon, everything goes down the drain, half-established backstory of the killer (which, by the way, is one of stronger points, given his medical condition), the motive for killing, the choice of victims, the timeline becomes iffy, important kills completely overlooked, stupid and careless law enforcement officers acting totally useless once they'd showed up. No comedic relief, and the said police could have easily been turned into one, the effect could have been better cause otherwise I'm not sure what was their purpose in this film.
To say something about the scare factor; admittedly the film had some tense moments and practical fx was rather admirable. That's not the problem, we all know these guys can direct. But what happened to the script and who turned this story into a convoluted mess is another thing completely. Shame, because it could have been so much more, had the vision and script been clearer and same goes for intentions regarding the course of the story.
If you need gore, nice fx and masks to get you going, this film is not half bad, but if you also happen to need a logical, sensible narration, well, you might have to look elsewhere for your 'fix'.