Customer Reviews

The Jackhammer Massacre

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This must be one of the most unpleasant horror films I've sat through in quite some time. It depicts extensive drug use and its ugly aftermath, and it centers on one down on his luck guy named Jack who went from successful businessman to wasted junkie and I'm uncertain whether the director is trying to make an anti-drug statement or is simply showing us this for pure shock value. The drug-taking scenes are harrowing, more so than the gory scenes when Jack goes bunkers and starts dispatching everyone with the jackhammer of the film's title. The first half of the film is fine, and Aaron Gaffey's performance is believable and dedicated, it's the second half that falters, where we are introduced to a bunch of awfully acted characters that are there only to be massacred and unfortunately the lack of suspense adds to the tedium and pointlessness of it all. The special effects are good though, and some will make you cringe (Jack's infected arm is barf-inducing). Ultimately, the film is not as bad as most people say it is, as any horror flick that can make you feel like taking a shower afterwards must be doing something right, but with a more creative script this could have been a lot better. For hardcore completists only.

What can I say about this movie but it was not that bad. The story line is pretty good. It takes a well to do business man downward spiral into drugs hallucinations and murder. The effects are ok to good at times, the acting is ok to good also. It will leave you feeling sick at times because of the over the edge drug use that the main character goes through. Do not expect top of the line script and movie production but this film does offer something. It has that weirdness that I like in a film with a not so bad script. Believe me I seen my share of stinkers. I would almost give it 4 four stars except for some of it B-movie type productions. Try it out I was really surprise how good this film was. I wonder if the director had some money to make this film it probaly would been a five star possibly.

A friend of mine said I must see this for a funny/corny horror movie. The acting isn't good but it's definitely interesting and has it's moments. Do not buy this if your looking for a serious horror movie.

I purchased this DVD because of the word Massacre in the title! Being a huge fan of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies, I thought this might be really good. The box says.. Move over Leatherface..Here comes The Jackhammer Massacre. In my opinion, No movie can compare itself to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies, much less Leatherface! However I bought it and was a bit disappointed. The movie is a bit boring at times but did contain good death scenes. The best thing about the movie was the gore. It centers around a man named Jack who's badly addicted to drugs. Being so messed up by drugs, Jack believes that everyone is out to get him and kill him. He takes revenge on people by killing them with a jackhammer which I admit is "different" and a refreshing change. Overall, not a bad movie but not as good as I expected. It's worth renting if you are curious about it. There ARE worse horror movies out there.

this movie was pretty funny, i watched it like 5 times, and it gets funnier every time you watch it...if you wanna find out how to get into drugs..watch this...the plot, a guy get some drug in him and hes gets all strong and stuff....its nothing great.....

I put this film on & though I'd be in for a wild ride after the openeing "jackhammer to the face" scene, alas, it turned into a story of a drug addict simply out of his mind. The plot (was there one?) had more holes than I can count on my fingers (if only I had more fingers!). When a movie uses the typical "one year earlier" and "one year later" movie conventions, you know there isn't much to look forward to. But, you may ask, why would anyone concentrate on plot-lines when the movie is titled "jackhammer massacre". Well, if I were to give you the attention deficit disorder review, it would be as follows: druggie kills man with jackhammer, flash back 1 year, show that he once had a job and did recreational drugs with a firend, flash forward 1 year and he's a druggie security guard for some non-descript warehouse, nothing much happens up until this time (which about now clocks in at over 1 hour), then the film comes to a close with people coming to clear out the warehouse he works at (this includes his concerned sister). Now that their are people in his midst at the warehouse, the killing begins, but at this point, you just want it to end, even if the body count rises. I would have been better off sorting my laundry or picking at unhealed scabs than to have watched this (sigh). What a fool I am!- to think, being a horror movie fan, that I could get some enjoyment. (It wasn't even "Bad" in a good way).

i thought that this movie was just a poor excuse to use blood and violence. i also thought that the acting was atrocious. i hope no sequel is made for this movie because it would not even bring in ten dollars!

From start to finish this movie was atrocious and completely stupid. Everything was terrible in this movie. This film would be recommended for junkies or druggies.

'Jackhammer Massacre' is another low budget direct-to-DVD film that shows how easy it is in this age of digital video for any yahoo to pick up a camera and make a movie. There's a lot wrong with this film but there are actually a couple of nuggets here that show that the makers of it might actually have a little talent.

The story goes something like this: Jack is a well-to-do business man who starts in on some hardcore drugs. His best friend dies from an overdose and Jack spirals into heavy drug use and ends up a more-or-less homeless junkie. He sleeps on a matress in an old auto shop as a night security guard. He does drugs all the time and eventually starts hallucinating. He sees his dead best friend. This hallucination tells him that "Everyone is out to get you, so you better kill them before they get the chance"...or something along those lines. So Jack picks up a jackhammer and starts killing everyone.

The acting is overall pretty poor; not the worst ever(that title goes to 'Ghost Lake')but enough to make you cringe. The editing and camerawork seem to be decent enough. Its nothing polished or professional, but its done well enough to not distract. The script is pretty obvious: you know how things are gonna end up a few minutes into the film. The dialogue written wasn't too bad but some of the acting in the film makes it sound terrible. There is a good bit of gore, some of it hits and some of it misses, but again its nothing really amazing.

