VOD Review: Scare Campaign (2016)

"This movie makes us miss Scare Tactics."

Remember Scare Tactics? The SYFY reality show where unsuspecting people would be terrified out of their mind by elaborate scare-pranks? Like they'd have a half-naked midget painted up all red with devil's horns on his head break through a wall and chase some poor girl around a creepy warehouse or something until she was in tears, then someone would yell "Relax, you're on Scare Tactics!" and everyone would have a good laugh?

It was hosted by Shannen Doherty, then Tracy Morgan, it made us laugh on a regular basis, because we're sadistic when it comes to seeing other people being frightened half to death.

Scare Campaign is a lot like Scare Tactics, at least in its premise, only the pranks are real, and there's no one who jumps out at says "Ha! You're on Scare Campaign!" at the end. Also, there's a lot more blood.

No Shannen Doherty though. That's a bit of a bummer.

Marcus and the crew of Scare Campaign (the Aussie version of Scare Tactics), have been scare-pranking innocent people for five seasons now, but their routine is getting stale. When their latest prank almost takes a deadly turn for one of the cast, lead actress Emma takes exception, fearful that someday they'll prank the wrong person, and it will end badly for them all. Because that almost just happened, so it's not much of an insight. 

HERE WE GO AGAIN...

Meanwhile, there's a new web series called Masked Freaks that is all the buzz in the "Horror Reality" genre... which is creepy, because it involves a bunch of masked freaks brutalizing and killing people for real, so exactly who is paying to watch that kind of shit? How the Cops don't catch these guys, I don't know, but the woman in charge of Scare Campaign sure thinks it's awesome, and tells her crew that if they don't get edgier, they'll be cancelled.

THIS GUY IS PLENTY EDGY.

In an effort to save their show, and liven things up a bit, Marcus comes up with the most daring prank he's ever pulled... and that's where we'll stop with the plot details. There are a few twists that take the movie in different directions, and spoiling them for you here would just be mean.

It gets pretty bloody. That's safe to say.

HEY LOOK, IT''S THAT WRONG GUY THAT EMMA WAS WORRIED ABOUT PISSING OFF.

Scare Campaign was, above all else, a fun movie. As bloody as it is, and as creepy as things get towards the end, it's the movie's constant stream of humorous wit that made us dig it so much. A lot of that wit comes from the fact that the movie makes a pretty bold statement about how Reality TV is produced (they'll air anything, as long as there's an audience; and how there's such a big audience out there who for some reason crave, dumb, half-assed garbage as entertainment.

The movie also changes gears rather nicely, starting off as what you think is going to be a haunted house type of story, but it quickly becomes a slasher/revenge flick, then it drifts into torture porn territory. It felt fluid to us, which was a nice change of pace. The best part of it all, is that the film's twists weren't heavily telegraphed at all. Organic. That's the right word.

As solidly scripted as the movie was, it's the cast that makes it work so well. Meegan Warner was great in the lead role, and Ian Meadows was skilled enough to make us like his character by the end, even though we kinda despised him early on. And we're going to go out on a limb here and say that Olivia DeJong is about to blow up, career-wise. She did a good job in last year's The Visit; her upcoming movie, Safe Neighborhood, looks all kinds of awesome; and with her performance in Scare Campaign, she showed us that she can play devilishly wicked very well. We'll be seeing much more from her in the future.

SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THAT GIRL.

There's plenty of good gore gags throughout this one, although half of them are fake insofar as they are a part of the whole prank set-up scheme. Once the real blood starts flowing though, we get some pretty good stuff.

WIPE YOUR FACE, MATE.

Everyone remains clothed in this one. It's almost like filmmakers these days think that they can make a good Horror flick without half the cast being naked or something.

MAYBE THE "SASSY NURSE VISITS THE GLORYHOLE" SCENE WILL BE INCLUDED INT HE UNRATED DIRECTOR'S CUT.

Scare Campaign is a wicked little film that blends blood, humor, and even commentary together very well, which makes for an entertaining watch. Rent it, and while you're doing that, we'll be checking out the Cairnes Brother's other flick, 100 Bloody Acres, which we sadly haven't seen yet.

