Directed by Sean S. Cunningham
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Paramount)
The first and best of the series takes elements of Hitchcock's Psycho and transplants them to a remote camp by a lake. The most obvious clue to Hitchcock is the soundtrack by Harry Manfredini, which is just a simple reworking of Bernard Herrmann, with some extra echo effects for atmosphere. Although it may be derivative it is very effective and essential to the success of the film. Counselors arrive at the camp in preparation for its reopening, well one of them never makes it, but end up victims of a never-seen killer. Director Cunningham uses a hand-held camera from the point of view of the killer, bringing us, the viewers, right into the thick of things. The carnage on display is brief but graphic. Tom Savini's make-up effects revolutionized horror, for better or worse. However, Cunningham is wise not to rely on the bloody effects for his scares: he uses the natural menace of the lake and woods, a thunderstorm at night, dark cabins made even darker when the power goes out, old tales in town of "blood camp", etc. It is these elements that make it an effective horror movie, not the gory killings. The ending borrows straight from Psycho, although with a gender reversal: I can just hear Anthony Perkins speaking the part of his mother. However, this film does have too many endings, with a particularly ludicrous one in the lake.
No comments:
Post a Comment