Well it is finally Friday again kiddies! You know what that means right? Time once again to tackle the roulette wheel of horror movie death. Last week’s gamble was a pile of crap called #Horror (2015). In any case, it was a horrific loss that wasn’t very horrifying. Rather dull really. So, this week I am feeling a stroke of luck again. Can this week’s chance choice be any better?
Time to Spin the Wheel ‘O Death
Where did we land this time?
Stage Fright (2014)
This film takes us to camp. Well, theatre and acting camp. Where dozens of young boys and girls can have no reservations and truly be themselves. This summer at camp, the kids are resurrecting a play that had died out on Broadway ten years ago. The play died when the lead was horrifically killed after opening night. Ten years ago, The Haunting of the Opera was the toast of Broadway. Can these kids bring back that special magic? Or will the mysterious killer have other plans for our little campers?
When I was given this film, I had to verify that this movie wasn’t a re-make of the 1987 Italian slasher by Michele Soavi of the same name. It was not. This Stage Fright is a musical horror film. Yes. You read that right. The first 10 minutes are full of surprisingly good song and dance numbers. I’m no musical aficionado, but they were pretty good. The show the kids put on was pretty much a knock off of Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The musical numbers didn’t drown the movie out and there was a healthy balance of spoken dialogue thrown in. There were a few proven singers casted for this effort as well. Minnie Driver and ‘The’ Meat Loaf. I was disappointed that Meat Loaf didn’t give me a ‘Paradise By The Dashboard Light’ moment, but his presence did help in the musical numbers regardless.
This film was very well made. I liked the musical numbers and the characters were written very well. There was even some funny moments sprinkled in. The cinematography was decent. Nothing special. Most of the kills were done off screen. But when the bodies were revealed, the effects were very well done. There was one especially good practical special effect, when a stage light fell from above and struck a character in the foot. That said foot was ripped from under the stage light severing it in half. FUCK YES! I enjoyed this film. It was a nice change of pace film that didn’t take itself too seriously, yet was still very effective at the same time.
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’m feeling lucky!
IMDB: 5.2/10
ZombiSurvivor: 6.4/10
Thanks for reading folks! Stay tuned next week as I try to continue my luck with my next installment of Bloody Streaming Roulette.
STAY SCARED!
-ZS