B+

Scare Campaign is available now on VOD.

Meegan Warner and Olivia DeJonge are in this, and we dig them both.

VOD Review: Recovery (2016)

"Kirby Bliss Blanton fans will probably like this one. Mostly."

If I'm being honest, the only reason I watched Recovery was because it stars Kirby Bliss Blanton. That might sound a bit superficial, but it's really not: she's a good actress that has a very likable quality which makes her a perfect final girl for these types of flicks.

And yes, she just so happens to be really, really good looking too. I mean, even her name screams "adorable." No one named Kirby Bliss can be anything but adorable.

Point is, aside from her presence, Recovery didn't do all that much for me. It happens.

The movie opens with a father giving his nervous son a pep talk before his big date with the girl of his dreams... who just so happens to be locked in a trunk in the basement. Apparently father and son like to kidnap women to add them to the family, as evidenced by "Mom" who is shackled in the kitchen upstairs. Well, the girl escapes from the trunk, grabs a baseball bat, and takes the kids jaw off with a wicked swing, and then quickly dies for her trouble.

WHICH LEADS TO THIS GUY WEARING A BANDANA ON HIS FACE.

Flash forward to a wild party where hot little blonde Jessie (Kirby Bliss Blanton) sees her boyfriend cheating on her, but before she can smack him in the face, she's stopped by an equally hot girl, Kim (Rachel DiPillo), who tells her he's not worth it. The two become quick friends, and along with Jessie's brother, and some other dude who's trying to get laid, they set off on a wild party adventure!

YEAH, IT GET WILD ALRIGHT...

For some reason, Kim takes off with Jessie's phone, and being that every teenager is tech-savvy these days, they use a tracking app to track the phone to a creepy old house... where things get bad and bloody for everyone.

Twists and reveals abound from then on.

I TOLD YOU NOT TO GOOGLE LEMON PARTY.

Recovery is an average Slasher-ish Teen Terror flick that tries to use modern tech as some sort of clever plot device, but doesn't ever really end up feeling all that slick or clever.

As I said above, I watched this one because of Kirby Bliss Blanton, who is just about as cute as it gets, and her cuteness is pretty much the best part of the movie. Rachel DiPillo is a close 2nd, as she's both a decent actress, and cute as hell. They pretty much made the movie watchable on looks alone.

I know that's not much of a reason to watch a Horror movie, but sadly, everything else about Recovery was middle of the road material: A bunch of dumb kids wander around a creepy old house looking for some girl who stole a new cellphone, instead of calling the Cops like any rational person would do; and a family kidnaps girls to add them to their brood for no other reason than "they're all insane!" It makes for decent Horror fodder, but it sure doesn't make for a very good movie. At least not in this case.

BUT SHE'S GOOD. SHE'S ALWAYS GOOD.

We get a jaw being ripped off, a throat cutting, and some stabbing. It could have been bloodier.

IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY, YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THERE'S A BASEBALL BAT IN THIS PICTURE.

Nope, and that's really what's missing from so many Horror movies these days: gratuitous nudity!

STAY IN THE CLOSET, KIRBY. YOU'RE TOO SCANTILY CLAD TO BE SEEN IN THIS MOVIE.

Recovery isn't a "bad" movie. It's competent enough in most ways, but aside from the fact that I think Kirby Bliss Blanton is awesome, it really didn't do much for me. If a movie like this is going to have a generic, predictable plot, then it's got to go above and beyond in the blood or nudity department, or else what's the point.

You know, like a lot of B-grade Horror flicks did in the 80's.

Wait for it to hit Netflix.

C

Recovery is available now on VOD.

Kirby Bliss Blanton inspires her middle name in us.

VOD Review: Ratter (2016)

"The Internet is dark and full of terrors. And Ratters."

In computer terms, RAT stands for Remote Administration Tool. RAT software is used by someone to gain outside access to a computer or device, most of the time delivered by a Trojan Horse virus.

To become infected by a Trojan Horse virus, you usually have to open an attachment or download a file with the program in it, and allow it to run. Once you do, whoever is in control of the RAT owns your computer, and you're screwed.

