Customer Reviews

Shredder

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Not terribly original, quite predictable much of the time, and with various other little shortcomings popping up here and there, "Shredder" probably shouldn't be half as enjoyable as it is, but somehow it manages to be one of the better non-series 'slasher' type horror movies out there. Admittedly, it doesn't approach the level of the best chapters in the big ongoing series ("Friday The 13th", "Nightmare On Elm Street", "Halloween", etc.) but on the other hand it's actually Better than a number of the weaker entries in the big series. Quite a bit better, in fact.

Centering on a group of teens/early twenties characters heading up to an abandoned ski/snowboard camp for a weekend of fun who instead end up being preyed upon by a masked assailant, it misses a couple of opportunities for some more innovative (and potentially awesome) pursuit-type scenes but makes up for it elsewhere. Does manage some actual suspense more than once, and certainly manages to set itself up as a tremendously sexy movie more than once. The characters are, for the most part, kind of blooming idiots, but they're Likable blooming idiots, the kind of characters comedies featuring casts this age try for but (in my opinion) usually fall short of. Some good performances in here too.

It's kind of a hard movie to rate. If going on a ten-point scale, I could take the cynical approach and count up all the flaws and unevenness of the movie and argue it down to a six or so in spite of how well it turned it out, but who wants to be cynical all the time? Part of me keeps thinking of the best parts and arguing for a nine or at least 8.5 On a five-star scale, I think a four is appropriate. I don't know why, but a lot of what would sound like 'filler' scenes on paper just clicked and came off really good, and help the show to be worthy of a good high rating.

A couple of random thoughts: I don't always watch the 'deleted' scenes on a disc (especially on a movie that's pretty much perfect the way it is, out of fear of diluting it) but there was a bit of leeway on "Shredder" so I checked them out and they actually added to the movie - entertaining 'extended' scenes from the movie with some entertaining, seemingly ad-libbed, lines. In the main movie scene itself, the skilift scene is a highlight, a quirky little classic, but gets one thinking "why oh why don't more movies use the 'multi-camera angles option" they said they were going to when DVD was coming out, and why couldn't this have been one of them?' (still immensely cool though).

Bottom line: don't expect it to terrify you out of your wits, but don't pass it up because of that. There's a sea of movies along these general lines within its particular subgenre of horror, and a lot of them are good, but "Shredder" is, in spite of some flaws, several notches above the average. Recommended.

flawless teen slasher flick,yep folks!a great movie,i rented this flick several weeks ago.don't worry it was'nt during christmas,so i picked it up when me and my dad went into movie gallery.i was looking through a few slasher flix,and i found this one,the reason i got this one is because i saw it on the internet and it looked awsome!the movie is about a few teens,they just inherited an abandoned ski lodge.a few snowboaders,only one skier.after hearing about a past acctident they are killed off 1 by 1.decent gore as well special effects,and a poor amount of special features.overall a good flick

Its your typical "seen it before" type of horror movie. Its the typical slasher flick of a group of kids who go on a vacation toegther, and there told not to go, by the wise ol local yol-kells, but they go anyway....and they end up beeing killed off one by one! With such a minumal amount of cast memembers its no suprise to find out who the mystery killer is at the end of this dull film. Its compeltly predicted way before it even happens!

There just happens to be this well preserved mountin range cabin, with a ski lift still in action, and these reckless kids fall victom to somebody who dosent like snow boarders!

Seeing as how im not into snow-boarding, the long boring clips of showing off on snow boards put me to sleep. Unless your into wanting to see the average teen group of reckless horney teenagers who go camping and get killed by someone in a mask, then dont bother with this dribble. The death scenes are not worth checking out for the gore fans. The plot takes dumb turns, and no intrests, or anything in this film is memorable to make it any diffrent from any other bad "annoying, doped up teens" who get killed in a "so called" horror movie.

Forget this, if your interested? I highly recomend you rent it, and you will probably agree its not worth looking at ever again!

You will also ask yourself "why the hell would this girl be walking around in the snow in pretty much nothing but her under-wear? Yeah...right...ok.....alot of us like to walk around in the freezing cold naked dont we?

Dont have high expectations. IMO its not even worth renting, but if it intrests you, rent it, dont buy it first, I wouldnt even want to watch this film if it was on TV.

