Horror movies made by today's generation FOR today's generation really suck. This isn't grumpy grumbling about how "everything old is sooooo much better", it's me saying that the modern iteration of the horror movie has become a wankfest of pointless splatter gore tacked onto an extremely meta plot that takes itself far too seriously, weighed down by way way WAY too many pointless CGI effects.
"Muck" thankfully, is not only just a return to the classic horror movie type, it avoids becoming too self-referential for it's own good. And in that sense, there's something here for horror fans of every age.
All the classic key horror film benchmarks are here. Impossibly hot college age kids (that are all kinds of dumb assholes that make REALLY poor decisions in a crisis?) Check. Bad jokes & a wry sense of humor? Check. Boobs? Check. Haunting visuals & an unsettling sense of danger? Check. Also Boobs? Check. A downright dark and creepy East Coast harbor town location with lots of ramshackle scary death houses of death? Check. Premarital Sex, drugs, & rock and roll? Check. Shower scenes? Check. AWESOME boobs? Check. Creepy albino rapist farmer bad guys from Cape Cod-- -where they exclusively make whitey-white people? Check. Horror movie ICON Kane Hodder? BIG-ASS Check. People who spend WAY, WAY TOO MUCH TIME staring at themselves in the mirror in various degrees of undress? Check. Holiday decor as a backdrop theme (specifically, St. Patrick's Day)? More boobs? Check. It's all here. That & much more.
What really makes "Muck" stand out from the horror movie pack are it's visuals. Shot entirely by first-time Director Steve Wolsh on Red Epic in 4K Ultra HD, using a complete wall-to-wall musical score, & using all PRACTICAL visual effects without a TRACE of today's over-relied on CGI garbage. That's right kids...NO CGI computerized effects were used in the making of this movie---a welcome return to what made all the great films of the 70's and 80's so cool. And the film is EXTREMELY heavy with impressive, high-impact stunt work. And I mean HEAVY. There's enough fights, falls, and explosions (EXSPLOSHUNZ!) here to satisfy even the most jaded of film buffs. And they look absolutely gorgeous on screen. It helps the movie maintain momentum & establishes the constant threat of danger even through the character building/plot exposition moments. Everyone who dies in the movie is inevitably SOME kind of jerk, but because of the visceral & explosive nature of their practical-FX shot death scenes, you end up feeling the impact of their loss SO much more. Not a lot of movies can lay claim to pulling that off. Especially in horror movies, where additional people are solely created to be expendable.
The one thing that might throw audiences watching the film is it's continuity. It initially seems like it jumps around randomly out of order from event to event. However, the film's continuity is actually EXTREMELY tight, and I urge you to stay with the film, no matter how confused you might be in those first few minutes. When "Muck" begins, our cast is already noticeably roughed up, beleaguered & running under the gun...which kind of feels like they just walked straight out of an entirely different horror movie. And you're not wrong. "Muck" is actually the middle film of a trilogy...with a prequel currently in production, followed by the sequel right after. But even with that sense of starting the party already halfway through, the film suffers no loss of storytelling direction. In fact, it only heightens the viewer's attention and desire to not only eventually discover how this tale begins, but who will end up being the lucky/unlucky ones left standing at the end to tell the complete tale. It's a bold statement and a risky narrative to make, but it really works well.
Even though it's neither the beginning or the end of the story, "Muck" is a satisfying and complete crowd-pleasing film all on it's lonesome & it actively makes you want to seek out the next cinematic installment of the series. What more could you really ask for? Watch it late at night with the lights out & your doors locked. My only gripe with the film? Nobody gets whacked in the head with an Anvil. And I'm talking like, a big arse Anvil THWACK taking off up to 80% of some poor schmuck's melon. So get on that, Wolsh.
MY FINAL SCORE: 4 out of 5 Bloody Anvils.
"Muck" thankfully, is not only just a return to the classic horror movie type, it avoids becoming too self-referential for it's own good. And in that sense, there's something here for horror fans of every age.
All the classic key horror film benchmarks are here. Impossibly hot college age kids (that are all kinds of dumb assholes that make REALLY poor decisions in a crisis?) Check. Bad jokes & a wry sense of humor? Check. Boobs? Check. Haunting visuals & an unsettling sense of danger? Check. Also Boobs? Check. A downright dark and creepy East Coast harbor town location with lots of ramshackle scary death houses of death? Check. Premarital Sex, drugs, & rock and roll? Check. Shower scenes? Check. AWESOME boobs? Check. Creepy albino rapist farmer bad guys from Cape Cod-- -where they exclusively make whitey-white people? Check. Horror movie ICON Kane Hodder? BIG-ASS Check. People who spend WAY, WAY TOO MUCH TIME staring at themselves in the mirror in various degrees of undress? Check. Holiday decor as a backdrop theme (specifically, St. Patrick's Day)? More boobs? Check. It's all here. That & much more.
What really makes "Muck" stand out from the horror movie pack are it's visuals. Shot entirely by first-time Director Steve Wolsh on Red Epic in 4K Ultra HD, using a complete wall-to-wall musical score, & using all PRACTICAL visual effects without a TRACE of today's over-relied on CGI garbage. That's right kids...NO CGI computerized effects were used in the making of this movie---a welcome return to what made all the great films of the 70's and 80's so cool. And the film is EXTREMELY heavy with impressive, high-impact stunt work. And I mean HEAVY. There's enough fights, falls, and explosions (EXSPLOSHUNZ!) here to satisfy even the most jaded of film buffs. And they look absolutely gorgeous on screen. It helps the movie maintain momentum & establishes the constant threat of danger even through the character building/plot exposition moments. Everyone who dies in the movie is inevitably SOME kind of jerk, but because of the visceral & explosive nature of their practical-FX shot death scenes, you end up feeling the impact of their loss SO much more. Not a lot of movies can lay claim to pulling that off. Especially in horror movies, where additional people are solely created to be expendable.
The one thing that might throw audiences watching the film is it's continuity. It initially seems like it jumps around randomly out of order from event to event. However, the film's continuity is actually EXTREMELY tight, and I urge you to stay with the film, no matter how confused you might be in those first few minutes. When "Muck" begins, our cast is already noticeably roughed up, beleaguered & running under the gun...which kind of feels like they just walked straight out of an entirely different horror movie. And you're not wrong. "Muck" is actually the middle film of a trilogy...with a prequel currently in production, followed by the sequel right after. But even with that sense of starting the party already halfway through, the film suffers no loss of storytelling direction. In fact, it only heightens the viewer's attention and desire to not only eventually discover how this tale begins, but who will end up being the lucky/unlucky ones left standing at the end to tell the complete tale. It's a bold statement and a risky narrative to make, but it really works well.
Even though it's neither the beginning or the end of the story, "Muck" is a satisfying and complete crowd-pleasing film all on it's lonesome & it actively makes you want to seek out the next cinematic installment of the series. What more could you really ask for? Watch it late at night with the lights out & your doors locked. My only gripe with the film? Nobody gets whacked in the head with an Anvil. And I'm talking like, a big arse Anvil THWACK taking off up to 80% of some poor schmuck's melon. So get on that, Wolsh.
MY FINAL SCORE: 4 out of 5 Bloody Anvils.