Reviewed by Carol Sullivan
Genre: Horror
Rating: Not Rated
Director: G. Cameron Romero
Starring:
Kathy Lamkin, Cristen Coppen, David Rountree, Kiko Ellsworth, Christine Carlo, Paula Rhodes
On DVD: October 6th, 2009
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
|
|
I think we can all agree that the original "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was the first great horror film that showed a batch of young people stumbling into a nasty scenario. I do understand filmmakers' desires to repeat that same sort of magic, but sometimes they truly miss the mark. Sorry to say it, but Staunton Hill sits firmly at the top of this pile...
The movie begins as five friends are hitch-hiking to a peace rally in Washington, D.C. through the back woods of Virginia in the fall of 1969. And, yep, you guessed it; they come along a remote farm at nightfall where they decide to stay for the night. But, the waiting Staunton family is not as quaint as their farm appears to be; there's a bible-thumping woman with a shot-gun, a wheel-chair-bound matriarch with a drinking problem and a deformed and severely retarded son... This unflattering portrayal of simple farm-folks becomes moot when the family become overly gracious with their new guests and begins to b-b-q a mystery meat on the grill.
You can imagine where the story-line goes from here, folks. But, I think that my biggest problem with Staunton Hill was that it took exactly 54 minutes for the movie to even get interesting. Perhaps we viewers should be more patient with a good story line and let the story's tension build; but this movie has no tension, no OOMPH is waiting for you. The film is not scary on any level and the two slaughter-room scenes were the only thing graphic about it. While those brief scenes were well done, the rest of the movie is really tiresome.
Though Cameron Romero (son of legendary George A. Romero, Night of the Living Dead) did not do a bad job of directing this film, I do think he needs a better vehicle to hone his talents on. Though George A. Romero had some glowing praise for his son's first real film, I kept wishing he'd given his son some filming advice instead of compliments afterwards; Cameron could learn a bunch from dear old dad!
I can only recommend Staunton Hill as a last, last resort rental.
Overall Rating: 1/2 0f One Star
|
|
|
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 25 November 2009 13:07 )
|