There are some decent parts to 'Jackhammer Massacre' though. The drug use scenes are very realistic and pretty intense. Actually, the whole drug storyline would've made a much better film if the filmmakers would've stuck with it instead of turning it into a horror flick. But the main thing that bothered me was the filmmaker's need to have every male in the film topless at some point. I swear that there's not two minutes that go buy that there isn't another topless dude running around for no reason. Its actually more disturbing than the gore.

Overall, I can't really recommend 'Jackhammer Massacre'. The beginning of the film centered on Jack's drug use is very well done but is quickly scrapped for yet another lame B-movie horror plot. Gorehounds might like some of the scenes but its not anything they haven't seen before. But I guess if you dig topless men running around, then this one's for you.

When I decided to start reviewing movies in a big way on this website, I told myself that I would go out of my way to watch plenty of zero budget flicks. You know, the stuff that goes straight to DVD. The stuff made by a couple of guys in their backyards, shot on video most likely, and financed with credit cards. I figured doing so might possibly help out a budding filmmaker, maybe give a guy with a smidgen of talent an extra boost he or she needed to get a shot at making a real movie. It's ridiculous, I know, to think that some hack reviewer on this site could assist someone in this way, but that's what I thought. Who knows? Maybe that person would see my good review and take heart. Or maybe he would see a bad review and learn how to improve their next film. Those days, my friends, are long gone, lost in a sea of bad movies watched through increasingly bleary eyes. I've seen so many crudfests that I can't watch them anymore. I started seeking out big budget blockbusters, not because they're great, but because the production values and better acting (among other things) washed the bad taste of movies like "Jackhammer Massacre" out of my mouth.

"Jackhammer Massacre," sometimes referred to as simply "Jackhammer," is a low budget crudfest directed by some guy named Joe Castro. His forte, according to the Internet Movie Database, is in special effects. It's the only area where "Jackhammer" succeeds. All else is dross wrapped in a disturbing patina I'm not allowed to mention on this site. Sorry. Anyway, the film doesn't start out that way. It actually begins as homage to Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign as we watch a rich, smart yuppie named Jake (Aaron Gaffey) descend into the absolute madness of drug addiction. He starts his real decline by going to a drug den with a friend, shooting up junk with a girl sporting a bad Bettie Page coif, and then watching his pal die a painful death. The demise of his friend pushes Jackie over the edge, and before we know it he's lost everything expect an oozing, puckering sore on his arm. Jackie, not smart enough to let this festering wound heal, continues to shove smack into this seeping hole every chance he gets. Yuck. And since he's lost everything he's got, our hero is reduced to living in a storage facility crammed full of all sorts of junk. He also owes bad people a lot of money.

One day these bad people track Jake down and shoot him up with an overdose that should kill him. Instead, it turns him into a murderous thug. Jake arms himself with a jackhammer he finds in the storage facility (How convenient!) and proceeds to wreak bloody havoc on all who enter his orbit. And, amazingly enough, you'd be surprised at how many people show up at this out of the way storage facility! It's like the Interstate runs right through the building as the drug dealers, the owner of the place, and a cleaning crew all die horribly at the hands of the drug crazed Jake. As soon as Jake dispatches someone with a jackhammer blade through the mouth or some other orifice (!!), the next victim ambles in for his or her punishment. Oddly enough, no one seems to hear the jackhammer pounding away inside this small building, nor do they have the presence of mind to just run outside. It's not like the jackhammer runs on portable power; we can all clearly see the cord running out of the tool. Oh well. After Jake murders a lot of people, he meets his match on the roof of the storage facility. The conclusion is taken right from the end of "Halloween".

"Jackhammer Massacre" is an exceedingly dumb film. The acting is comparable to a kindergarten play, the viewer gets whiplash jouncing over the numerous plot holes in the script, and people do stuff that defies logic. The one plus, and the thing that gives this film two stars instead of one, is the gore. Jake pounds body parts into mush with that jackhammer, and Castro doesn't spare the sauce showing us the carnage. It doesn't always look totally realistic, but it's close enough to garner some praise. Perhaps the oddest element of the film is what I said above, what I can't mention on this site. How do I say it without saying it? Hmmm. Well, all the guys in the production seem to lumber around without shirts on. Most of them strip down to their undies. And then there's the way that these guys die. One chap takes the jackhammer blade in the mouth in what has to be a statement about...well...you know. Then there's the shot of the jackhammer blade in the girl's "posterius". Oops! Something sinister is going on here. Either someone has a problem with syag or someone just finds it funny to work a yag subplot into a slasher film (wink wink on those backwards words, eh?). Give "Jackhammer Massacre" a watch, if you dare, and see what you think.

To be fair, Castro's film isn't the worst low budget clunker I've watched. I think back to the days when I perused shot on video dreck from Sub Rosa Productions and realize "Jackhammer Massacre" is far better than almost anything I saw from that company. I'm still giving this two stars, however, due to the myriad problems outlined above as well as the fact that it's just not that original of an idea. Also, Lionsgate didn't do a decent job with the DVD. The picture doesn't look that great, it's full frame, and the only significant extra is a rather bland commentary track with Castro and a few of the cast members. In short, I can't really recommend this movie. There's just not enough here to warrant a viewing.