Massacre Up North — Massacre Up North(DVD)
The film was directed & written by first time director Paul Stoichevesk, who also takes up the lead role of the grown up killer too. The plot follows Leslie Rejick- from his facial disfigurement as a child( he gets burnt in a tent!), to a pre teen killer, onto a grown up hardware store owner & serial killer. And as SOV films go this is fairly competent and elaborate- featuring a good selection of gory deaths, a smattering of soft core moments. A fairly big supporting cast, adequate-to- fairly competent film- making…so as SOV goes this is moving more towards a pro-film, and less down the a few friends, one location, and a few bucks route- though that doesn’t mean we don’t have moments of SOV charm on display.
The DVD case very much paint’s the film as a straight a head stalk & slash film, and from the first few minutes (which feature a killer dressed in chain mail & armoured helmet(!) skewing a naked women & her partner) you’d think that’s what it is. But in reality it’s more of a gory & sleazy serial killer movie, with slasher traits- think a blend of Maniac, Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Kller, with smatterings of Murder-Set-Pieces extreme torture/gore added in.
Mixed in we get your typical SOV uneven & at times stilted acting, some truly bad make-up (the killer face burns look very unbelievable), and scatter-brain plotting. But on the plus side you get some effective & quite brutal kills & torture scenes, more than a fleeting glance of female flesh. And some memorable/ what-the-hell moments, like the killers knight get-up( which wasn’t used enough), the killer head banging at a police raid, and amusing interactions between the killer & others.
This 15th Anniversary DVD edition of the film sees the film in a completely uncut & unrated form. Extras wise you sadly don’t get a commentary or interview, and instead just get a short intro to the film from the director. Plus a four page inlay, photo galley, and a director’s promo reel.
Massacre Up North is a worthy enough blend of Serial killer & SOV tropes, with the touches of slasher based elements. I’m not sure it’s as re-watchable as some SOV release, due to the more pro/ less lo-fi unhinged moments present.