Murder Loves Killers Too (2009)

Really Surprised!

Powerful

Good movie but grossly overrated

Best movie ever!

Although I've seen this referred to as being similar to Friday the 13th, this film really reminded me of The Mutilator - right down to the amount of victims and the middle aged murderer already being in the house. That said, no one here played a game of hide and seek for no reason.Five annoying youngsters (including one whose dialogue consists of "Whoo" and "Party") head of to some cabin for a bit of boozing and the usual slasher shenanigans, not know that there's a bald killer called Steve in the house who's not averse to doing a bit of housekeeping in between murdering teenagers. At first I thought he should have paced himself as he goes through victims rather quickly, but then I realised that the film had a few tricks up its sleeve.There's a lengthy stalking sequence later in the film, part of which seems to have been lifted wholesale from Sergio Martino's Torso (they thank him in the credits), and the last ten minutes or so come way out of nowhere. Plus the film's short and rather nicely filmed, so you can't go wrong here.

***SPOILERS*** Much better then you would have expected slasher film with this group of the usual oversexed and party going teenagers taking a trip into the country for the weekend for fun & games as well as non-stop sex. This fun ends almost as soon as it began after they stopped off at this house in the woods that Big Steve, Allen Andrews, was also spending the weekend at. Before you and the teens can catch their breaths Big Steve went into action putting an end to their fun as well as their lives.In no time at all Big Steve had done in, in the most horrendous way, all the teens with the exception of the plucky Aggie, Christine Haeberman, who was the least sexually active, in not having a boyfriend, of the group of teens. Alone in the big house with Big Steve staking her Aggie manages to fight him off until he finally gets the best of her. But instead of doing the terrified Aggie in like he did her friends Big Steve instead wants her to help him out in his sexual dysfunction problems! That's by her being his personal sex slave for him to do with her whatever he wishes. Big Steve in trying to get in on with Aggie she finally manages to escape but is tracked down by him in the woods who ends up strangling her. But here's the rest of the story.Back home with his old lady and daughter Big Steve is a completely changed man. Kind understanding and non-violent even when he realizes that his wife is screwing around behind his back big Steve is the perfect husband and father. Too perfect to say the least.***SPOILERS*** For some time watching all this, Big Steve's tranquil home-life, you just quite don't know where the movie is leading up to until the last few shocking minutes. It's then that Big Steve gets all that he's got coming to him in a way that he as well as we in the audience never expected!

Stop me if you've heard this one before: A group of free-spirited teenagers venture into the woods for a rowdy weekend of heavy duty partying. Naturally, said bash gets brutally crashed by sexually repressed psycho Big Stevie (well played with amusing and affable nonchalance by Allen Andrews), who bumps everyone off with the exception of the sweet Aggie (a solid and engaging performance by the fetching Christine Haeberman). So far, so familiar. But fortunately not only does writer/director Drew Barnhardt effectively cover all the satisfying slice'n'dice horror bases -- a vicious homicidal maniac, jolting moments of savage'n'sadistic violence, a handy helping of graphic and unflinching in-your-face gore, a good deal of tension, a pleasing smattering of tasty gratuitous female nudity -- in a witty, straightforward, and entertaining manner, but also smartly transcends one's standard expectations with a wickedly funny sense of self-mocking humor and a crafty plot with a few surprising twists to it. Moreover, Barnhardt deserves extra praise for making the wacko a plain, balding, and chubby middle-aged guy with a calm demeanor, a pleasant speaking voice, and a laid-back attitude towards killing folks who even has an adulterous wife (a brief, but sturdy turn by Kathryn Playa) and an unsuspecting adolescent daughter. The appealing and attractive cast of young adults have a ball with the shrewd material, with commendable work from the foxy Mary LeGault as shameless slut Tamra, Scott Christian as swaggering stud Brian, and Kat Szumski as ditsy redhead airhead Lindy. The tight 75 minute running time ensures that this picture never becomes dull or overstays its welcome. Both the sharp cinematography by Kevin M. Graves and the pounding score by Ryan Franks are up to speed. A nifty little flick.

It's a low cost production inserted in the Teen Slasher type, but it's not bad, especially if we take in consideration the clearly short resources. The plot is the one of a traditional slasher, including beautiful teen girls that just want to have fun and, on that purpose, go to a isolated house in the woods… typical and pretty average! However, when the viewer starts thinking that it's just an average slasher, with nothing new, a good and quite interesting twist happens in the plot! I won't tell what it is of course, but I can tell you that I appreciated it, and that's the reason why I'm scoring this movie with a 5/10! As I said, the production is really cheap, the acting could have been better (especially from the psycho guy, which I think was terrible) and the plot is nothing special, but the twist and the soundtrack (it's cheap but it's quite good!) make it worth a watch! If you like B-series movies, as an alternative to the (sometimes tedious…) blockbusters, give it a chance!