Madison County (2011)

After taking a few days off from watching movies and looking at the paranormal unexplained world from a more scientific eye, it was time to get back to some entertainment.  The first flick I grabbed for my Fathers Day weekend viewing was the 2011 low budget entry, Madison County.

Plot/ A group of college kid’s travel to a small, mountain town called Madison County to interview the author of a tell-all book on the accounts of several grisly murders that happened there. However, when the kids get to Madison County, the author is nowhere to be found and the town’s people act as if they have not seen him in years. They also say that the killer never existed and the murders never happened. However, when the kids start digging around to get their own answers, they find out that the stories may be more real than the townspeople are letting on!

When I saw this box at Family Video, I was drawn in by the thought of a pig-masked psychopath and that is what I got. Unfortunately, this one does little to rise above or set itself apart from some of the other flicks in the backwoods setting. It is definitely full of cliché.  I will say that the quality of filmmaking was there (minus some editing flaws) for such a low reported budget, giving hope that with a bigger budget movies from Eric England could be something. There was an extremely uneasy and believable atmosphere throughout. However, there was some pacing issues early on, the characterization never hit home with everything sort of running together and there was a lack of gore (a lot of blood splatter though), all things that hurt the film overall. In the end, it was a bit too subdued and lacked originality. Sure, I would not run out and buy this one, bit it did have some entertaining moments and could help pass a couple hours if you need to.

Porkchop (2010)

Growing up during the 1970s and 1980s, the no budget to low budget slasher flick was a staple in my youth. I remember stopping at the video store every afternoon on my way home to see if there were any new movie posters or strange videos had arrived. Now that I have grown-up, I still love watching those when I get the chance and when I can find a modern no budget indie flick (especially ones filmed in somewhat local areas like Charleston, WV) that pays homage to those days; I love it even more. Fortunately, it seems like flicks like that are becoming common again, first with Shriek of the Sasquatch last weekend and now I find, 2010s Porkchop.

Plot/ The story of a group of young campers headed off into the wilderness for a weekend of partying at an abandoned summer camp only to discover they are not alone and the camp's inhabitant, a deranged redneck with a pig mask, is not pleased with their presence.

Let me start by saying that many will watch this movie, destroy it for every flaw, and not quite understand the genius of what it is. This is a throwback to the 1980s and the low budget to no-budget campy slasher flicks that defined the big box VHS era. True fans will know exactly what I am talking about, when Wizard Video, Gorgon and Paragon ruled the video store shelves. Technically, this flick has many flaws; poor scripting, choppy footage, uneven acting, and bad pacing, they are all there (which in a typical film review would be total detractors). However, this movie is a blast and they did a great job at presenting an authentic feel for the 1980s camp slasher (down to the stranger throwing out a foreboding warning). Sure, there could have been more gore (and boobs), but that is because the effects were actually good in the death scenes (robot sex, really?) and I wanted to see more (just like my teen years).  In the end, if you like 1980s period no-budget slasher entertainment, you will love this one. Yes, this may be a train wreck of a flick, but it is one entertaining train wreck!