Sunday, December 30, 2018

My Review Of "Shellmont County Massacre"


Gus Trapani's slasher thriller "Shellmont County Massacre" is a modern indie splatter infused treat. The film stars Roderick Klimek, Matthew Lafferty, Jerred Hickey, Rick Rodgers, Chris Kyleen, Roger Kennedy, and Victoria Zito. It low budget horror done right.

After a masked maniac starts taking life, a small town sheriff struggles to keep is sanity while hunting down the animal that is killing off the people he loves.

I didn't know what I was going to see when I sat down to watch "Shellmont County Massacre". Man, I am glad for that because from the first blood stain in the park shot right up to the end I was sold. Gus Trapani obviously lives and breathes grindhouse and cult horror.

The story isn't anything we haven't seen in horror before, and the characters are pushing toward country cliché, but there is a confidence and smoothness to what Trapani shows which feels authentic. It is clear that there wasn't a major budget but based on the cast and crew of this movie, no one mentioned to them that was gonna be a problem. 

The acting was on point, and it was clear that the actors understood what was being asked of them.  The cohesion and chemistry was above low budget affair. "Shellmont County Massacre" isn't a "ticket on the big horror thrillride", there is a casualness to the pace of the movie as it unfolds that just is. It gives an indie cult ambience that is reminiscent of 70's spaghetti thrillers and early giallo. 

The special effects, both practical and CGI are killer. Honestly I couldn't be 100% if CGI was even used or the FX artist was just that good. The horror elements are visceral slices of gory, brutal awesomeness. The killer is memorable, terrifying and uncompromising. Overall I have to say that this is a definite one to check out, and a must for indie horror fans. (4/5)

1 comment:

Jerred Hickey(masked killer) said...

Thank you for the great review, we all worked incredibly hard on this movie and love the feedback from those who’ve seen it.

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