Kirsten Jakobsen, Arve Herman Tangen, Camilla Vestbø Losvik, Toril Skansen
This straightforward amateur Norwegian slasher flick has Kimsy (Jakobsen) head off into the woods after an argument with her mother (Skansen), only to fall prey to the local deranged psychopath (Tangen), who has been kidnapping, torturing, raping and killing girls in his cabin, with apparent impunity. When they realize Kimsy has vanished, Mom and her sister Camilla (Losvik) go out to look for her; however, it turns out that there's rather more of a connection between the mother and the killer than was previously admitted to the daughters. We also get to see, in flashbacks, how and why the killer became the person he is today. Absolutely no surprises here: it's the usual cod psychological reasons, with an absent father, a mother who didn't love him, etc. Not giving anything away to say that aspect ends badly. There's nothing new here at all, but one senses that Lie (whose name shows up in the end credits so often, it may be some kind of record!) wasn't trying for originality, more a mash-up of familiar horror sub-genres.
Made on a budget of $5,000, that does explain why Norway is apparently populated solely by Goth girls - they being the only ones apparently willing to get their tops off and be covered in blood. It also explains acting that could kindly be described as "functional," with Skansen probably coming off worst, and Tangen best - simply because the latter is given least to do, beyond shuffling from place to place, mumbling and molesting. There are some obvious flaws: tell me, if you were knocked out in the woods, and woke up to find yourself stripped to your underwear, would you put your clothes back on and continue your stroll? There's also a convenient lack of cellphones, and I'm unsure whether it's day or night half the time. Still, there are some not bad moments of gore, in particular a couple of decent severings of body parts. We'll say no more on these. :) For Lie's first effort, it's by no means disastrous; however, it's still rather too obviously a first effort, and its flaws are rarely obscured for long.
C-
[February 2014]
