$la$her$

Maurice Devereaux (2001, Canada)

Cast: Sarah Joslyn Crowder, Tony Curtis Blondell, Carolina Pla, Kieran Keller, Christopher Piggins, Neil Napier

Plot:
In a not-so-distant future, the most watched TV-show is a Japanese delirious game called SLASHERS. The concept: every week, a bunch of lunatics agree to be chased by some psycho-killers (the slashers) for a set amount of time. If they survive they win a big pile of money. Everything is allowed during the show, so the contestants can run, try to kill the slashers, try to kill each other, etc. But there are implicit rules.. that might help them last longer..
This week is the American premiere of the show, and some contestants seem to be ready for it, while others have no clue what’s waiting for them at the next corner. Be prepared for a nice ending...

Appreciation: 9/10
"Blairwitch project" meets "Running man" meets "Rope". This movie is actually better than it sounds. I absolutely loved this one!
From a ridiculous budget, the director manages to pull out something original an which is not looking like crap. Hell, he even managed to make it look like it’s shot in one single take. Rope, from Hitchcock is a classic known for this, but here we’re not talking going back and forth between 2 rooms, but running through numerous rooms, avoiding numerous obstacles and all. Purely insane. And the whole thing is filmed in a most realistic way, a bit like Blairwitch, only you don't have to suffer the major camera shaking this time.
Perhaps not as atmospheric as it could have been with a higher budget, still the suspense works very well and the characters are solid. If course it's cheezy by moments, but that's to be expected with that kind of movie, especially since the whole thing takes place on a TV set, where contestants are subject to any type of behavior and emotions, they're not supposed to look like actors. But the actors here impersonate that feeling of amateur-ness very well. You can’t help but find Chainsaw Charlie (Neil Napier) sympathetic. Hear him talking about his kids and wife, "I’m just doing my job here".. Unfortunately, the villains are not all equally good, for exemple the preacherman (played again by Neil Napier) seemed a bit weak to me, but at least he doesn't get much air time.
The script is well done, and it contains a few interesting twists that will keep you guessing for the ending.. Some situations are pure genius. For exemple, during the commercial breaks, the contestants and slashers must stop what they’re doing and hold still, whatever position they might be in. Which leads to some absolutely delicious twisted humorous situations.
The gore scenes are quite funny as well, though I would have expected more of them, perhaps with more participants and/or more slashers, but i guess the budgets wouldn't allow it.
Overall, it’s a well done satire both of human society and other movies, well worth watching. Next time you wanna watch a horror movie, rent this instead of XYZ sequel from some famous overkilled franchise

Other suggestions: Day of the dead, Evil dead, The convent