
A troubled young man
named Peter Van Cleese (Mark Jacobs)
returns to a "Muskie Madness"
fishing competition where his grandfather
fell into a lake after playing some high
pitched music which he was apparently
attacked by a hook from a fishing rod and
fell into the lake. He goes along with
his girlfriend Ann (Lisa Todd) and his
friends for this event but yet tries to
find out who killed his grandfather.
One of Peter's wild friends named Rodney
(Patrick Danz) decides to cruise around
in his motor boat as well as going
swimming but when he plays some rock
music he is caught by a hook and reeled
in. After he doesn't return Peter and his
friends think he's dead but the local
sheriff doesn't do anything about it
since there's no proof or evidence that
he's been killed.
Suddenly more and more people are
attacked by this fishing hook with loud
music or noise and end up missing
themselves.
Some people are suspects around the area
including two people who are running a
resort named Wayne Duerst (Paul Drake)
and his hyper son Evelyn (Bill Lowrie) in
which they behave strange around the
people that resides there.

Low budget and
trashy but it was a fun average type of flick if you're in the mood for a bad movie.
The film was both goofy and scary and a
nice look at the great outdoors which
they found a perfect lake to film it at
showing what seems to be a peaceful area
can be a deadly killing ground for a
demented fisherman.
There's lots of bad one liners in the
film with plenty of crummy writing plus
some of the dialogues you can tell was
overdubbed at times probably due to poor
sound while filming this but yet the
story is very mysterious wondering who
this killer is reeling anyone who plays
music or is very noisy with an object.
There's a nice shot on Peter Van Cleese as a child going down an
passage transport device towards the lake
with an interesting brief discussion
between him and his grandfather showing
him an old fashioned tape machine and how
it works with good close up shots on the
tape playing as well as a good shot on this grandparent looking uncomfortable being forced to go
near a pier of the lake which the
blocking looked quite off but a good
camera shot on him falling into the lake.
There's good camera takes on the main character's in their
vehicle having fun conversations with one
another while on their way to the muskie
madness yet it
looked a bit trashy.
There's a good close up camera shot on Roy Leudke talking to one of the people
attending the muskie madness to respect
the waters as he shows a good mean
expression on his face.
There's good close up shots on Finner when he sets up his fishing
rod to try it out along with Denny Dobyns acting
sarcastic and cocky towards him which had
some cheesy but okay timing too with
their conversations together.
There's a trashy discussion with Evelyn Duerst holding a
shotgun going crazy towards the others when they meet him at
his cabin which looked unimpressive.
There's a nice good close up shot on Peter near the passage transport in deep
thoughts about what happened which looked
crisply filmed and a great close up on
him.
There's some cheesy argumentive moments
but good camera shots surrounding
supporting characters as a family at a restaurant
having dinner called the Swains along with a disagreeing
conversation between the husband Irving wanting to come to fish and the wife Sheila not liking this idea which looked way too
planned out and sloppily done as well as
close up shots on Sheila imitating a loon
which tries to bring on the comedy as a
fruitcake type of a family woman but
really misses by a long shot.
There's a good dark creepy shot on Sheila walking on the pier and then blowing a
duck type whistle after hear a loon with
a perfect close up shot on her
persitently doing this and then a great
shot on a fishing rod trying to reel her
in but however her blocking looked very
off when it shows her caught by the hook
with her spinning around and falling into
the lake.
There's a great side shot on Peter talking to Ann on the pier with
her meditating and their conversations
looked quite natural.
There's a good shot on young toddler playing with some mud
near a lake as well as a hook trying to
reel him in but grabs one of his blow up
water toys. There's also good close up
and side shots on Bev D. Duerst lying
down and lifting her weights.
There's great shots on Rodney driving his motorboat circling around Denny goofing off along with a good angle shot on Rodney flipping him the bird.
There's also a nice perfect shot on Rodney swimming in the lake and then getting
into his boat listening to some music.
Then a nice close up shot on him lying
down and then getting up to check
something and a nice close up shot on a
fishing hook lying on his seat. There's a
good close up angle shot on him lying
back down and a good shot on him feeling
some pain and a good shot on a fishing
rod trying to reel him in as well as a
nice shot on him hollering in pain trying
to struggle to stay in the boat with good
shots on his bloodied hands. There's a
good brief distant shot on him falling
into the lake. This was the best horror scene ever.
There's a good shot on Kiersten on
a blown up mattress wading away from the
pier and some good side shots on the
fishing hook trying to get her along with
a nice close up shot on her screaming
after the boat lunges towards her and a
perfect close up shot on the head of the
boat heading towards the camera.
There's a nice shot with both Bev and Finner doing situps and
then slowly starting to make out with one
another which had a fair pace with the
timing on them.
There's a nice shot on Bev doing backstrokes in the lake with a
fishing hook approaching her in the water
as well as good close up shots on her
panicking trying to take it
off as well as a good close up shot on an
oar aiming towards the camera.
There's a good serious moment with Wayne Duerst as well as a great close up
shot on him talking to both Peter and Ann about what had
happened.
There's a nice and gruesome camera shot on some corpses being towed in from underneath a dock with some mist floating around.
There's also a good shot on Ann listening to some music near a pier and
meditating and the killer approaching in his row boat about to reel
her in.
We have an interesting cheesy battle
between the killer and Peter with their fishing rods
attacking one another with good close up
shots on the two of them reacting in pain
when a hook hits them.
The makers tried to make the film
imaginative as to how painful it would be
at a fishing tournament to accidentally
get hit by a fishing hook when someone
reels out their rod to catch fish buit
yet a serial killer uses it to bring in
their victims which delivers alot of
shocks and how painful it is where this
hook lands on a person while getting
lured in which leaves a painful
impression on anyone who was watching
this. Plus the film tried so hard to be
funny with the black comedy but it misses
big time but the frightening moments are
sure there which makes up for this flick
from going below average or bombing even
if this one has bombed in movie guides
(Not every movie guide reviewed this one
since it's become pretty much an obscure
flick and only rented in certain video
stores due to the fact that this film was
very cult oriented).
There are many different takes on the
characters either going into the lake
with their boat or getting off while the
killings happen with the fishing hook
attacking which draws a great mystery
wondering if it can be any of thse
people. It is a disapponintment when the
killer is revealed since I was hoping it
would be a killer that no one knew in
something like Friday the 13th.
There's some very strange characters in
the film which draws attention to
wondering more who could be the killer
especially by a married couple as the
husband acts crazy and juveline like he's
not mentally stabeled and his wife seems
like a descent and mature woman confused
about her marriage in which you wonder
how these two were attracted and what's
more scary is they have a toddler running
around who got hit by the hook too which
I found unncessary but yet the toddler
survives.
However, the film may be a bit of a bore,
made on quite a Z-grade budget by the
same makers of the hit cult TV series Mystery Science Theatre 3000.
Bottom line is this is a movie so bad
it's good if you're in the mood for
something cheesy. Some scene's are fun horror
to watch and some of it really drags with
the dull dialogues and bad performances
too.

