Director: David Ryan Keith
Writer: David Ryan Keith (Screenplay)
Starring: Danielle Harris, Damien Puckler, Gary Kasper, Jon Campling, Tevy Poe, Benjamin Selway
Plot: Twenty years ago at the infamous Redwood Farm, the owner went mad and killed his family and himself. Shrouded in urban legend ever since, a stranger obsessed with the unsolved Redwood murders convinces a group of bereaved family members to venture into the wilderness in the hope of proving the existence of the notorious burlap bag-masked maniac. Their quest for truth sees a sinister turn of events, as the hunters become the hunted and a blood-soaked fight for survival ensues when they find that the sinister tales told of the axe-wielding psycho farmer are very real indeed.
Tagline – Death has many faces
Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Redwood Massacre: Annihilation starts when author Tom Dempsey (Campling) gets information from a stranger in Max (Puckler) that might finally answer the questions about what happened to his daughter, which will see him turn to his other daughter Laura (Harris) to go on one final search for the truth.
Joined by long time friends Guy (Kasper) and Jen (Poe) the five head off into the wilderness to an abandoned army base, the only location they haven’t searched for answers, where they will end up biting off more than they can chew, when the killer returns for more bodies.
Thoughts on Redwood Massacre: Annihilation
Characters – Laura Dempsey has seen her sister vanish on a trip and she has been training herself in self-defence ever since, never giving up hope of finding out the truth, which has seen her become distant from her father, as the two have gone on different paths in looking for the truth. Max is the man that has a lot of information that Laura and Tom never received, he has the mask or sack the killer is rumoured to wear, having his own secrets about why he is helping the Dempsey’s. Guy is the long time friend of Laura’s he will always be ready for a fight, while having a joke along the way. Tom Dempsey has written books about the murders in the past, he is always investigating the disappearance of his daughter and now he might finally get the answers he is looking for.
Performances – Danielle Harris is the biggest draw in the acting side of this film, she is one of the biggest stars in the horror community and it shows with her strength in a combat and dealing with the horror situations. Damien Puckler does give us a very unsettling performance in the film, while Gary Kasper does get laughs through the film.
Story – The story here follows a father and daughter who might get to finally learn what happen to a family member who they believe was the victim of a mysterious serial killer. This is designed as a sequel, only it doesn’t feel connected in anyway other than the killer’s look, it does feel bigger, with a bigger mystery around what has caused the number of deaths. We do have the slasher ideas of the story, with the bigger group being created to have a few disposable characters, while trying to create a bigger world environment. The direction the story takes for Max, does feel like it came from ‘Creep’ which a times does get more uncomfortable, rather than scary.
Horror – The horror in the film comes from the slasher side of things, we get to see how the killer will create the bloodbath in his path.
Settings – The film does take us away from the farm which was the key location of the original, taking us to a military base, which feels bigger, but does take a lot away from the original idea.
Special Effects – The effects are great seeing the injuries the killer inflicts with the blood pouring out everything in every kill.
Scene of the Movie – The first of the group kill.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not on the farm, which did create more environment driven kills.
Final Thoughts – This is a bigger sequel that is targeting creating a bigger picture without capturing as much magic as the first film.