I KNOW HOW MANY HOME RUNS YOU SCORED LAST SUMMER

One week after being abducted and tied to a chair in a garage, cricketer Gavin (Brendan Arlington) is found by the police - dead, with a cricket stump rammed through his head.

The cops see a pattern emerging: this is the third body they've found in similar circumstances. Metal-loving sergeant Gary (Jai Koutrae) is convinced that cricket is the common link, and is determined to solve this case.

As Gary retires for the weekend, another murder takes place after a local cricket match. By the time Gary's called to the scene of the crime, he's perturbed to learn that another cop - the fiercely independent Reynolds (Stacey Edmonds) has taken an interest in the case, as it bears an uncanny resemblance to a murder she's been investigating.

Back at the station, the two are forced to work together as they head the team responsible for nailing the killer. They soon discover the link between the victims - all were members of an under-12's cricket team twenty years earlier. It transpires that twenty years ago, a vicious case of bullying within the team got totally out of hand.

At least now the cops have a list of potential victims, who they must seek out and quiz, and a potential suspect - the formerly bullied Phil Phillips (Otto Heutling).

The cops set about tracking down each of the charismatic (read: weird) cricket team members and take them to a safehouse names Joadja. Here, the film slips into amiable but slight comedy as we learn more of our mismatched housemates. Thankfully Gary, his sidekick Shane (Az Jackson) and Reynolds are also present to keep us focussed on their murder investigation.

However, while Reynolds takes a prolonged shower (a film highpoint - if only for the hilarious [intentional] obviousness of the body double utilised) and one of the intended victims smuggles his bondage mistress onto the safehouse's grounds, we learn that the killer is also in the vicinity ... fashioning killer contraptions such as codpieces with six-inch nails welded into their insides.

Before long the killings begin, and tension in the safehouse becomes even more fraught than it was to begin with. But who is the moustachioed killer ...?

I KNOW is obviously to be taken with a pinch of salt. It's delivered with its tongue largely in cheek, but never in a broad manner. This being an Australian production, it applies the quirkiness and odd, almost "League Of Gentleman"-style humour that country is renowned for - so no fears that this will degenerate into an insulting Wayan Brothers-style shitfest.

Rather, I KNOW is an extremely stylish, attractively photographed and professionally edited piece that moves along with assured direction and accomplished performances throughout. The gory FX work of Hilary Fairchild & co is simply the icing on the cake.

Gags are kept to either subtle verbal quips or absurdist scenarios, and thankfully are all conveyed in an extremely deadpan manner. The score never descends into Carry On-style signalling, and characters refrain from face-pulling for cheap humour. This is, ultimately, a rather respectful (I'd wager, knowing) thrashing of the slasher genre.

Murder scenes are played out in admirably straight and gory fashion, Dallas Johnson's dark score adding to their oppressive tone. Having said that, I imagine visual punchlines such as the jock forced to don the nail-lined codpiece must have been a hoot with a festival audience ... despite the nasty gore that follows.

If the film has flaws, it's that it's distinctly "so-so". The gore is pleasing but nothing outlandish; the performances are proficient yet none were memorable (apart from the shower scene's body double); the tension was cranked up sufficiently, but not early enough to register true remark; the comedy is genteel enough to avoid slapstick, but perhaps not funny enough for some. The film is competent, and likeable ... but barely anything more.

The film is presented uncut in a very sharp anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer. Colours are natural and strong, while a thin layer of natural grain helps preserve the clarity of the film's 35mm origins. It's a great transfer.

English audio is proffered in 2.0 and 5.1 mixes. Both are solid, evenly balanced affairs. Arguably, there's no real need for the 5.1 mix - despite the rocktastic soundtrack - but happily neither fails in playback.

The disc opens straight into an eye-grabbing animated main menu page, which impresses with its high-speed blend of gory scenes from the film accompanied by agreeable rock music.

From there, a static scene-selection menu allows access to the film via 10 chapters.

Of the extras, probably the best is an affable and informative commentary track from co-directors (and real-life couple) Doug Turner and Stacey Edmonds. Clever, fluent and excitable, the pair are impossible not to like - and their commentary track arguably makes the film even more enjoyable.

"Bloody FX" is six minutes of test footage and deleted FX scenes, along with alternate cuts of death scenes and some involving behind-the-scenes footage. Anything and everything relating to the making of the film's gory FX work, in other words, with a minimum of dialogue to intrude the crimson fun.

"Making Runs" is a pretty decent Making Of featurette with cast and crew interviews, interspersed with some engaging behind-the-scenes footage.

Then there's "Shower Scene Uncut". Yes, actually a longer version of THAT shower scene! Set to rocking music and featuring lots of well-lit close-ups of big breasts and a tidily shaven pussy (she's called Arianna Starr, if you need to know!), this is difficult not to love. And, in just over three minutes, it effectively illustrates where Seduction Cinema get it so wrong. Presented, if it matters, in anamorphic 2.35:1.

"Canteen Scene Grade" takes just under two minutes to reveal how, er, the canteen scenes were graded. This basically means how they were reframed and how two characters were kept in focus during one scene. It plays as a succession of screen-comparisons.

"Joadja Diary" and "Audio Mix Diary" are two video diaries, both roughly four minutes in length. They don't add much more to what this excellent disc already has to offer, but do at least reinforce the fact that the film appears to have been enormous fun to make.

"Abertoir Q&A" is a fantastic eight minute account of the co-directors' appearance at the Abertoir Film Festival in Wales. Rather than being an onstage chat with the audience, as I thought, this is an engaging and modest recording from Turner and Edmonds, addressing the screen for their festival audience. What does that say on his T-shirt though? The only word I could make out was "minge" ...!

Finally, we get a music video for the track "White Trash Hot Love" by Hell City Glamours. Which is like LA Guns or Hanoi Rocks, and is really quite good.

I KNOW should be rubbish, but it's not. It's actually very good, deceptively clever at times and quite enjoyable. Slick, stylish, sexy, gory - what more do you want? It's a slasher film: one that relishes in all that is good, and all that is preposterous, about the genre. Anchor Bay realise this, and they've kitted it out with a very strong disc as a result.

Okay, it's not the most remarkable film of the year, but there's enough here to enjoy - both from the film and the sterling disc.

Review by Stuart Willis