I enjoyed this movie. In short, it is a somewhat comedic horror film of a group of college-age kids who break into a mountain cabin for a weekend of skiing fun, only to run into someone intent on killing them. Its important to understand that the movie is fairly low budget; not microbudget, but certainly not blockbuster funding. So expect hammy acting, not really compelling dialogue, a thin plot, etc. However, I can be fully satisfied by a movie if it meets certain attributes, such as having been filmed in a locale appealing to me. This movie was filmed in snowy winter and on a skiing mountain, one of my passions, so that let's me forgive the underwhelming aspects of the film and just sit back and enjoy a light hearted film.

Shredder may have been not quite a low budget movie. It had a high budget for a straight-to-video film. However, it was low on originality and scares. The movie's originality was so basic. When the ending came up I thought to myself "Of course I should of known." The ending was completely un-original. Also the movie wasn't quite scary. Although I did like one murder. But Bottom-Line is that it wasn't one of the worst straight-to-video horror movies I ever saw, but it wasn't one of the best either.

I am continually amazed to discover movies like "Shredder." Just when I thought I saw it all, yet another film comes down the pipe ripping off the tired clichés of the slasher genre. I mean, how many masked killers can there possibly be roaming the highways and byways (and ski slopes) of America? There isn't a single place left where we can go without running into a psychopathic killer avenging some perceived wrong. Thinking of going to summer camp? Think again lest Jason Voorhees pops up to wreak mayhem. How about trick or treating on Halloween? Nope, Michael Myers. Feel like golfing this weekend? Look out for "The Greenskeeper." A nice trip to the beach sounds great until you remember "Jaws." Don't even think about going camping up in the mountains if "Wrong Turn" is any indication. And thanks to Leatherface and his cronies, the entire state of Texas is off limits. Skiing sounded like the only peaceful and safe activity left until "Shredder" emerged on the scene. Well, maybe it still is as long as you don't plan on using a snowboard since the maniac in this film focuses his or her grisly attentions on a batch of mouthy kids looking to "shred" the slopes during a short stay at an abandoned ski resort.

The plot of "Shredder" is, sadly, inanely simple. A rich, shrill gal by the name of Kimberly (Lindsey McKeon) wants to acquire a rundown ski resort for her wealthy father. Since a few unfortunate incidents occurred at the place in the past, Kimberly resorts to a bit of dishonesty to convince her boyfriend Cole (Scott Weinger) to go along. Her claim that the jaunt is a romantic getaway quickly collapses when Cole learns that his woman invited along a trio of obnoxious snowboarders. These three individuals, Kirk (Peter Riggs), Pike (Juleah Weikel), and Skyler (Billy O'), ultimately rank as the most annoying characters to ever populate a horror film. Also along for the ride is Robyn (Holly Towne), a woman whose promiscuity knows no bounds. Cole angry about the inclusion of so many strangers, and becomes even madder when the group agrees to let Christophe, a member of that much vaunted social category known as "Eurotrash," tag along after meeting him at a rest stop. Anyway, the kids get there, run into the obligatory hostile locals, slum around in the lodge playing drinking games, and finally hit the slopes. And that's when the trouble begins. A masked killer resembling the bad guy in "My Bloody Valentine" starts picking off the snowboarders one by one. The stalker's anger seems to stem from the string of fatalities caused by snowboarders over the preceding years. Too, the propensity for these kids to not follow rules sends this predator over the edge.

Aside from a few minor points, nothing in "Shredder" elevates the slasher canon in any way. In fact, the movie is simply one of the many horror pictures that have been heading to store shelves at the local video store for the last couple of years. Almost all of these films revel in their hideousness, which, while a boon for lovers of bad cinema, sends waves of nausea through all other viewers. Here's a list of pertinent points that should acquaint you with what monstrously idiotic things you'll see in this film:

1) A bumper sticker on a city snow removal truck that reads "Death to Snowboarders" in no way deters this group of kids from heading to the slopes. They never even comment on it, in fact.

2) You can answer the question "What country are you from?" by saying "Europe" and no one calls you on it.

3) Hanging by the neck on a ski lift won't get you noticed for hours.

4) Fatalities are a common occurrence at ski resorts.

5) Highly accomplished athletes in the field of snowboarding rely heavily on illicit substances. I'm sure real snowboarders can't say enough good things about this depiction.

