The movie that dared to stick a retractable blade in the 80s Slasher craze – from Friday The 13th show runner Frank Mancuso Jr. no less.
The setup is pure rope-a-trope: rich preppies, remote island house, and someone’s picking them off one by one Ten Little Indians style. It’s almost exhaustingly mundane. You’re expecting the usual Karo syrup-covered body count, and but what you get instead is a meta-slasher with a twist so audacious it pissed off half the audience and delighted the other half.
This thing plays like a prank on its own genre.
I was down for that then, I’m down for that now. In spite of it’s all-star cast and a confidently slick direction by Fred Walton of ‘When A stranger Calls’ fame, it usually gets lumped in with the other blade-wielding holiday themed maniacs-on-the-loose flicks – but this one’s got a few surprises up its sheath. It’s an under-appreciated little meta-thriller that always gets rolled out April 1st as vague “member-that” nostalgia bait, but it’s a pop-culturally notable entry in the genre.
In fact, I’d wager it’s even more enjoyable if the big twists have been spoiled, you get to just sit back, drink it in, and enjoy the party.
If you call yourself an 80s horror fan and you still haven’t seen it, well then, I guess the joke’s on you. Yuk yuk. It makes a great double feature with Killer Party. -Pop