 | Watch Stage Fright (2014) online Run time: 89 min Rating: 5.2 Genres: Horror | Musical Stars: Minnie Driver, Meat Loaf, Allie MacDonald |
| Storyline A snobby musical theater camp is terrorized by a blood-thirsty killer who hates musical theater. | |
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| Box Office Opening Weekend: $3,562 (USA) (9 May 2014) Gross: $7,078 (USA) (30 May 2014) | |
This film is excellent - but it may not be for you if you don't enjoy both irreverent musical comedies -and- slasher films of both the serious and guilty pleasure variety.
ReplyDeleteSo if you really enjoyed Pitch Perfect, Scream, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and have seen more than a few stage musicals, then this might just make your night.
The only reason this doesn't have a better rating (its currently at a 5, which to me is a crime) is because viewers come to it expecting a slasher, and hate the musical comedy, OR they come to it expecting a musical comedy, and don't like the gore. Or they come to it to see meatloaf - who here plays and sings very much against type, and feel cheated.
This is smart, amusing, and will tickle the right people in the right places.
With a strong cast this "Movie/Movie" style parody of the Camp Rock and classic slasher films is not quite as bad as it could have been. While I really didn't Enjoy this movie more than a little bit, there is still something unique, and slightly entertaining going on that just might keep your mind off of other stuff. The singing is not all cheese surprisingly, there is some really good music, and some of the songs can be funny. Meat Loaf, and Minnie Driver are among a minority of adults, and they are surrounded by some young actors who are really committed. I can recommend this movie to families who watch Horror together, or people really tired of summer camp movies, but that still long for a sing along. Mostly though I think this movie is not nearly good enough, but it's really not terrible either.
ReplyDeleteSo that you know, there is a film out there about a summer camp for kids that's owned by Meat Loaf, with fully choreographed song and dance numbers – including lines like 'I'm gay, I'm gay but not in that way' - and a kabuki-masked, falsetto-screaming, guitar-squealing, knife-wielding slasher who hates musical theater and wants to kill the cast of a make-shift production of some-such copy-right-friendly version of 'Phantom of the Opera'. The gore was vivid, the laughs were steady, and I honestly don't think I need to report anything else to help you decide if this one is for you; it definitely has an audience and made for a very strange Late Night Picture Show.
ReplyDeleteToday, we are five decades removed from the strong emergence of the slasher film as a staple sub-genre of horror in cinema. It's fair to assume that the pool of ideas had been running thin if one considers the abundance of remakes from classic franchises which already had more than a handful of sequels under their belts. Where does this leave us and the slasher film today, in 2014? It puts us in the theater, for a musical, in Stage Fright. Combining the behind the scenes process of what it takes to put on such a production within the narrative arc of the overarching movie which is also a musical, there are some clever dance and song numbers…that's really not what I was expecting to be complimenting this movie on before I watched it, but credit must be given where credit is due. Dancing and cleverness aside, this movie shines its brightest when it's at its darkest. A Kabuki mask-wearing hair metal-singing psycho is out to spoil the show, and in doing so he may very well be giving us a new slasher icon. The brilliance of this movie is how quickly and smoothly it brings the story between hilarity and tension, sometimes even merging the two. The musical aspects of the movie are excellently done. Each character or setting has a theme, which get intermingled and blended at appropriate times. Singing was really excellent where it needed to be, and intentionally sub-par or bad when called for as well. Best of all was the contrasting punch between the cheery musical score and the 80's power-chord heavy metal screaming that beefs up all the grisly gory shreddin' fun from our killer.
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