Review of Staunton Hill (2009) by Jakie B — 18 Jun 2011

Set in 1969, four friends are hitchhiking their way to Washington D.C. for some sort of rally and accept a ride from a normal looking fellow named Quintin (Charlie Bodin) but then their truck breaks down. The group heads into the woods in search of help and come upon a creepy farm inhabited by a family that might be described as Leatherface's less attractive, retarded distant relatives, wheelchair-bound Geraldine, Bible-thumping Louise, and their lumbering man-child, Buddy and decide to stay for a spell.

~Spoiler Alert~.

If you watch a lot of horror movies, even if you don't, you come to the realization that when unsuspecting young people accept a ride from a stranger, you know things will get bad and boy, they really do get bad here as our young friends fall victim to Buddy, the Leatherface-like killer that has neither the face of leather, nor any of the eccentric charm of the Sawyer family's favorite chainsaw-wielding son.

Staunton Hill contains some particularly gory scenes some of which include "ewww"-worthy skinning/scalping scenes, a few scenes that feature some nice runny/dripping gore sprinkled in with a few nice squirts of blood erupting from arteries now and then.

But what scared me more than all of the above was that these vibrant young adults can't fight their way away from an elderly woman in a wheelchair, an obese lumberiing woman who can't take 10 steps without running out of breath, and her half wit son.

Every cliché you associate with the Crazy Redneck Slasher genre is here in this movie. The sexed-up hitchhikers, the broken down truck, the mentally challenged son, the meat hooks and the dirt-poor family who just might be having you for dinner.