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Runtime: 90 mins
Directed by: Alastair Orr
Starring: Liesl Ahlers, Sean Cameron Michael, Reine Swart
Grimmfest Feature by: Darren Tilby
Synopsis: Friendships are put to the test when nine former classmates on a reunion camping trip awake to find they're locked into explosive vests with countdown timers on them. The only way to get more time? Kill each other...
Grimmfest Say: A slick and inventive spin on the old “kill one another to stay alive” scenario, this splices together aspects of BATTLE ROYALE, THE BIG CHILL, and every “teens-in-the-woods” horror film ever made into a knowing, witty, and surprisingly meanspirited little movie. The situation, once established, plays out as expected, with any notions of mutual cooperation quickly evaporating, as the various tensions and jealousies all break out and the characters quickly turn on one another. The twist here is that this supposed bunch of old friends don't really like one another that much to begin with; indeed, the thing that originally bonded them together is actually the same thing which has led them into their current sticky situation, so the mayhem is not long in coming. The result is fast-paced, cynical, and cruel; a film in which you find yourself not so much rooting for the characters, as wondering which of them will die next, and how flamboyantly brutal that death will be. In other words, it's a real crowdpleaser.
What I'm Expecting: Did anyone see Severance, the Danny Dyer film from 2006? Well, I'm thinking part that, part Battle Royale and part Tales from the Lodge (another cool indie film I saw at Grimmfest last year). It will undoubtedly be a nasty piece of gore-ridden fun; a tribute, perhaps, to the "torture porn" exploitation films of the 60s and 70s. Or Triggered could throw us a curveball and we could, instead, be treated to an intense, mean-spiritted character study. Either way, this is one that I'm really looking forward to.
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