German Title:
Schrei wenn du kannst
USA, 2001
Director: Jamie Blanks
7/10
Jamie Blanks' "Urban Legend" follow-up is a hilarious and highly enjoyable post-Scream-slasher in the vein of "House On Sorority Row", "Killer Party" and "My Bloody Valentine". It's pretty unpopular among horror-fans and to some extent I can understand why: it's flawed and far from being perfect - other than that, I really, really love this movie. I already seen it several times and never got bored of it.
Apart from the annoying Katherine Heigl, the acting is surprisingly good for a slasher. Love the performances of Jessica Capshaw, Marley Shelton and Denise Richards. The characters may be clichéd but they're all fun, especially because they constantly deliver amusing dialogue lines, like:
"You look great, Kate. How about a date, Kate? You could be my mate, Kate!" - "You're scary, Gary." - "This could be our fate, Kate."
"Get your hands off me, you mailorder-bride from hell!"
"Um, Paige... will you dance with me?" - "I'd rather be boiled alive."
"Please remove your hand from my thigh." - "OK, where would you like me to put it?" - "How about up your ass?"
The killer with the cupid mask looks just great and I love how his nose starts bleeding whenever he kills someone.
The kills are sadly all extremely ungory, but gladly, they're all pretty cool, inventive and super-thrilling, especially the breathtakingly tense opening, the stylish scene at the exhibition and the infamous pool-kill.
Plus, the valentine-cards he sent to his victims are outrageously funny, f.e.
"The journey of love is an arduous trek - my love grows for you as you bleed from your neck." or "Roses are Red, Violets are Blue - They'll need dental records to identify you." :-)
The script is quite a mess, a few scenes are too slow and the afore-mentioned gore is way too PG13 - but aside from that, I just love this movie and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
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And more power to you for loving it. I thought it was okay until a scene which baldly ripped off an important scene from 1982's Alone in the Dark.- at that point any goodwill I had toward the film drained away. I wish the older movie - starring Jack Palance, Martin Landau, Donald Pleasance and Dwight Schultz - was better remembered. But there you go. Vive la difference, Mr. Morrissey!
ReplyDeleteHow very appropriate review for this day!:) Sadly, as you already know, I hated this stupid teen slasher.
ReplyDeleteI thought it borrowed ideas from other and better horror movies, and there was absolutely nothing original or even remotely enjoyable about it. Hated the cast as well. :)
I personally prefer My Bloody Valentine. It was so much fun!
Just one question for you, buddy... How did you receive the screener of Nailbite? Did the courier deliver it to your door, or you got it from the post office? I'm asking, because Mr. Rea sent me a copy the other day, but I have no idea when and how to expect it.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, congrats on hitting 100,000 page views. Yay for Horror Movie Diary! :)
Love, love, love, love, LOVE this movie!! I love everything about it. I remember when this movie came out, I was obsessed with it. The Valentines cards and the Killer with the Cupid's mask is bad ass.
ReplyDelete@Craig:
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the 82 Alone In The Dark yet but I try to squeeze it into my busy horror-schedule :)
@George:
ReplyDeleteHaha yeah I knew. This is probably something only die-hard slasher fans like me can enjoy :)
Yeah I agree, both MBVs are better.
I received it from the post office. It's a small parcel which should fit in every mailbox.
Don't worry, I also had to wait for about 2-3 weeks until I finally got it.
Oh thank you, didn't notice that I'm already over 100.000. Yay!! :-)
@Jen:
ReplyDeleteWoohoo, I love you for loving this movie :) The Cupid mask is badass indeed and the Valentine cards are just hilarious.
Jenny & Maynard - True Valentine Lovers :-)
The nose bleed is actually nice nod to one of my fave slashers, Alone in The dark (1982). It was the nosebleed alone that had me liking it!
ReplyDeleteThat and the bow and arrow kill! Irony~!
ok, you and Craig made me curious. I really need to watch Alone In The Dark ASAP
ReplyDeleteI liked this one, too, Harry and got to see it in the theater. According to the filmmakers, it was much more gorier, but they cut it themselves as opposed to MPAA forcing them. The increase in school violence made them a bit nervous about showing too much violence. They talk about it on the DVDs commentary.
ReplyDeleteWow, the VALENTINE fan-circle is growing and growing :)
ReplyDeleteYes, it's quite a shame how tame the final version turned out to be. This couls have been an absolutely terrific gorefest :-/
I was actually fine with it as it was and thoroughly enjoyed it. The opening reminded me of HALLOWEEN. I'm honestly bored with gore for the time being, lol.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm always in the mood for some serious gore :)
ReplyDelete