Double Review
Cherry Falls – 2000
Terror Tract – 2000
- There are certain movies that you just can't seem to forget no matter how amazing or how awful they were. This is how I feel about the double feature I'm about to review. Back in the late 90's/early 2000's I clearly remember when video stores were sorta on their last limbs. Slowly the mom & pop stores were shutting down and chain stores such as Blockbuster were taking their place. The selection was growing smaller, and slowly but surely it was breaking my heart. I do remember though that the whole world of horror was slowly starting to creep back down in that small abyss it had sunken into back in the early to mid 1990's. The whole Scream wave had began to ware off and just a few years before the Splat Pack graced us with their amazing films, horror movies were in sort of a weird limbo. This was when many made for DVD titles began to roll off, some being produced for television. USA long before they pumped out such series as Burn Notice and White Collar, made a few guilty pleasure horror flicks such as Cabin By The Lake, Return To Cabin By The Lake, Cherry Falls, and Terror Tract. All of which I clearly remember renting and enjoying. Years later I stumbled upon a DVD double feature that was far too awesome to pass out. Both Cherry Falls and Terror Tract on one disk! Buying it for dirt cheap on my new favorite site Amazon, I couldn't wait to review these forgotten memories.
Cherry Falls – 2000
The Low Down – I
remember renting this movie when it was first released and believe it
or not being very impressed with it. The story was a modern day
telling of your typical slasher that was so popular twenty or so
years before. Taking place in a small town, a killer is stalking
young teenagers and slaughtering them. The only thing that these kids
have in common is...their all virgins. Yep that's right. Breaking the
mold of one of the most important rules we learned in the first
Scream, it shows even the innocent aren't safe from this insane
killer. Following the sheriff’s daughter who escapes a near fatal
attack, she's surrounded by all her friends who arrange to have a
full fledged orgy to take them off the new endangered species list.
Slowly learning truths from her parent's past, she may be closer to
this unseen killer than she thinks.
Thoughts – Even though
this movie was made at a time that horror really was at a standstill,
I found it very interesting and shines when so many other titles made
around that same time didn't. First off it had a very impressive
cast. First the late Brittany Murphy (I really have to admit, this
was really the only movie I liked her in) Michael Biehn, who was a
childhood crush of mine, Jay Mohr, and Candy Clark who many may
remember from such favorites as Amityville 3D, Cat's Eye, and The
Blob. The second thing that stood out to me was how this film was
sorta honoring so many awesome slashers that were made in the 1980's.
In fact I'm almost sure that had this movie been made in 1986 or
1987, it would have been ten times more popular than it all ready is.
Maybe even a cult classic. It has all the elements to make this your
typical classic slasher, but this movie seems to have a little more
texture (mostly the background, and edgy take on the killer going
after virgns) sadly this film was lost by a few cheesy moments, and
the time it was released. Overall it's a film horror movie that's
very worth checking out.
Terror Tract – 2000
The Low Down – Ever
remember a movie and thinking it was way cooler than it actually was?
Well that was Terror Tract for me. I clearly remember this title and
the fact the late John Ritter stared in this. For some unknown reason
I remember back in high school learning about his death in the car
pool I was taking and broke down crying like a little baby (Besides
IT and Problem Child, I really hadn't seen any of his other films)
but for some reason finding out he died hit me like a pile of bricks.
My sister still teases me about it. With that all side, I'm a huge
fan of anthology style films such as Creepshow, Tales From The
Darkside, Body Bags, ect. This movie tells the story of a real estate
agent who takes a couple around to several different houses in what
seems like the perfect neighborhood, only to scare them after telling
them horrible stories about each family that used to live in the
houses he's showing.
Thoughts – Yeah...wasn't
as awesome as I remembered. Terror Tract is what it is. A made for TV
black comedy that only really gets scary until the last story. In
this movie we're treated to three tales from each house the couple is
brought to including the very weird wrap around story with John
Ritter as he takes the couple around. The first story reminds me of
an old urban legend story about the cheating wife and her lover.
Pretty clever ending but it really wasn't anything out of this world.
The second story is about Bobo, the killer money. All I really wanted
to do was slap the little girl from this segment. I work with kids
and trust it, it takes a lot for them to get under my skin. This one
made me want to rip my hair out. The last story about the granny
killer was the one I remember the clearest. All I have to say is
whoever sculpted that mask...complete props. It was creepy as hell!
In fact I'll admit this past weekend when I was watching it alone, I
found myself not wanting to go down to my basement to put my laundry
in the dryer. Can we say pussy or what?! All in all the movie is a
good enough film to have playing in the background of you're
sculpting or painting, besides that it's pretty bad, even with it's
over the top ending. I wouldn't really recommend this movie...it's
pretty bad.
Cherry Falls – Three
stars
Terror Tract – Two stars
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