BLOODY HOMECOMING

BLOODY HOMECOMING

Winston High, three years ago. A group of sophomore nerds turn up for their school's homecoming dance but are turned away at the door by three Jocks.

One of the nerds' party, Billy (Jesse Ferraro), suggests that they break into the school using the keys he's acquired and have their own little party in one of the empty classrooms.

However, unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Billy is in cahoots with the Jocks and the whole event has been engineered so he can get new girlfriend Annie (Grainne McDermott) alone in a study room and deflower her. He lights a candle, cracks open a bottle of booze and whispers sweet nothings in her ear ... but she's having none of it. Billy's pissed, and he attempts to rape her.

Fortunately, Annie's friends become aware of the kafuffle and race to her rescue. They lock Billy in the room, unknowingly trapping him in a confined spare that is now ablaze due to the candle being knocked over during Annie's struggle...

Fast-forward to present day and Winston High is holding its first homecoming dance in three years. Feelings towards this upcoming event are mixed: lecherous Principal Patterson (Steve Earnest) can't wait to see nubile teens in their skimpiest evening attire; Loren (Lexi Giovagnoli) busies herself gathering her friends, now seniors, to attend the do that they were denied entry to three years earlier; Annie hides away from said pals, having become a pill-popping recluse in the meantime; put-upon Goth chick Nora (Elizabeth Bigger) plots to get her own back on the girl in class who keeps bullying her; Sheriff Corbin (Craig Parker) shows open distaste at the thought of his son's killers being able to party.

Oh, and then there's creepy janitor Fred (Jim Tavare), who the kids flippantly refer to as being a "serial killer"...

Yes sir, there is no shortage of iffy suspects once Loren and friends start receiving creepy notes in their lockers, while some psycho dons a fireman's gasmask and starts bumping students off one-by-one.

The tried-and-tested revenge plot; the tinkering of an electronic keyboard a la HALLOWEEN each time the tension mounts; the stock characters (nerd, Jock, virgin, joker in the pack …); its perfunctory ‘body count’ themed second half … there’s little that can’t be predicted of BLOODY HOMECOMING from the above synopsis.

The film even takes an annual American event, a la PROM NIGHT, to base its action around – and the killer’s disguise is of course straight out of MY BLOODY VALENTINE.

So, when does a film stop being an homage and start becoming a rip-off? BLOODY HOMECOMING straddles a fine line between the two, admittedly. The plot will be so recognizable to anyone familiar with slasher films from the early 1980s that it’s hardly worth telling you to expect female nudity in the shower at one point, red herrings here and there, and even a false ending. In fact, the only surprise of sorts is an effective twist that I confess to not second-guessing.

Elsewhere, performances are wildly uneven. No-one’s Oscar material here, obviously – and we don’t go into this type of film looking for such. But a modicum of talent would’ve been nice, if only to help suspend disbelief during the set-piece moments. But no, alas, these youngsters really can’t act for toffee. Tavare, recently seen in REEL EVIL, fares little better in what is a thankless role that would’ve gone to Michael Berryman two decades ago.

It’s also tough to see where the reported $3,000,000.00 budget has been spent. Certainly not on the cinematography which is often flat or dark. Josh Russell's FX work is decent but minimal, and anyone going into this with expectancies of a Tom Savini-type bloodbath is going to be sorely disappointed. Yes, there is blood during the unimaginative kill scenes … but not a great deal.

Perhaps the film’s biggest adversary is its pace, which seriously stalls after the opening two death scenes have flown by. Director Brian C Weed is obviously keen to afford us time to get to know the characters of Jake Helgren’s script. However, none of them are likeable and the fact that the actors all deliver their uninvolving lines in such an amateurish fashion exterminates all hope of drawing the viewer in.

Odd flashes of style and a blatant affection for the films it's harkening to earn BLOODY HOMECOMING some points. But this is so by-the-numbers, that only the most forgiving slasher nut is going to be able to see past its flaws.

BLOODY HOMECOMING is presented uncut in a decent 16x9 transfer on this UK DVD, the maiden release on this side of the pond for US company Image Entertainment.

Blacks are somewhat muted throughout but other than that this offers a sharp, clean and reasonably coloured picture proposition.

English 2.0 audio is problem-free, aside from a couple of muffled moments which are likely to be inherent of how the film was shot.

The screener disc provided for review didn't contain any menus or bonus features.

BLOODY HOMECOMING isn't a great addition to the well-worn slasher cycle. But it's good to see Image Entertainment releasing stuff in the UK finally, and I await with interest to see what else they've got up their sleeve.

By Stuart Willis


 
Released by Image Entertainment
Region 2
Rated 18
Extras :
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