Starring: Sarah French, Cerina Vincent, Monique Parent
Directed by: Marcel Walz
Every horror fan has a checklist of things that they’d like to see in a particular presentation when they hit the PLAY button – for me, it’s a high body count, eccentric characters that I don’t mind seeing laid to waste in gruesome fashion, and the backdrops necessary to accentuate each specific kill…Marcel Walz, were you listening to me? Are you my new Santa Claus when it comes to cinematic slaughtering? In his latest Giallo-like slash-fest, THAT’S A WRAP, apparently it’s an “ask & you shall receive” scenario, so let’s tiptoe past the open caskets and try not to wake the dead – we’ve got a film to cut open and play with the innards.
Walz, whose previous films such as ROOTWOOD, BLOOD FEAST & BLIND all have their certain intricacies that make each specific project a viewing pleasure for audiences alike, mainly due to his chimerical use of lensing each scene – the guy’s a talent behind the camera and this film solidifies that statement. As we dive into the film, we’re introduced to Mason Maestro, a proud & dignified director who’s just completed his latest movie, titled THAT’S A WRAP, and he’s putting on a colossal bash to celebrate the occasion. With a bevy of cast members in the mix, we as the audience will have a literal laundry list of potential victims once “Mistress” enters the picture. Who’s Mistress, you ask? Well, she (or he) is actually the lead character/killer in Maestro’s slasher, and someone has decided to up the representation-game by dressing up as the killer and performing some crude dissection upon our maligned cast & crew.
While the movie rages on, the question of “who has taken their obsession one step too far?”, and ultimately leaving an assemblage of hollowed out meat-suits in the wake…Walz has a axe to grind and it shows with the direction here (and that’s a great thing for us gorehounds!). Performances are fun all around with Robert Donavan chewing up the scenes as Maestro, Monique Parent as his wife Lily, and perhaps the most shining star of them all, the absolutely radiant Sarah French as Harper – she’s knocked it out of the park in some of Walz’s other productions and this is no different – you want a scream queen of the highest caliber? Look no further. Let me just put it to you all this way, the lineup is stacked with noteworthy spots, many in a cameo-like fashion, with names like Cerina Vincent, Dave Sheridan & Gigi Gustin all delivering in earnest.
Backed by the writing of Mr. Joe Knetter & Robert L. Lucas, the framework for a fantastic & fervent slasher/whodunit has been laid down, combined with the directorial finesse of Walz, THAT’S A WRAP really gives its viewers something to cheer about, once you wash all that blood off of your hands. This film is a must-watch as we cruise into the upcoming haunt season, and it’ll be available on digital platforms on August 25th – mark that date down, but please don’t forget your lines…these types of things have the tendency to bring out the ire in a filmmaker – there, you’ve been warned.
At the tender age of 6, Matt was indoctrinated into the horror genre by his mother, who asked him to sit down and watch "The Exorcist" with her - ever since then, it's been a blood-soaked, neon-lit, fever dream of an existence. "You don't make horror...horror makes you."
(Can't remember who came up with this quote, but he was probably off-kilter like I am).
