When I saw the real trailer for Eli Roth's Thanksgiving movie based off the fake trailer he made almost twenty years ago, I thought there's no way a feature version could remotely stick the landing set-up by what's arguably the best part of Grindhouse.
But you know what? It kind of stuck the landing.
I joked to my buddy after the movie that it was "the best horror movie of 2007." At it's core, it's just an old school slasher, a throwback to a different era of horror films. It's familiar, but in a comfy blanket kind of way rather than a "why don't they make something new" kind of way. It's in no way trying to reinvent the wheel. It's also the best Scream sequel / remake ever. (Despite the fact I guessed who the killer was after the first scene, the movie made me doubt that guess multiple times.) It's funny without being too funny, and gory without being too gory. The cast is likable, even if some of the characters are overblown.
The third act gets delightfully weird and comes the closest to fulfilling the promise of that original gonzo trailer. By the way, the movie knows you've watched that trailer and does a mostly good job of subverting your expectations in terms of how you think those scenes are going to play out.
RC says check it out.