Repeatedly, annoying things like these five points kept popping up throughout the film. The Skyler character is one of those annoying Jeff Spicoli wannabes who is always yelling things like "Dude!" at the top of his lungs. Kirk spends his screen time smoking and giggling. The requisite romance between the two young adults who will survive in the end hits you over the head with sledgehammer force early on, thus effectively removing any mystery about the movie. So does the identity of the masked maniac, which came as little surprise when the great moment of revelation arrived. What did work is of such minor importance that I hesitate to mention it, but might as well since I'll probably give the movie two stars instead of one. I found two of the gore effects, specifically the closet scene with Kimberly and the atrocity with the snow blowing machine, effective in theory. Regrettably, the technical aspects fail so miserably that they look cheesy rather than completely gruesome. But the two scenes are inventive and should merit a grudging nod or two.

Extras on the DVD include trailers for "Jeepers Creepers 2," "Jeremiah," "The Howling," and "Board Heads." The inclusion of several deleted scenes adds nothing relevant to the plot. I'm willing to recommend "Shredder" to lovers of low budget horror if for no other reason than to allow someone else to figure out whether the movie is a turkey or a cleverly disguised spoof of the slasher genre. After all, a few of the shenanigans unfolding onscreen are so hilarious that it's difficult to imagine the producers of the picture took their movie seriously. No matter what the case, "Shredder" is definitely a movie one should rent first before deciding whether to acquire a copy. Good luck; you'll need it.

MGM put out this pretty good horror movie. The plot should have been a little deeper. The acting was ok. Average kill scenes. Pick up if My Bloody Valentine is out.

We purchased this film for our son and friends as they have skied Silver Mountain (Jackass is what it was called 30 years ago), N Idaho where it was filmed. A film for boys over 16 or 50! The old lodge was torn down about three years ago....but the film brings back a lot of memories though I would rate it a C. It was shipped and was in very good condition.

Shredder (2003) is a slasher film, where a group of snowboarders, are threatened by a masked killer in a skiing outfit, at an abandoned ski lodge. The plot doesn't have a lot of substance, the storytelling is often sloppy, and the young snowboarders are mostly an annoying lot. The film features some nice scenes on the snowy slopes, a couple of messy kills, and perhaps a few minor surprises.

Kimberly Van Arx (Lindsey McKeon) is taking a group of friends up to Rocky Summit, a ski lodge that her affluent father is planning to acquire. The place has been closed since a little girl was killed in an accident involving some snowboarders, and most of the locals have no use for anyone that "shreds" on a snowboard. Arriving at the abandoned lodge, there is some romantic drama, as Kimberly ditches her supposed boyfriend Cole (Scott Weinger), for hunky Christophe (Brad Hawkins), a stranger who the group picks up on the trip. Flirty Robyn (Holly Towne) also has her eye on Christophe. Meanwhile, Cole turns his attentions to Debra (Juleah Weikel). While Skyler (Billy O'Sullivan), who is documenting the trip with his video camera, runs into a hot skier named Shelly (Candace Moon) on the slopes. It might be love, but before things can develop further, her father Bud (Ron Varela) shows up, and breaks things up.

When the killer acts, he moves fast, striking all over the place. He's often inept, taking an unexpected fall from a ski lift, then allowing several victims to escape his axe, before getting back on track, caving in a skull with a shovel. With their vehicle disabled, the survivors take refuge at the lodge, where parading around in a leopard bikini bottom, Kimberly finds herself under attack, while Skyler's camera gets busted. The killer usually runs into problems when his victims fight back, and while giving chase, the stress of the situation causes him to lose his head.

Directed and co-written by Greg Huson, Shredders often fails to connect plot points, and ends abruptly with an unexplained twist. Aimed at a younger audience, the characters aren't very likeable, the acting isn't the best, and the dialog is often annoying. The kills are the main attraction, and they are a mixed bag, with just a couple that are competently executed. Unless you are a die hard slasher fan, there's probably no pressing reason to see this.

Shredder (2003) - Intended to be a cheesy teen slasher movie, we should go into watching this flick with appropriately low expectations. This isn't art, this isn't even really horror. This is "teenagers run amuck", and the idea behind such movies is that about half the cast should be cute enough and scantily clad enough that you won't care how bad the rest of the movie is. With this said, let's take a look at what Shredder got RIGHT (+) and WRONG (-).

