Colorful, bloody, campy and sometimes self-aware, That’s a Wrap is a vibrant slasher entry that pays homage to giallo style. Director Marcel Walz finds, perhaps, his most successful horror feature yet among his many offerings, with the help of writers Joe Knetter and Robert L. Lucas. The tale finds us at a film’s wrap party with no crew but the cast and director in attendance, and one special uninvited guest: a killer that’s donned the costume of the film’s villain, Mistress, staging stylish murders. Taking on full frontal brutality (and sometimes full-frontal nudity) with practical effects to leave your blood cold, this is very much a tribute to Hollywood horror and sometimes a mixed message about horror movies and the tropes and stereotypes that run rampant within the field. Often meta enough to defy clichés, other times delivering the muddled memo that they might be playing into tropes rather than mocking them, That’s a Wrap is a fun film for genre enthusiasts and fans looking for a tribute to the poppy bloodbaths of days gone by, with a score that would make any slasher from Halloween to Terrifier proud to hunt the night by.
We begin just prior to the wrap party with an actress preparing to depart her dressing room. She’s received a text that her night’s plans have been cancelled, so she heads out to her car, where she receives a very uncomfortable call from her manager. Startling her after the awkward call ends, a security guard checks in on her suddenly, and she informs him she’s just an actress on the film heading home. She sees when the guard departs, however, that a back door to the set has been left open, and leaves her car to investigate. Inside, she is the first to encounter the killer, dressed in a mask, wig, and costume left behind on set. The chase is excruciating but eventually, in a very cinematic kill with water pouring down upon the pair, the killer dispatches the poor woman slash after slash in heady red lights and torrential rain drops.
We flash forward to the party, where egomaniac, director and writer Mason Maestro (Robert Donovan) is watching his film… again. His wife Lily (Monique Parent), enters to ask about getting ready for the event, but obsessed with his work and himself, he dismisses her comments about the photographer arriving and settles in to watch the film just one more time. Arriving on the red carpet the photographer is capturing all the stars of the film with names popping up for every face. For the ladies we have actresses Amber (Gigi Gustin), Harper (Sarah French), Lana (Sarah Plednak), and Molly (Eve Marlowe). For the gentlemen we present Troy (Brandon Patricio), Stoney (Steve J. Owens), Carter (Ben Kaplan), and Jamie (Adam Bucci).
After the parade of actors is finished, Lily has an uncomfortable haggle with an overbearing photographer, before heading back to the party where Mason is giving a speech about the importance of cast and crew, especially its writer and director, obviously. The reason for the crew’s absence, apparently, is the movie was such a hit the crew was booked for a new gig in Minnesota. We find soon that attendees were not allowed to bring partners and have had their phones taken away. No leaks allowed. Mason finally gives thanks to someone other than himself, Harper, who apparently had the most physically demanding role, and thanks an actress absent from the party, Alexis (Cerina Vincent), referred to as “the film’s Drew Barrymore” as she is the first kill both in Mason’s film as well as in our opening scene, supposedly setting the tone. With this, Mason dims the lights to present the group with the teaser trailer. At the end of the trailer in a spoof jump scare, someone in the villain’s costume pretends to attack Mason, and both the party and the hunt is on.
The movie has some sharp moments of self-awareness and a cast of characters that fit into neat little archetypal boxes which occasionally takes away from character development, though some storylines, like Troy’s LGBT roots, can add dimension. The stereotypical stars present include the stoner, the final girl, the aging beauty, etc., all accounted for with tongue in cheek sensibilities that would make the Cabin in the Woods formula proud. Among the stereotypes and cannon fodder cast members in the killing frenzy is Monique Parent, delivering a grounded and graceful performance as the wise, elegant and underappreciated Lily. Sexuality on its own, and horror’s lurid use of the female form, is also up for debate. One of the characters apparently did a fully nude scene for the director, and also appears fully nude in this feature, offering up the additional details that she’s… done some favors to get parts in the past, if you get my meaning. The meta slips a bit here as the film presents this woman fully nude and in a very sexualized position, while saying she takes advantage of her sexuality, for no real reason driving the story. The film attempts to say women have the right and opportunity to use their bodies how they want, including nudity, but the onus here seems to be solely on the female participant with uncomfortable advances or intrusions made regularly towards the women, while the men seem to explore their sensuality more freely. This fits with the hallmark sexploitation that giallo boasts but it can’t help but feel slightly lopsided— and perhaps this is the intent to highlight how women have been portrayed in horror cinema.
Otherwise, this beautifully lit and creatively shot piece is a feast to watch. In true giallo fashion Walz paints the set red literally and figuratively, both with some imaginative, and sometimes comical, over the top kills and his deliberate, excellent choices of light with bursting red, purple and orange permeation. Cinematography and editing are creative, leaving the viewer with some interesting and extraordinarily artistic looking shots of brutality created with some bloody practical effects. References from Scream to Psycho were all present, with this film penning a love letter to genre breakthroughs from all decades with the retro stalker score to match. For slasher fans, I think this gory treat that plays with perspective might be a fun watch as you hunt for Easter eggs in the script and follow the trail of bodies left like breadcrumbs. Though it sometimes loses footing with its attempt at creating a meta narrative, it still delivers the homage and entertainment value of a modern slasher tribute. If you’re up for a film that takes horror’s sometimes by the books formulation and tears it wide open for you to look inside, have a look at That’s a Wrap, and see if you think it properly celebrates its many inspirations.
That’s a Wrap (2023) featured at this year’s FrightFest on August 25th and was released on digital platforms in the US on the same day.