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A GREAT HORROR/COMEDY
Review date: 2007-11-03 Rating: 8 out of 10

Seven friends, Rob Ferris, (Ken Olandt) his girlfriend Kit Graham, (Amy Steel) and their friends Harvey Eddison, (Jay Baker) Nikki, (Deborah Goodrich) Chazz, (Clayton Rohner) Arch, (Thomas Wilson) and Skip St. James (Griffin O'Neal) attend the party of old friend Muffy (Deborah Foreman) at her private island. After a day of getting to know each other and several practical jokes, everyone seems comfortable with each other. The next day, they start disappearing. After a trip to the water well, they know that someone is trying to kill them. Trying to stay alive when someone is killing their friends, though, may prove to be a lot tougher than some of them originally thought.

The Good News: I actually hate to say this, but some of the gags in here were pretty funny. The breakaway chair gag was especially worthwhile, since it scored twice. That really was a great little gag. I hate to admit this, but I actually now have a big fear of Thomas Jefferson paintings because of this movie. Two scenes involved a painting are great at drawing suspense. When a couple goes to bed, they notice that the painting of Thomas Jefferson is watching them. The eyes are going back and forth, watching them. The man gets up and goes over to check it out, and the eyes continue looking back and forth. When he removes the picture, behind it is the old black and white cat clock with the cat's eyes moving back and forth. It's not a great jump, but the final revelation is only a precursor to the suspense it draws as we don't know what/who is staring at them, and it looks creepy with the eyes going. The second scene is far creepier. When the heroes climb into the basement, they come across the painting again. Having removed it earlier, they know that the eyes are gone, but this painting's eyes are staring straight at them, not moving, blankly staring ahead. When the painting is moved this time, the eyes are shown to be a victim's decapitated head. This is the good thing: it's all where things pop out when your not expecting them. Seeing dead bodies float inside a well when someone falls into it, seeing the eyes move on statues, and the old favorite of having cats jump out of the darkness when there was no mention of them before or since. The mystery of the killer is also brilliantly handled and comes as a complete surprise. It is logically played out, but the overall way it comes about is completely from left field. This is the true highlight of the film, and should be the reason why anyone would want to watch this. This is in my top ten of best slasher revelations of all-time, as it is that good.

The Bad News: For having such a high body count, nearly every single murder is done off-screen. We always see a character coming across a dead body in some way, sharp or form. There is several decapitations, a wiener hacked off, a rope around the neck and hung from a doorway, and a stabbed throat, but just about all of them is done off-screen and then a character stumbles upon them later. That really got old after the fourth kill.

The Final Verdict: With a great ending that I rate as a true classic but very little on-screen gore, this is a weird film to recommend to. Obviously, 80's slasher fans will dig this, but the obvious comedy overtones may put off the more hard-core fans. Horror-comedy fans may like it, but be warned: there are several fart jokes in here.


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Reviews


The Last Laugh
Review date: 2006-05-06 Rating: 2 out of 10

The only funny thing about this film is the advertisers actually being clever enough to make us buy this awful film , From the start its like watching a locally made camcorder film, but the strange thing is they have a good size budget, and some half decent actors,if you like slasher horror you will????.... be very disapointed ,my advice steer well clear or youll be the fool...

Awful film
Review date: 2005-12-19 Rating: 4 out of 10

This is a TERRIBLE film and I seriously mean TERRIBLE. The original Agatha Christie story is excellent and suspenseful, but this fill is just unbelievably bad. This is NOT a horror film, yes in some ways it is a slasher film, but it is a comedy slasher film. It has nothing to do with it being dated because it was obviously made with a decent budget and the actors and actresses do a good job. That is the reason for the 2 stars, they help stop the film from being one of the worst films ever made.

The title should more or less give away the fact that this is not a horror film, yet here we have people listing it as a great horror film - IT IS NOT!

One the "unexpected, twist" ending arrives it will take you by surprise, like it did with me, but the surprise will be that you want to throw something through the TV screen because it's a complete let down and probably one of the biggest film disappointments I've seen.

I will not give away the ending, but it's suffice to say that it just proves my point of the fact that this film is an irritating comedy (and not a good one at that).

It is utter sacrilege to think that this film is listed with some of the all time great horror/slasher films (Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, etc). Basically they are legends of the genre and this is not even a copy.

Avoid this film at all costs.

No April fool
Review date: 2005-07-20 Rating: 8 out of 10

This is a great fun film for a horror. Made long before the recent crop of modern teen horrors this film has a bit of everything. I first saw it on TV years ago and as soon as I watched it I just what a great movie, very simple and low budget it does have a few scares. Based around the Agatha Christie story And then there were none, if you know the story or film of that ,well this is a slasher version! It does look a little dated now being nearly 20 years old, but the first time you watch it you will be pleasantly surprised at the ending. Although I've seen the film about 5 times now and with repeat viewing it's charm is lost a little but great to watch now and then. Unfortunately no extras on the DVD but just glad it got released, one for horror fans!

Finally!!
Review date: 2004-10-18 Rating: 10 out of 10

Finally this fantastic 80's horror movie is available on DVD. I've spent last 10 years searching for any copy of this movie, in videostores, video rental shops.. you name it.. just all over without any luck. I'm a huge horror fan, but somehow this movie stands on top of the pile. Great twist, good actors (well at that time) and it will make you startled more then once!

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Clayton Rohner
Pat Barlow
Griffin O'Neal
Jay Baker
Deborah Foreman

Creators:
Deborah Foreman (Primary Contributor)
Griffin O'Neal (Primary Contributor)
Charles Minsky (Cinematographer)
Bruce Green (Editor)
Frank Mancuso Jr. (Producer)
Danilo Bach (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: Paramount Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Entertainment
EAN: 5014437827937
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2003-06-30
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 86 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1986-03-28
Language: Danish (Subtitled)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Finnish (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: German (Subtitled)
Language: Greek (Subtitled)
Language: Italian (Subtitled)
Language: Norwegian (Subtitled)
Language: Portuguese (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: Swedish (Subtitled)
Language: Turkish (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Dubbed)
Language: German (Dubbed)
Language: Italian (Dubbed)
Language: Spanish (Dubbed)

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