I've been on a Danielle Harris movie binge watch. She's a great actress, but I noticed many of the movies only use her as a cameo or to trick the audience into watching or paying for a movie where she's hardly in the movie or her talents are underutilized or wasted. This movie truly is a Danielle Harris driven movie. In this movie, Danielle Harris plays Wendy, a secretary with low self-confidence who survives the attacks of a serial killer repeatedly trying to kill her and gains confidence in herself. I lowered my expectations of movies when it comes to the horror genre since many disappoints. So compared to other movies, this was a good horror movie which allowed Harris to shine and show off her acting talent. The movie also stars John Jerratt as the serial killer, Franklin Rood, Casper Van Dien as Detective Delgado, the beautiful Rae Dawn Chong as Detective Burdine, and the late Valerie Harper in a small but memorable role as Wendy's overbearing mother. Good cast, good writing/storyline, good heroine/villain match with Harris and Rood.
Wendy starts out as a young secretary working a job she hates, afraid to ask her boss for a raise, an overbearing mother treating her as a constant disappointment, a boyfriend named Jeremy she's not really interested in and obviously trying to get her back to his place to sleep with her, and a mediocre life which seemed like it's going nowhere. Yet after facing death from the serial killer Franklin Rood who murders his unsuspecting victims by strangling and beheading them to death with a garrote wire, Wendy manages to get away unlike his other victims. Instead of finding another target, Rood becomes obsess with killing Wendy and Wendy slowly transforms into a more confident version after surviving death.
I thought it was going to be a stupid movie since the killer was revealed in the opening act of the movie but Rood was a compelling, crazy, and almost likable villain similar to Freddy Krueger was to Nancy in Nightmare on Elm Street(1984). It was astounding how he always managed to stay one step ahead of the cops and wasn't afraid of getting caught and leaving them breadcrumbs to find out who he is or who was his latest victim His fearlessness made him a compelling villian. I'm not a feminist but I liked how in this movie, her beta male boyfriend or the cops were not able to save or protect Wendy. Wendy had to find creative ways to outsmart the villian long enough to stay alive and save herself. I liked how she took advantage of every opportunity to save herself and reacted how a normal individual would react when placed in a crazy situation.
Wendy's transformation is actually realistic. When faced with a life or death situation, you either developed a flight or fight response. Wendy chose to fight back and by doing so she became stronger, bolder, and empowered in other aspect of her life. She stood up to her overbearing mother who was so shocked by her daughter's transformation she finally shut up and listened to her daughter. She was forced to move on from a unfulfilling relationship of convenience she didn't want and into a new developing relationship with someone possibly more interesting. By facing death, she became more competent and learnt the only person she really needed to depend on was herself.
Most horror movie cops tend to be idiots. There were a couple of idiot cops in this movie, but for the most part Dien as Detective Delgado and Chong as Detective Burdine were actually written pretty good as cops in a horror movie. Their reactions were realistic and their investigations into the murder moved the plot forward and we began to learn more about the killer and his motives while Wendy and Rood played their cat and mouse game.
I realized enjoyed this movie. The entire cast shine and I liked how the tables were turned in the final scene. Definitely would recommend for someone who wants a decent horror flick compared the myriads of mediocre ones out there .
Wendy starts out as a young secretary working a job she hates, afraid to ask her boss for a raise, an overbearing mother treating her as a constant disappointment, a boyfriend named Jeremy she's not really interested in and obviously trying to get her back to his place to sleep with her, and a mediocre life which seemed like it's going nowhere. Yet after facing death from the serial killer Franklin Rood who murders his unsuspecting victims by strangling and beheading them to death with a garrote wire, Wendy manages to get away unlike his other victims. Instead of finding another target, Rood becomes obsess with killing Wendy and Wendy slowly transforms into a more confident version after surviving death.
I thought it was going to be a stupid movie since the killer was revealed in the opening act of the movie but Rood was a compelling, crazy, and almost likable villain similar to Freddy Krueger was to Nancy in Nightmare on Elm Street(1984). It was astounding how he always managed to stay one step ahead of the cops and wasn't afraid of getting caught and leaving them breadcrumbs to find out who he is or who was his latest victim His fearlessness made him a compelling villian. I'm not a feminist but I liked how in this movie, her beta male boyfriend or the cops were not able to save or protect Wendy. Wendy had to find creative ways to outsmart the villian long enough to stay alive and save herself. I liked how she took advantage of every opportunity to save herself and reacted how a normal individual would react when placed in a crazy situation.
Wendy's transformation is actually realistic. When faced with a life or death situation, you either developed a flight or fight response. Wendy chose to fight back and by doing so she became stronger, bolder, and empowered in other aspect of her life. She stood up to her overbearing mother who was so shocked by her daughter's transformation she finally shut up and listened to her daughter. She was forced to move on from a unfulfilling relationship of convenience she didn't want and into a new developing relationship with someone possibly more interesting. By facing death, she became more competent and learnt the only person she really needed to depend on was herself.
Most horror movie cops tend to be idiots. There were a couple of idiot cops in this movie, but for the most part Dien as Detective Delgado and Chong as Detective Burdine were actually written pretty good as cops in a horror movie. Their reactions were realistic and their investigations into the murder moved the plot forward and we began to learn more about the killer and his motives while Wendy and Rood played their cat and mouse game.
I realized enjoyed this movie. The entire cast shine and I liked how the tables were turned in the final scene. Definitely would recommend for someone who wants a decent horror flick compared the myriads of mediocre ones out there .