The film is about Maggie whose bachelorette party has been planned out by her extremely weird friend Jagger. Jagger wants the pair to go camping in the woods since Maggie’s fiancé is an outdoorsy type and this Jagger proclaims the trip will acclimate Maggie to the life she is about to enter into. Now this was the first bit of misdirection which initially made it seem like the core issue was going to be that the fiancé was dangerous (having a tragic past involving his murdered family) and that Jagger was secretly in love with Maggie. Sadly this might have been a better route to go than what we got, something in the vein of the excellent French Horror High Tension (Haute Tension 2003). It certainly seemed that way given how desperately Jagger wanted to get Maggie into the woods alone, but Maggie cannot read people at all and invites two other friends to join them.
There is instant tension between the other girls (Jess and Rae) and Jagger because she is both a kook and her sense of humor is to pretend to kill you. I really would have liked a shot at her home to see all the posters of slasher films I’m sure were adorning the space. These two characters are largely throwaway fodder yet surprisingly end up playing important roles in the film’s climax. The last major character to be added is the curmudgeonly hermit they camp beside (mistaking it for the fiancé’s campsite) who it will turn out is actually Maggie’s beau’s uncle. Now this all seems very plot convenient but it is in fact not and I must applaud the film for this; it all ties rather neatly together by the end.
With the ground work out the way the film is as I said predictable but it does try to throw one off the scent. I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that the weirdo is the weirdo. Jagger is so aggressively annoying that only someone as oblivious as Maggie could be friends with her. The friends are mostly flat but none of the acting is bad, that’s just the character as written for horror movie trope sake but in the end they get to have their moments too. There is definitely some fun to be had here as we get into the depths of Jagger’s madness, the annoyance of the uncle and the delight that is the fellow who rents cabins a couple of miles away.
Once the film drops the pretence of trying to get us not to think the Jagger is a psycho it gets really fun and the actress just goes for it. She does a great job at presenting the many sides of Jagger and even managed to generate some empathy from me despite all of her insanity and manipulations. Everyone does a good job given whatever their characters are supposed to be and the camp starts to get into Planet Terror levels of horror goofiness. There’s a fun bit with Jagger going door to door selling death like a murderous Avon lady.
While I never bought into any of the red herrings that lead you to any other conclusion than Jagger being the killer the film is still quite enjoyable. Its gory where it needs to be, without being excessive, good acting, some fun set pieces and camera work. I really, REALLY liked the slow-mo knockout scene which can be seen in at least one of the trailers and the climax just going over the top at the end. Lastly…racoons! You’ll have to watch the movie for that, heh, no spoilers!
Overall;
3 Stars
Directed by: Robyn August (Party With Me)
Written by: Tom Kiesche
Produced by: Lan Kay, Ned Kisner, Tom Kiesche, and Ron Rogge
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Comedy, Independent
Distributor: Dark Sky Films
Run Time: 88 minutes
Cast: M.C. Huff (Breakfast with Jenny), Emily Hall, Jenna Z. Alvarez (Shook), Nicole Lovince (Pitch Perfect & Dear White People), Tom Kiesche (Breaking Bad, W.M.D.), Harrison White (Venice the Series), Jack Schumacher (Top Gun: Maverick), and Ron Rogge (Stranger Things).
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