When Shitty B-Grade Movies Get Something Right

Slasher movies. I'm not a big fan of the genre. I have better things to do than watch a number of oh-so-pretty people do stupid shit that means a 'psychotic' killer will kill them in a number of semi-creative ways. (Honestly, in some slasher movies, the killer's probably the only sane one in a world gone mad. But I digress.) But the one thing that really narks me about slasher movies is the assumption that being a psychotic serial killer somehow endows someone with immense physical prowess.

The act of donning a mask (it's usually a mask), a long-flowing jacket (or in the case of Scream, a robe kinda thing) and carrying a big knife somehow means you can move faster than people can see, you can wrestle anyone into submission (before you stab 'em, natch) or climb things that really shouldn't be climbable. Which is a genre convention I find immensely difficult to swallow.

Now, there was a slasher movie called 'Wishcraft' on cable last night, and it was playing in the background at work. Near as I could tell, it was about a kid who received a mysterious totem thingy in the mail, with a note attached saying it granted him three wishes. So he wished to go out with a cheerleader at his high school... the same time a psychotic killer starts murdering high school kids around the place. Who is incredibly strong, can get into stupidly inaccessible places without anyone noticing, so on and so forth.

And when the denoument comes, the psychotic killer is the one who sent the kid the box - and has already used his wishes to get his superpowers. And I was really impressed that the premise meant the psychotic killer could be the usual stupidly unbelievable 'psycho' actually made sense to act like he was!

So while it was nothing more than a slasher movie with a little extra hint of morality tale, I still enjoyed what I saw of it. And seeing the slasher, after stabbing a random victim, pulling out a full-on sword was a refreshing change as well. :)

Just thought I'd say.