The Greenskeepr tells the tale of the 'Summerisle Country Club' golf course & it's assistant greenskeeper Allen Anderson (Allelon Ruggiero). It's the day of his 25th birthday & lately Allen has been suffering from horrible nightmares, his step-dad John (Bruce Taylor) treats him like an idiot, his mum (Alfea Thomas) is an alcoholic, his girlfriend Mary Katherine (Allison Kulp) treats him like dirt, he has a crush on a Spanish waitress Elena Rodriguez (Melissa Ponzio), everyone makes fun of him & his only mate is Oatis Washington (Thomas Merdis) the head greenskeeper. Oh & he is a failed screenwriter too. That night his girlfriend Mary Katherine & a bunch of her friends, Mary Beth (Stephanie Bingham), Mary Jane (Christi Taylor), Chas (Steve Rickman), Champ (Jamie Renell), Chet (Michael Short) & Stu (Patrick Donovan) decide to hold a party & convince Allen to open the club up after hours. However as they party, take drugs, have sex & fool around a psychotic killer dressed in a greenskeeper outfit starts to kill them off one by one...
Directed by Kevin Greene who has a cameo in the film as Chip plus he co-wrote & produced it, Adam Johnson who also has a cameo in the film, & Tripp Norton who also produced I was amazed at how much I actually enjoyed The Greenskeeper. The script by Greene & Alex Weir who, like everyone else it seems, has a small cameo somewhere, is at it's most basic a horror comedy. It definitely doesn't take itself too seriously but does take itself seriously enough to be credible. Horror comedy is a very difficult thing to pull off successfully as getting the balance right probably isn't an easy thing but The Greenskeeper has a really nice balance between to the two in my opinion, it's not too jokey to become stupid & still serves up the sex, nudity & gore. There are a few nice amusing moments here, the self referential dialogue is present & is quite clever. The character's were far less annoying then they should be, I don't know why but I liked them. The Greenskeeper is maybe a little slow to get going but once it does it never lets up with one gory murder after another. I also was impressed with the ending which at least tries one or two nice twists, how effective they are will depend on how many of these things you've seen although I seen loads of slashers & I still thought the killers identity & motives were cool. Think Scream (1996) on a golf course! Also think The Burning (1981) the slasher The Greenskeeper resembles the most, an accident that leaves someone horribly burned, the burned person supposedly out for revenge, the garden shears as a weapon including slitting someone's throat with them.
Director's Greene, Johnson & Norton do a good job but I must admit I'm surprised it took three people to direct. There are some good scenes, some creepy scenes & some funny scenes. There are also some really cool gore scenes, a slit throat, a burned man, a clothes hook stuck through someones throat, a couple having sex have a huge hole punched into them with the things you make holes on the golf course with, someone gets nails shot into their face, a decapitation & my favourite bit when someone has a lawn sprinkler stuck into their stomach & their blood squirts out of the sprinkler all over the place. There are also pleasing amounts of sex, nudity & a girl sitting on a toilet.
I am surprised, again, that The Greenskeepr only had a budget of about $80,000 as this is an extremely well made & competent film throughout. This is the sort of thing all low budget filmmakers should aspire too, no fancy CGI special effects that look awful & decent professional cinematography where the camera remains steady so you can actually see what going on. The acting was OK & there are some hot babes in this as well, which doesn't hurt.
I'm pretty sure most people will dismiss The Greenskeeper as just another low budget slasher film & I suppose that's what it is, but I saw just a little bit more in it. I have good feelings towards this film & while I can't recommend it over classics like Scream or Friday the 13th (1980) if you like your slashers tongue-in-cheek I strongly urge you check this one out. Remember, It's Par for the Corpse...
Directed by Kevin Greene who has a cameo in the film as Chip plus he co-wrote & produced it, Adam Johnson who also has a cameo in the film, & Tripp Norton who also produced I was amazed at how much I actually enjoyed The Greenskeeper. The script by Greene & Alex Weir who, like everyone else it seems, has a small cameo somewhere, is at it's most basic a horror comedy. It definitely doesn't take itself too seriously but does take itself seriously enough to be credible. Horror comedy is a very difficult thing to pull off successfully as getting the balance right probably isn't an easy thing but The Greenskeeper has a really nice balance between to the two in my opinion, it's not too jokey to become stupid & still serves up the sex, nudity & gore. There are a few nice amusing moments here, the self referential dialogue is present & is quite clever. The character's were far less annoying then they should be, I don't know why but I liked them. The Greenskeeper is maybe a little slow to get going but once it does it never lets up with one gory murder after another. I also was impressed with the ending which at least tries one or two nice twists, how effective they are will depend on how many of these things you've seen although I seen loads of slashers & I still thought the killers identity & motives were cool. Think Scream (1996) on a golf course! Also think The Burning (1981) the slasher The Greenskeeper resembles the most, an accident that leaves someone horribly burned, the burned person supposedly out for revenge, the garden shears as a weapon including slitting someone's throat with them.
Director's Greene, Johnson & Norton do a good job but I must admit I'm surprised it took three people to direct. There are some good scenes, some creepy scenes & some funny scenes. There are also some really cool gore scenes, a slit throat, a burned man, a clothes hook stuck through someones throat, a couple having sex have a huge hole punched into them with the things you make holes on the golf course with, someone gets nails shot into their face, a decapitation & my favourite bit when someone has a lawn sprinkler stuck into their stomach & their blood squirts out of the sprinkler all over the place. There are also pleasing amounts of sex, nudity & a girl sitting on a toilet.
I am surprised, again, that The Greenskeepr only had a budget of about $80,000 as this is an extremely well made & competent film throughout. This is the sort of thing all low budget filmmakers should aspire too, no fancy CGI special effects that look awful & decent professional cinematography where the camera remains steady so you can actually see what going on. The acting was OK & there are some hot babes in this as well, which doesn't hurt.
I'm pretty sure most people will dismiss The Greenskeeper as just another low budget slasher film & I suppose that's what it is, but I saw just a little bit more in it. I have good feelings towards this film & while I can't recommend it over classics like Scream or Friday the 13th (1980) if you like your slashers tongue-in-cheek I strongly urge you check this one out. Remember, It's Par for the Corpse...