If you like teen slasher movies of the low budget variety, you're probably gonna find this movie of some interest. The story is simple. A group of high school graduates are invited back to their school for a re-union. After discovering that the school is boarded up and derelict, they decide to spend the night anyhow - of course. This movie has some serious identity issues. On the one hand the formula and the characters are all there. On the other hand you have two directors and a cast of British actors ( one in her very late 20s ) playing American teenagers. Add to this the fact that it was shot in England and you have the beginnings of an uphill struggle. The script was written very quickly - over a few weeks if I remember correctly. To be honest, I was quite impressed with what they'd come up with in light of this fact. The movie does actually work. But I don't like it! There I said it.
There is too much detracting away from the fun. The acting isn't too bad. The school does look English but it's passable. The death scenes are pretty good. But on a whole, it feels empty. Listening to director Mark Ezra talk about this movie, there is a sense of regret. Regret for making the movie, or just that the movie could have been so much more? I believe that Ezra was just unlucky. He was aiming to cash in on the Halloween, Friday 13th, Black Christmas....( any other holiday horror cash cow ) and he had a great plan. A named actress - Caroline Munro ( who I believe he was dating ) and a Theme - April Fools Day.
The funding was in place but was cut down to a minimum. It didn't matter, they had the theme. The whole movie is based around April fools day pranks but prior to release, another movie by the same name was released by a major studio. Shit.
Despite it's shortcomings, this movie does have some charm. The effects and gore are very well done. If you are into this genre I would say it's worth checking out, if only for the gore and Munro's screams, but for me it was a stretch too far. The DVD release however is excellent. Original extra features including interviews and commentary tracks. I would recommend this DVD on those merits alone. There is some interesting subject matter discussed relating to low budget and cult movies produced in that era. RetroFlix Rating: 5/10 - Worth a watch Release Rating: 8/10 - Excellent extra features and cover art. Did Marc like it?NO
Format: DVD Year:1984 Label: 23rd Century Here we have a low budget 80's post apocalyptic Italian Sci-Fi directed by Romolo Guerrieri. First of all I must say that I like it. The story is a mash up of various other post apocalyptic outings with a few cliche characters thrown in and a cheesy soundtrack that really grates in places. But I like it. It's well shot on the whole ( but far too much dramatic zooms - if you can have too much ) and the story works well enough, there are huge holes in it, but it still works. The movie opens with some pretty poor stock footage of atom bomb tests and war torn buildings. A voice over sets the scene quite poorly. After the fall out, two groups emerge. The contaminated masses and the privileged few who avoided it. A hunting game is created. - It is not made clear whether the privileged or the contaminated are the hunters. The opening scenes don't help matters as a group of privileged people are sent to the hunting ranges as prey. It is not revealed why this has happened until much later in the movie. I don't feel I am giving anything away by telling you now that the basic idea is that the privileged hunt the contaminated for entertainment. The group of prey that the movie follows ( not til later on ) are actually from the privileged community but have been declared as prey as punishment/banishment. The story actually revolves mainly around a group of privileged hunters. Two of which have a bet as to who can kill the most prey. The male hunter rides a black motorcycle and looks like the lovechild of Prince in Purple Rain and a Gimp
The lead male 'hero' doesn't take center stage until about s third of the way through which feels a little odd. He is hunted and left for dead. He is then rescued by a character ( Sam ) who to me comes across as a cross between Chappy Sinclair from Iron Eagle and Mr. Miyagi from Karate Kid played by Woody Strode. Sam's character opens up the story and bring the world to life. He is contaminated and lives in the hunting ranges. This is where the story should have been focused. There is a ridiculous training scene where the hero is taught how to avoid sandbags and crawl under barbed fire - neither of which he is called to do in any subsequent scenes, but it's the 80s so these things are essential.
Final Executioner is by no means a good movie. It doesn't succeed in what I feel it set out to achieve. The budget feels stretched even at this low level and it feels as though alot of scenes which could have made this movie a cult classic were cut or never realized when the final budget came in.
The dubbing is awful, the soundtrack is very very poor. But I still like it. The transfer on the DVD is actually pretty good for this kind of bargain bin VHS-Rip release. The sound is mono, but technically decent quality. Overall I'd say this is not a bad attempt from Romolo Guerrieri but he should have pushed a bit harder for funding. Not one for mainstream movie lovers, but definitely worth checking out if you're into grindhouse style trash - it has some interesting concepts, good characters and a unique atmosphere.
RetroFlix Rating: 5/10 - Worth a watch Release Rating: 6/10 - Decent VHS transfer & cover art. Slim DVD case. Did Marc like it? YES