SPOILER WARNING - "plot" points revealed

+1) Shredder cast 4 very cute young ladies to focus as the center of our carnal interests.
+2) They went on to select 4 young ladies who were attractive in relatively different ways (not blonde 4 Barbies). Hold on, but it goes down hill from here.
-3) 34 minutes into the flick, it was clear that the director had very little idea how to create tension, of either the horrific or sexual variety. Lighting, angles and audio can do a lot to increase tension ... or not. The opening death scene wasn't remotely tense or gross. It was just there. But, sensing that they might be losing their audience after over 30 minutes of dullness,
+4) ... one of the attractive young ladies begins to disrobe, displays us some delightful physical attributes and then
-4.5) things begin to get dull again. For those who like snowboarding, the kids hit the slopes as the sun rises on the 2nd day ... but I'll leave it to someone who is into that sort of thing to say if that's done well enough to keep interest going for fans or not. For me, not so much.
-5) Having had her partial nude scene, lovely #1, Holly Towne, soon dies in broad daylight from a fatal wardrobe malfunction which again was in no way horrific, frightening, gory, gross ... just there. This could have been quite dramatically done and been an intense source of tension. If you've ever witnessed a ski lift accident, the tension can be electrifying. But in this case, it wasn't.
-6) At around 50 minutes, a well lit frozen corpse or so later, cutie #2 (Lindsey McKeon)disrobes (again, having done a shower scene (sadly, a yawner due to over editing), but apparently had an agreement with the film makers not to expose herself fully on camera, so mostly it's arms and legs and hair on parade, which tends to make nudity more annoying than arousing.
-7) By 58 minutes, an implied sex scene in a hot tub featuring Ms. McKeon again could have been quite steamy, but wasn't due to directing.
-8) Running out of time to kill everyone off, having stalled around so much during the first 30 minutes, characters start dropping like flies after the 60 minute mark.
-9) Sensing the end is near, the director tries a dimly lit, choppily edited sequence with Ms. McKeon dressed in a sweater and bikini briefs, perhaps aiming to enhance dramatic and sexual tension. But, rather than increasing tension, the poorly edited sequence does more to increase our awareness of just how hard the director WANTED to increase tension ... but didn't.
-10) At 65 minutes, the other surviving cutie, Juleah Weikel, ignores the recent deaths of her friends to make a pass at her favorite man. All smiles, she's completely un-phased (as they often are in such films) by multiple homicides and focuses first on getting laid. And she's the "deep one". :)
+11) Another friend down and bleeding, Ms. Bikini/Sweater begins a more smoothly edited, better lit jogging tour of the abandoned ski lodge in which the teens are staying, and this at least provided ample opportunity for viewing a very well shaped body on the move. But little else.
-12) Throughout the flick, the killer, dressed in an all black ski suit and goggles, makes utterly UN-frightening appearances, actually decreasing tension with every appearance.
-13) OK, with only 15 minutes left, the killer goes after what is arguably the hottest of the group's cuties, Ms. McKeon. She's inside the closet, killer outside ... what WILL happen? Having all but shredded a flimsy hollow door ... death must be imminent, right? No, the killer gets bored and leaves. Oy! But, never fear, (or perhaps we SHOULD fear, it's horror, right?) ...
+14) Turns out killer is waiting for Ms. McKeon and she discovers (off camera) that fireplace irons are good neither for sweater nor cleavage.
-15) It should be noted that, as with all weak horror flicks, the combination of poorly crafted tension leading up to murders and entirely off camera slayings leaves viewers wondering what's supposed to be either terrifying or horrific about such films. You're not particularly convinced anything bad is going to happen, and when it finally "sort of" does, you don't see it. So, the point is ... exactly?
-16) The point of such movies, sadly, is to make very low budget flicks with the hopes that sufficiently bored viewers will watch them despite their total lack of any real source of interest.

Of the 86 minutes this film takes to run itself out, about 4 minutes of enjoyable footage is hardly worth the time it takes to locate them.

Final Tally:
+ Casting three or four very lovely young women and allowing us to enjoy at least marginally arousing scenes of two of them. Cuties - Lindsey McKeon, Holly Towne, Juleah Weikel

- Just about everything else. Folks who are going to make horror flicks, even cheesy ones, should study horror flicks and discover what makes at least passably interesting ones work. Back to the drawing board, folks.