The Horror Show
Karpenter
by Christian Ackerman
Ah, the slasher film. When people conjure images of the horror genre in their minds, a good percentage will specifically be of the slasher. Images of Michael Myers carving up a babysitter or Jason laying down the old slice 'n dice often represent the genre as a whole for a lot of people. The slashers have made their mark and with that comes around 11 trillion movies, especially of the independent, low budget variety. I've seen some that were fantastic, others that made me envy the film's victims as well as just about everything in between. So, when I heard the basic premise of Karpenter I knew that it would be falling into the slasher category. But would it be one of the good ones? Great ones? Bad ones? Borderline unwatchable ones? Let's take a closer look to answer this.
Karpenter has a simple setup, which overall, I am thankful for. It centers around an escaped psychopathic killer named Karpenter who is now back on the streets, looking to satisfy his bloodlust. With a few new kills fresh under his belt, Karptenter cuts down person after person, silently and without reason. The primary protagonist of the film is a young woman with a mild aversion to Halloween. Did I mention this film takes place on and around Halloweentime? I feel like with all the other elements I don't even need to state that but for clarity I will. The young woman and her boyfriend are going to a Halloween party and I'll let you guess what comes next. Hint: The killer and the party do not remain separate for long.
Let's address the elephant wearing a Shatner mask in the room right away. Yes, the plot borrows heavily from John Carpenter's 1978 classic masterpiece Halloween. Even people who, for some unknown reason, have never seen Halloween should be able to gather this based on my summary alone. The slow, silent killer. The one girl who isn't especially fond of Halloween. The mask, the police on the sidelines; it's the Halloween series all over. But at this point in time, it's like saying a magician was influenced by Houdini or a band was inspired by Pink Floyd. It's so common that “Halloween rip-off” is practically its own subgenre. I'm not going to pretend this one brings anything new to the table, but for what it's worth, I still had fun with Karpenter. But if you're looking for a game changer you will be disappointed. It obviously doesn't stack up to such a masterful influence, nor many other quality slasher projects, but it has its own characters and style to a degree.
According to IMDb, this movie was made with practically zero money. All the actors are friends or family of the director and the film is essentially as shoestring as possible. This definitely shows, but also makes me respect certain aspects a little more. The gore effects aren't Peter Jackson or Hatchet levels by any means, but considering the complete lack of finance, they're not bad at all. The acting quality dips and rises depending on the actor but honestly, corny acting is one of my favorite aspects of movies like this one. There's something charming about people doing their best to act and as long as the movie is of a fun style that doesn't take itself too seriously, it's totally fine.
All in all I won't pretend that Karpenter is a remarkable film but I didn't dislike it either. It pads the hell out of some shots to lengthen the running time and makes some questionable choices I would rather have done without, but overall, I enjoyed my experience watching the film. So, check it out, don't check it out... it's up to you. It's that type of movie for me. I won't highly recommend nor will I warn against. I'm glad I saw it, that's all I can really say in the end.
P.J. Griffin, HMS
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