Review by Ben Bussey
In an arena typically dominated by filmmakers who often seem to be making no effort at all, we certainly can’t fault writer-director MJ Dixon for ambition. Following on from 2012’s Slasher House, Legacy of Thorn sets out to build a rich mythology around the earlier film’s most formidable figure: a masked colossus wielding a pair of machetes almost as imposing as his own torso. But before we sit back comfortably expecting another by-the-numbers stalk’n’slash fest, it becomes clear that Dixon has something a little more sophisticated in mind, which credits the viewer with greater intelligence than your average cheap and nasty psycho killer flick. Not unlike Slasher House, it doesn’t necessarily hit its target bang on – but it sure as hell gives it a good shot, resulting in a flawed but enjoyable slice of 80s-flavoured microbudget horror.
It all starts out simply enough, with a hot blonde taking a shower and shortly thereafter finding a hulking maniac bursting through the walls out for her blood. However, it quickly transpires this visit wasn’t as unexpected as we might have thought, as the hot blonde in question, Jessica (Jade Wallis), not only knew full well her attacker was coming – she also has a bunch of friends lying in wait to help subdue and capture the big bastard. They’re prepared for their would-be killer because this isn’t the first time they’ve had to fend him off; you see, it’s that rare date of February 29th, and it was the last February 29th when our young heroes – all of whom were in high school at the time – first came under attack by the mysterious assailant, who hacked his way through most of their peers before staging an equally mysterious disappearance before the night was out. You see the pattern emerging; the question is, can they break the cycle and end the once-every-four-years reign of terror?
It’s bold enough to make a semi-sequel (actually a prequel, it turns out) to a microbudget British horror movie which I gather wasn’t all that widely seen. Legacy of Thorn goes one bolder with its pointedly unconventional structure. Setting out to at once tell us both the story of Thorn’s return on 29th February 2012, and what happened when he first came after these young folks on 29th February 2008, Dixon structures the movie along the lines of Christopher Nolan’s Memento: we flit between the 2012 story played out in more or less real time, then to episodes from the 2008 encounter told in reverse order. In other words, we see how the survivors escaped first, then bit by bit we’re shown how it came to that point. A bit flash, perhaps, but it does mean the story unfolds in a rather more interesting way. Slasher movie audiences are so accustomed to having the upper hand, knowing everything the protagonists don’t: for once, the viewer is the one at a disadvantage, and instead of them it’s us trying to piece together the whole picture from the fragments of information we stumble across. Indeed, many questions remain unanswered even once the end credits roll, and it seems the plan is to delve yet further into this universe in a third film, Wrath of Thorn; once again, credit for ambition.
Of course, a grandiose vision is all well and good, but having the means to pull it off is also pretty important – and, not unlike Slasher House, this is where Legacy of Thorn struggles a bit. To give Dixon and co their dues, the readily apparent lack of budget isn’t necessarily that great a problem; for the most part the film is well shot and edited, with a striking colour scheme (a cold blue look for the 2008 scenes, and a more hellish red for 2012). Also in common with its predecessor, it boasts a really good synthesizer and guitar-based soundtrack which wouldn’t sound at all out of place on a much bigger-budgeted movie.
Considerably bigger obstacles, sadly, are the cast and the screenplay. Dixon seems to be very enamoured with old school American genre fare, and his script reflects this: lots of corny “hey motherfucker!”-type lines played with a straight face, and all the cast dressed up in American-style high school clothes, all varsity jackets and cheerleader hot pants. The problem is, this is a film cast with young people from the North West of England, and neither the dialogue nor the costumes are particularly authentic to the region, resulting in a pretty contrived and unnatural atmosphere, not helped by the fact that many of the actors are more than a little on the stiff side. While the agreeably unconventional structure keeps things interesting, there are still a few too many extraneous scenes dominated by dialogue which serve little plot function and just pad the running time out; even at around 95 minutes, it all feels just a little overlong.
Having said all that, a slightly stilted, unnatural quality is generally part-and-parcel to genre fare, and – while perhaps a soupcon more humour wouldn’t have gone amiss – I like that it’s all largely played straight, as opposed to the excessively ironic nudge-wink approach of the new grindhouse. It might not be as well executed as some, but there can be little doubt that Legacy of Thorn is made with real affection for horror movies, burning with desire to make the kind of great blood-and-popcorn entertainment that so many of us grew up on. MJ Dixon and co might not have quite got there yet, but I suspect they might if they keep at it, as I very much hope they will.
Legacy of Thorn is released to Region 0 DVD on 27th October from Mycho Entertainment Group – pre-order here.