The Murder Game
Directed by Robert Harari
500 Pieces Films

Slasher films, while much more common in the 80's, have always been successful when the movie took a slightly different approach to the genre. While on the surface The Murder Game seems typical of the genre because the main characters are a group of teenagers who begin to get killed one by one, the story itself is actually just a bit different. It certainly doesn't reinvent the slasher genre, but why would anyone want that anyway?

A group of teenagers invent a game where each person draws a card and the person who draws a specific card is the killer while the rest of the teens are the victims. Armed with plastic weapons, the game is entertaining for the teens but they have run out of places to play the game. When one of the teens mentions that they have to help their dad take some stuff to a storage warehouse, they decide to sneak in and play their game in the dimly lit warehouse which supplies numerous hiding spots perfect for the game. The game starts off like usual but soon the teens begin to die in bloody ways but this time it isn't a game.

While you might think the killer is an obvious character to spot, in the end it turns out to be someone completely different. If you pay close enough attention you can probably figure it out, but it is nice that they didn't use the obvious choice. Sure the movie is a bit cliche at times and there are plot holes, but what matters is that the film is entertaining.

What the story lacks in originality, it makes up for in creative gore. The deaths in the film are all quite unique and all are slightly humorous. My two personal favorites are probably the fire extinguisher stuffed in a girls mouth and a metal pipe stuck into a throat. There is also a very cool gardening sheers to the skull death which may or may not be an homage to The Burning. The gore is well done and while this isn't an excessively gory film, what is on display should definitely please gorehounds.

The acting is I guess somewhat typical of low budget horror. The performances are adequate with a few standout performances. Samuel Klein turns in a great performance as the misunderstood Goth kid who doesn't mix well with the rest of the group. The main thing is that the performances are solid enough that you aren't taken out of the cinematic experience.

The DVD comes packed with a fairly standard set of bonus features. You have the director's commentary, deleted scenes, a gag reel, trailers, and The Puzzle, a short film by the director. It certainly is rough around the edges but it has an interesting story and is shot well. The gag reel is surprisingly funny and it seems like the cast and crew definitely had a lot of fun while making the film.

With a simple story and creative death scenes, The Murder Game takes you back to a time when slasher films were the most common type of horror film being made. Forget about drama and subtext, all you need is a deranged killer with a lot of weapons at their disposal and you have an effective slasher film and in this sense The Murder Game certainly delivers.

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