Director
Dave Payne
Cast
Devon Gummersall Jack
Derek Richardson Nelson
Tina Illman Gretchen
Scott Whyte Trip
Arielle Kebbel Cookie
Michael Ironside Henry
Eric Mabius ..Radford
David Hadinger The Reeker
DVD Release Date: September 25, 2007
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 90 Minutes
The Movie
You’ve seen it before I’m sure. Five college students are on their way to a big rave party out in the desert. They all hop in one car and head out on their way. Some of them know one another while others are meeting for the first time so there is a wide array of personalities in the car. There are the frat brothers Nelson, who is a music savant, and Trip who is a party animal. Cookie is the dingy hot girl that likes to party. Gretchen is driving and seems to be the level-headed foreigner. And then there’s Jack, the blind guy.
Trip thought he’d purchase some fun pills better known as ecstasy before they went on their merry way. He only bought about five pills but stole the dealer’s entire stash and now the psycho dealer is on his way to make Trip pay. Gretchen isn’t happy about drugs in her car so she drops Trip off at a diner they stopped at earlier. Oddly enough though, the diner is now deserted and the group is out of gas. Some really strange things are happening as they wait for someone to come by and in time they learn their lives are in danger because they aren’t alone.
Perhaps they were going for cheesy horror here, but I highly doubt it because it didn’t even make it to that level. And this is one bomb that can’t be blamed on a low budget because through some of the sets and effects (attempted), the money was obviously there. It’s just that not a single person on set had the talent to succeed in even making this a good film to watch when you want something to laugh at.
The film’s name and villain is obvious once we realize that his sudden appearance is evident to the kids by when they can smell him. You heard that right, smell him. The viewers can sense his presence by the horrible looking air ripple effect when he approaches. And when he’s got you in his stenches (good one eh?); it’s then that he whips out one of his many mechanical devices to chop off some of your limbs or tear up your insides. Someone please explain this to me if you’ve seen Reeker, but why is the killer wearing a gas mask? Can he not stand his own stench?
Everyone in the film just can’t period. I would blame it on the horrible script and direction, but they just suck. Arielle Kebbel (Cookie) can’t even fake a good cough when “there’s something in the air.” She also has no idea how to even act like she is high. She took a hit of ecstasy and finally started to “feel” the affects of it some three hours later when she seemed nothing more then buzzed. And as for Jack, what blind person goes anywhere without a cane or any type of object to help them learn the area they are walking in? There are just so many odd things, plot holes, and unfinished segments that after about twenty minutes, you’ll just stop caring anyway.
Be warned there are spoilers ahead, but I urge you not to watch the film anyway. Everything is just so incredibly absurd throughout the whole film including Jack getting his sight back from being drilled in the head and Cookie going outside to pee when she is inside a hotel room because the toilet is busted. Obvious you’re going to die or what? Just the entire film was ridiculous. I mean at one point Trip shows up after he is presumed dead, but only has his arm cut off. You can see his arm bent up behind him in his shirt for the love of God. Come on people, at least try to fool somebody.
The Video
The film is shown in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen and is just not good. Most of the duration is at night so almost everything is in total darkness and it is just too dark. Some scenes look grainy and gritty, but don’t give off a good effect if it was done on purpose. And then other scenes just look compressed way too much and everything on screen looks squished.
The Audio
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and also leaves a lot to be desired. Many times I had to turn up the volume to hear what everyone was saying and then moments later a mood-changing music note would blast my ears off. During other moments, the music can’t even be heard at all and the credits are a good example of that.
Special Features
Making Of Reeker – An eleven minute behind the scenes look at the film that is worth nothing. The cast and crew shamefully plug it and how “good” it is by raving about it constantly. Producer Tina Illman labels it as a “hip, scary horror movie” and director Dave Payne said he wanted to make a film that was “scary and fun.” My friends, you failed miserably. And showing us how you made a crappy flick doesn’t make it any better either.
Photo Gallery – A collection of stills and behind the scenes shots from the film. Boring.
Trailers – The Roost and The Curse Of El Charro
The Inside Pulse
It’s called Reeker for God’s sake. The guys kills people but they sense he’s there a split second before by how bad he smells. Sure it’s original, but it’s stupid. I’ve seen some incredibly dumb horror films in the last year alone, but this one takes the cake by far. It wasn’t scary, funny, or enjoyable in any sense of the word. To some extent it’s a blessing there weren’t more special features so this DVD could be taken out of my player as quickly as possible. I actually believe that producer/actor Tina Illman (Gretchen) let herself survive for a reason, and that’s because she knows she may never work on another film again after this one. Oh God! Just found out that right now they are filming No Man’s Land: Reeker 2! RUN!
