Killer Instinct (2001)

   

Directed by: Ken Barbet

Written by:
 Bruce Cameron & Christopher Stone

Starring:


Paige Moss .... Wendy
Jeanine Meyers .... Liz
Bridgetee Brooks .... Susan
Dee Wallace-Stone .... Sarah Fairchild
Corbin Bernstein .... Jennings Wilhite
Andrea Langi .... Tina
Joakim Alvarez .... Riko
Scott Roman .... Jeff
Tim Carr .... Paul

Release Date: Direct-to-DVD: August 14, 2001

Rating:

 

A bloodthirsty killer named Matthew Hackett (Gregory Wood) gets hung by a cult of people in the sleepy town of Perrysburg and 15 years later a group of teens involved with a dare club break into an abandoned asylum that is reportedly to be haunted and have the spend the night there.
One by one the teens end up being murdered by sharp glass, suffocations, death accidents and posessions but they can't seem to escape after they are all trapped in.
It seems that someone is watching them and planning death curses on all of them. Could it be the ghost of the Matthew Hackett?
Meanwhile, a lady named Sarah Fairchild (Dee Wallace-Stone) tries to find all sorts of information on Hackett and why he was sacrificed.

 

The story starts off with a prologue which was cheesily fun to watch on some bloodied looking maniac going crazy and a gang of people plan to hang him which is a nice mysterious start to a horror film.
Then the story slides quite a bit when it takes place present day as there's a lustful scene between a couple as well as in other takes with Sarah Fairchild talking business with others which looked incredibly bland to watch.
Later on a group of partying teens go into a van to travel to the asylum where the mess started but this looked all too set out than natural and wanting to join in on the fun especially when they break into the place and are drinking as well as being stupid. Sorry this just doesn't cut it as well as having cheesy thunderstorms by trying to add the horror into the picture.
While there's nice shots on the kids looking around the area and placing candles one of them is caught by the killer and hung upside down with a snake slithering towards him as this was supposed to look terrifying but misses by a long shot.
Of course we have to have a horny couple getting it on and being kinky as well as someone spying on them and getting aroused by this which was all totally pointless to watch.
Then the girlfriend takes a long shower when the mysterious killer shows up and plans a murder for the boyfriend all tied up and helpless on a bed which was utterly lame.
Yet later on in the storyline things look a bit better but not by much in which someone goes into a room with a red light flickering on and off as this seemed to interest me as well as the mysterious killer shooting something at him to make him pass out and then falls into this tub of some sort of boiling water as well as a tarp over him which brought great tension to the story on a terrible way to die. This seemed to really work in well which is one of the pointers for this film from bombing.
Another good pointer is when someone crawls through a vent to try and get out of the mansion and there's a deadly trap for when he opens a vent which looked clerverly gruesome. I am convinced the makers of Saw spotted these scene's and used similar chemistry for their blockbuster legacy.
Things get confusing when some of the girls are brawling and struggling against one another but this looked sloppily done which didn't impress me at all.
Yet the excitement piles up suspensefully when someone is tied in a chair and an explosion in the mansion occurs with the survivors trying to find their way on escaping.
Then the prologue occurs once again with that demented characteer being hung as well as trying to explain situations but I didn't get it nor did I understand if the killer was revealed which boggled me more but again that's just me.
Bottom line is that the makers seemed to be getting lessons from David DeCoteau on his plotlines from his millenium flicks and using some chemistry from his older stuff and found out they rushed making this one like he does which shows greatly as there wasn't much effort made into this one and an obscure horror flick which I could see why.

The acting is terrible by the young cast but however leading actress Paige Moss (Wendy) seemed to draw in nicely with her mysterious presence and attitude and does well with her crying scenes after the horrible incident at the mansion. She seemed to stand out the most out of the whole cast so a nice pointer for what she did in this flick.
Jeanine Meyers (Liz) was another nice character role in which she had a good sharp attitude as well as acting perfectly slick into whatever she did. She shows a good coldness to her attitude as well. One of the best in the cast I must say.
Dee Wallace Stone (Sarah Fairchild) does a great job in it with her tough as nails role as well as doing a nice job by acting alerted on situations. Plus shows off a good aggressive attitude. But even she can't save the performances in this film as it seems that they try to grab viewers attention by having former celebrities by having supporting roles in the film in order to watch it.
Corbin Bernstein (Jennings Wilhite) shows off a real effective supporting role and one of the best cast members since he's a familiar face in many shows. He was great with his temperamental aggressions as well as doing a good job by trying to attack someone going at full force.
Andrea Langi (Tina) who is not believeable at all when she encounters her boyfriend dead as she can't act herself out of a wet paper bag. She was supposed to be lustful but yet doesn't even have the looks or appeal to portray this type which was a poor choice on casting.
Scott Roman (Jeff) plays one of those in your face people that likes to give a good scare in which he seemed to come across well by doing so but he is stiff within his characteristics but he isn't as bad as most of the cast. He was just mediocre by what he did throughout his performance.

During the near beginning of the story a couple is fornicating with a girl's breasts revealed.
A teenage girl  is in bed fornicating and shows a breast shot then takes a shower breasts fully exposed.

There's a decapitated head

The music by Tim Jones at first didn't seem too great as there was some piano playing and metal sound scraping but he does breeze through it with some interesting classical music for the film as it was a shame the film didn't look believeably scary in order for his music to work as he was too good for this film.

We have a songtrack during the closing credits by a group called Bonehead with their number "Fear" which is a grungy type of song sounding at times mellow and then getting a bit hyped now and then when it plays. Seemed to fit in well although this song was not my cup of tea.

 

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