So the lesson here is don't download programs or open attachments unless you know exactly where they come from, and even then, think twice. In this way, Ratter is a great cautionary tale.

Emma is a sexy grad student who has just moved to NYC from her small Wisconsin town. Being a rube in the big city, she's as awestruck by how big and fancy it is, as we are by how she could afford such a massive, nice apartment in Manhattan. Her parents must own a cheese company back home or something.

YEAH, SHE'S PROBABLY RICH.

Somewhere along the way, Emma downloaded or opened something online and got herself infected with a virus (Ratted), and now she's being watched by the mysterious figure who sent it to her. As she goes through her everyday life, he browses her computer and phone for pictures and info; watches her shower and go pee; turns on her music at random times to mess with her; and just wreaks havoc on her life in general.

IS HER CARPET HOOKED UP TO THE INTERNET?

When Emma discovers that she's been Ratted, she freaks out, buys a cat, and gets all kinds of paranoid. Seeing this, the Ratter makes his move to physically be in her life, and begins skulking around in the shadows of her home, watching her sleep, and probably plotting to rape or kill her, because where else can all of this lead, if it's not rape and/or murder?

A disturbing invasion of privacy ensues.

YES, YOU DID HEAR A NOISE.

Even with its issues (which we'll get into in a minute), Ratter was a pretty solid Found Footage Thriller when it was actually in Thriller mode. The idea of someone having access to your life and watching your every move, let alone being in your home without you knowing it, is a pretty terrifying one. When the stakes get higher towards the end of the movie, there are more than a few intense scenes of Emma's shadowy stalker moving about her house that worked really well.

Ashley Benson is also a pretty solid actress, and her likable character absolutely made the movie more bearable. Had it been anyone else walking around on screen doing mundane activities for the better part of an hour, we may have lost interest. She's just got a way about her.

YEAH, SHE'S DEFINITELY GOT A WAY ABOUT HER...

The worst part of this movie, and what really keeps it from being truly good, is that nothing really "happens" until the last 20 minutes or so when the Ratter shows up physically. Before that, we're forced to watch Emma workout, play air tennis, talk on the phone, Skype with her mom, take showers, cook, sit, sleep... Now, we know that watching her go about her daily life is the whole point, as the movie is about a stalker who hacks her gadgets to be able to do just that, but that doesn't necessarily make for a very compelling watch. At least not for the entire time.

I'm also not sure if I understand where all of the camera angles in the movie came from. Was it all supposed to be filmed with her tech toys that had been hacked, or was it half that, and half just normal movie shots? Because it it's the former, the Ratter dude must have hacked her lamp, wall, and whatever else was needed to get the angles that he got, because a lot of the shots in the movie did not come from her computer or phone.

And what was the guy's motivation? Ambiguity serves a movie like this well enough, but we have no idea who the guy is, why he does what he does, or how he does it... which I suppose is the point, being that the movie is about safety in the digital age. Still, some answers would have been nice.

Also, there's a scene after the credits that kind of explains Emma's fate, since the end of the movie was one of those "leave it up to the audience" kind of things.

SO WHAT DID HAPPEN TO HER?

No gore. Wait... there's a dead cat, so that's a type of gore, I suppose.

BUT MOSTLY, NO GORE.

No nudity in this one, but Ashley Benson looked good wearing some skimpy outfits throughout. At least that's something.

THANK YOU, ASH BENZO.

If you're on the Internet, you will be Ratted at some point... unless you're smart and don't open attachments from people you don't know, you won't be Ratted. So be smart.

INVASION OF PRIVACY GETS NO WORSE THAN THIS.

If you enjoy the average Found Footage movie, gaps in logic and all, then you'll probably like Ratter. It's a competent enough movie that has some genuine moments of fright throughout, but again, it's all constrained by the typical Found Footage tropes, many of which can be frustrating as hell.

If you don't mind that though, give Ratter a rent, and enjoy.

C

Ratter is available now on DVD and VOD.

Ash Benzo is the best part of this movie. Make of that what you will. You can see some more pics of her in her own Hottie post, right HERE.