- Directed by Matthew John Lawrence
- Written by Matthew John Lawrence
- Stars Sari Arambulo, Billy Burke, Molly Brown, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 23 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN9dBKJpqmA
- Get it from Amazon: https://amzn.to/4doihBu
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This was heavy on dark humor playing with slasher tropes. We start out right off the bat learning that there’s a movie serial killer in the real world, in the video business to make money making movies about his killing. His daughter stands to take over both the movie and killing business, but things get complicated when she gets a little too involved with the potential victims. It’s strange and well done and we liked it a lot.
Spoilery Synopsis
We open on a woman having a very bad day between a serial killer and a werewolf. He chops her with a butcher’s knife… It’s just a TV show starring Butch Slater.
Our narrator, Abbie, talks about her father, Roger Bladecut, and he’s a real-life serial killer who helps keep their town famous. The murders on the TV show are all based on the real murders committed by her father.
She goes to the office and watches the scene we just saw on his TV, but Roger complains that he doesn’t like the wolf. It was actually Abbie who played the wolf on the show. Mackenzie works at the video store, and he’s annoying.
Glen, the dry cleaner, tells Abbie he doesn’t want to clean Roger’s clothes because last time he found a toe in one of the pockets. It seems Roger’s serial killing isn’t a secret.
“Son of Bladecut” starring Makenzie, is coming out soon, and Abbie’s mad that she’s not involved. Roger doesn’t want her to be his replacement because she’s a girl. “You can’t have some woman who weighs maybe a hundred pounds soaking wet instill fear in the hearts of teenagers.” Still, he offers to have her tag along on the kill tonight just to see how it goes.
We cut to two stereotypical teenagers alone at the lake at night. Roger puts on his hockey mask, grabs his machete, kills them both, and then keels over with a heart attack. “Resurrection of Bladecut” was a hit film, so she buries her father. And he comes back like he always does. He has trouble digging out of the grave, and she helps him. Maybe he is getting too old for this stuff.
That night, Mackenzie goes out and puts on the mask, with Abbie backing him up. They’ve targeted another young couple. Mackenzie botches the kill and dies in the process– that’s not how this is supposed to work. Abbie leaps into action and cuts their phone line then puts on the werewolf mask to finish the job with her axe.
It’s all going well until she gets stabbed by Sam, a potential victim, and then passes out at the laundromat. Later, she wakes up to a bunch of “Get Well Soon” cards. Her dad sends her a brand new axe. She changes the name of the new movie to “Spawn of Bladecut.”
Glenn wants to be in the movie, but Abbie just wants him to run the store for her. Abbie, who’s still in high school, is ready to start making her own fresh list of victims.
She ends up making friends with Sam, the school bad girl. Abbie feels the need to kill her, but doesn’t really want to. They look at all the many memorial photos hanging in their high school lobby. “And that was just last year’s,” she points out.
“The werewolf” starts stalking Sam, watching through the window. Old man Roger starts to feel worthless in his forced retirement.
Abbie sees Patty’s name circled in her Yearbook, so she’s next. She’s about to do the job when Sam and her friends interrupt. The group all plans to go to the “Queef Queens” show tonight. Patty turns out to be nice, and she changes her mind about killing her, but her father explains the rules. Roger says the whole group has to die; that’s just the way it is.
Abbie kills Izzy, the dancer from school, by pushing her out the window. She goes out for beers with Sam afterward. Sam complains about all the funerals she’s been to in the past few years, and they have a romantic moment. Roger warns her that getting to know the victims just makes it harder to do the job.
Roger takes Abbie to see Izzy, who didn’t die in the fall after all. “Finish the job. Tonight.” Abbie looks at her friends and starts to have doubts about this whole thing. That night, when she can’t finish off Izzy, Roger is outside in his mask; he’ll take care of it.
Abbie goes to see Sam when they get the call that Izzy’s dead. Abbie talks Glenn into calling Sam and warning her to leave town. All four kids, Abbie included, leave town in a van that soon breaks down. They all decide it’s a good idea to hide out at the old haunted campground.
Glenn comes out of the woods in disguise and warns them all not to go any further; he’s a perfect harbinger wearing a disguise. Sam sees right through his act. The group takes him hostage.
They sit around the campfire and talk about all the deaths here at “Camp Killgood” over the decades. They read an old newspaper article about Roger Bladecut. Abbie tells them the origin story of their most famous serial killer. Roger is hiding in the woods, listening to the story.
They all pass out from taking the wrong pills, no doubt Roger’s work. In the morning, they find what’s left of Billy outside. Patty figures out that Glenn and Abbie were working together to kill her friends. Patty grabs an axe and dies when Sam shoots her with a harpoon gun.
Roger comes after Abbie, Sam, and Glenn, and he’s very good at his job. He pulls Sam out of the car and drags her away. Abbie begs him to stop and then kills him with his own machete.
Sam heard Abbie call the murderer “Dad” and has questions. Then she dies, since Roger always comes back. We zoom out and see the whole thing on TV.
Abbie is closing their video store. They get a whole box of “Spawn of Bladecut,” but Abbie tosses them in the trash.
Suddenly, the lights go out. Abbie goes out to her father’s grave, which is empty again. Sam is there; she came back too.
Brian’s Commentary
It’s a horror movie about a serial killer who makes true-life horror movies. It uses all the basic slasher tropes, but they’re all very intentional and comedic here.
There’s a lot here that you can’t think about, but it’s fun anyway. Very cool!
Kevin’s Commentary
It took me a little time at the beginning to figure out what was going on, but once I did I was fully on board with it. It was thoroughly amusing and entertaining.