The acting is bad
but what do you expect from a Troma Team
film? Most of these actors remained
virtual unknowns doing nothing else.
Former daytime soap actor Mark Jacobs (Peter Van Cleese) tried his best with his lead role as the
now adult Peter Van Cleese who is
disturbed by what he saw and trying to
find out the death of his grandfather but
he does lack a bit in his part and overly
does it. He shows some okay energy though
but is too forceful with his lines. Yet has good disturbed emotions when discussing his past. He shows a good demanding attitude towards a cast member which looked energised and is well paced. Plus shows a good upsetting reaction when he spots a clue as well as doing well by being shocked and grossed out after what he finds in a refrigerator.
Lisa Todd (Ann) (Not the same actress from
TV's Hee Haw) as his
girlfriend seemed to do not too bad
for her part in the film since she seemed
like a natural at what she did in the
flick and proving to be passable as a
character actress along with her pretty
looks. She does well on her panicking
and trying to get away from being attacked which looked
fairly energised. She also does well at acting scared
towards the cast member portraying the killer trying to reason with him
but sometimes it looks cheesy.
Sara
Hauser (Kiersten) has the nice beautiful looks
in the film and seems to come across well
onto the camera as one of the young
friends on the trip. Can she act? Well so
so but nothing too special. She tries to
cry on set during some devastating
moments and can do okay but sometimes
she's over the top.
Paul Drake (Wayne Duerst) seems to be another line
reader but he does come across well as
someone who behaves disturbed along with
paranoid expressions. He had the right
looks too as a possible suspect for being
the killer fisherman. He almost seemed
like he was borrowing his charactersitics
from someo b-horror celebrity like John
Carradine.
Bill Lowrie (Evelyn Duerst) with his eccentric
character as someone who is bipolar is
way too melodramatic and does not know
how to portray a part for this. He
just seems to say his lines in excitement
but not getting into much character at
all and when he tries to he's way over
the top. He looks husky and
freaky which seems to work for his
character though.
Don Winters (Roy Leudke) looked not too bad to
play someone who was disturbed by noise
that would make him kill with his mean
eyed and rough faced looks but not you
would see in demented type characters in
such films as Texas Chainsaw
Massacre or Hills Have
Eyes. He seems to show great energy with his blocking while sharpening a knife in which he shows great concentration while doing this.
Christopher Whiting (Finner) as one of the
fit one's trying out the fishing
tournament tried his hardest to pull off
a character but doesn't seem to have what
it took to be an actor sadly as he did
try to have an aggressive attitude when
he was upset but was very rusty by doing
so.
Patrick Danz (Rodney) seemed to stand out
fairly well as a wild rocker type of
person who likes to goof around and
acting young and dumb not taking anything
seriously as well as causing the odd
trouble in which he brought most of this
together quite well. He had the right
looks too which helped and came across
well as one of those types who will be
one of the victims in a slasher flick. When he was hollering in pain in his last performance it sounded a bit cheesy
like it was pre-recorded but it seemed to
fit in to what was happening.
Don Cosgrove (Roger Swain) who played a family man
and fascinated in fishing is another over
the top person who seems like his voice
was overdubbed his acting was that phony.
He seems to pull it off griping and being
annoying too by portraying those types
you can't stand.
Dale Dunham (Denny Dobyns) however seemed quite
witty in his supporting role as a cocky
fisherman who does offer some laughs with
his lines expecially talking to his fish
he caught. He seems passable as a
character actor for a comedy and one of
the only one's who can do so. Does a good job by acting cocky from time to time.

There is some
brief nudity by Lisa Todd in
which she is topless making out with
someone but mainly her back is revealed.

Lots of blood when
the hook attacks the victims.
There are buckets of body pieces in a
fridge.
Also, the killer fisherman cuts open a
young mans neck as well as corpses are
tied underneath his pier.
A hand is cut off and grinded into meat.

The music was composed by Thomas
A. Naunas and Mystery
Science Theater Kevin Murphy.
Both did a great job having a creepy edge
to it with the cheesy sounds and thumping
echoey noises too. There's alot of high
pitched synthesizer playing which sounds
right for a cheesy horror flick like this
plus could be useful for one of those low
budget haunted house type films or
involving ghosts of any kinds. Plus
there's the low gloomy synthesizer echoey
sounds when the hook is about to attack
too. To top it off at times we hear a
brief echoey bonging sound which works
very well for the real dark moments. Plus
there's some heavy drum beats too.
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