Rating: **1/2
Starring: Tony Todd, Sally Kirkland, Douglas Tait
Simply read the title and tell me you didn't thought you smelled cheesy cheapness on this one. That very thought struck me while I look at the video cover of this movie, featuring a badly composed picture featuring an hollow-eyed killer, a bright carnival in the background, some teen couple running, and Tony Todd looking mighty serious. I was expecting a horrendously cheap DTV release in the mold of the recent Fullmoon movie series thanks to this cover, but I what I got instead was one bad movie that I ended up enjoying and finished until its rip-offed but fair finale.
Say whaaaat?
A group of generic paper-thin characters is forced to attend a fieldtrip to a Railroad museum one Saturday morning as a mean of receiving extra credit to pass a class. Some interesting side notes was given to some of these thespians; one had his girlfriend pregnant and is now bitter about it, another had a presumably abusive and molesting father, the rest are your typical colorful jocks, fat gramma's boy, a clean looking slut, a spoiled Asian brat and one deaf-mute girl who's cousin simply joined in to be her interpreter.So, early on, we see one of the movie's big weaknesses, we're next treated with a supposedly haunting performance of Tony Todd telling he kids death estimates of rail road accidents. Not what I got in mind in a field trip but hey, I have my sick cravings so I stuck around and went on watching. Right after their trip, on their way home, the bus swerves to a crash trying to avoid someone and the kids woke up almost unscathed in the aftermath, with their teacher and driver missing and a mysteriously barren carnival up ahead in the middle of the desert.
Though they did thought about how strange their predicament is, the teens nevertheless went out and head on to the carnival, hoping to see someone in there that could help. After a lengthy wait watching these kids trying to pass the time playing games and going through merry-go-rounds while some of the more rational minded tries to figure out what's going on, a strange eyeless killer dubbed as Railroad Jack finally makes a move with his trusted pickaxe, hacking these teens down one by one.Jack The Reaper had a lot going on but it never went beyond being a typical dead teenager film. Still, I did enjoyed it entertainment-wise; the film is well shot and most of the acting is fair for stereotypes. Also, I came to appreciate the film's doomed and gloom atmosphere that goes so well with isolated desert and empty carnival settings, giving much flair to the attacks. There's also some brooding mythology around Jack, quickly hinted in the opening as a mysterious narrator began telling us "her children's tale", which soon links up to the twist in the end, albeit completely unoriginal.
If this was given a better direction and some more budget, I do believe we might have at least a keeper here if they explored further into this and maybe added some more gore to the murders but alas, the ripped-off ending may not satisfy anybody and those who were expecting more from this film is inevitably let down by all of its gaping plot holes and clichés.
In conclusion, Jack The Reaper is understandably simple and overlooked, but for those who can stomach it, the film did offered something worthwhile and bearable in its moments.
Bodycount:
1 female seen killed in car crash
1 male hacked with pickaxe
1 female killed offcamera
1 male pickaxed on the chest
1 female hacked on the head with pickaxe
1 male pickaxed on the face
1 male hacked to death with pickaxe
1 male pickaxed through the back of his head
1 male hacked with pickaxe
1 female pickaxed through the head
1 male killed in crash
Total: 11
