Barricade is a horror film that from the get go has largely been promoted on the web. When I first caught wind of the film it was on myspace and the artwork and trailer sucked me right in. The film has some good talent in it, including the wonderful and talented Raine Brown and a guy who happens to be a friend of the production company I’m associated with Joe Zaso. With all the blood, guts and glory that is associated with the marketing material of this film How could any horror fan turn watching this film down. So today the screener arrived in the mail; well needless to say it came right out of the envelope and went right into the DVD player.
Now the story of Barricade is in fact similar to many of plots of what I like to call the “Horror Family films” but what is more referred these days as the Cannibal family slasher films or just the slasher films. Alright so I’m comparing it to the likes of House of 1000 Corpses and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre but cause it does in fact have a killer family that dwell in the middle of nowhere; in this case its the back woods of a German forest. However Barricade is a mixture of films in comparison. Films such as Wrong Turn, Hostel and Saw come to mind. if you take the films I mentioned above, threw them in a blender; you would have Barricade. Basically the story follow three friends who take a trip to what I guess would be considered a German National Park. What seems to be just a day trip actually turns into a camping trip, however in this park it seems that anyone who camps there won’t walk out of the park alive.
In the case of our characters Nina (Raine Brown) and Michael (Joe Zaso) there is a link which provides a turn of events at the end of the film. One which I won’t reveal in this review. But these characters are ones that the film is based around and the great relationship they have with one another. Although they live in two different countries Nina and Michael have always remained the best of friends. Nina is a single mother who recently lost custody of her younger daughter and Michael lives and works in Germany, although he is originally from the United States. Pretty much the first half of Barricade is character development and on the screen we watch how the relationship between Nina and Michael grow within the film. Now don’t get me wrong we do indeed get to know a lot about the killer family in the woods as well in the first half of the film, however most of the great gore and horror that this film shows does not come until the second half. But director Timo Rose knows how to treat a horror fan, giving a us little bits and pieces of gore at a time and slowly builds the film up.
Writer Ted Geoghegan and Timo Rose both hole writing credits for this film, and for the most part this script is right on target. I do think that the film is a bit slow at the beginning, and for most fans of the genre it might just well be, however the thing that both writers did right, and it’s always something I stress in all my reviews is that they developed the characters. I’m always stressing how important character development is in all the movies I review. I can’t give a film a good review if the characters are one dimensional. In the case of this film I think that the character are actually a bit over developed but the more I know about them the better. The overall development of the story is very well written as well, the scenes are dynamically written so that we never lose focus of the overall plot within all the character development that’s going on. We’re constantly reminded that there is a crime being committed that so over the top that it seems not even the German authorities can do anything about it, and that anyone who ventures into the Black Forest is essentially doomed. There is always this sense of confusion that get thrown your way here and there as well which drags you along in the horror and mystery right along side the characters.
Timo Rose, not only co-wrote and directed this film, but also did most of the filming, lighting editing and even most of the score. He is essentially a true hardworking independent filmmaker, one that is dedicated to his craft and his work shows it. It’s obvious that I think Timo did a good job directing this film, but I also want to point out the style in which he edited the movie as well. It has this 1970’s grind house feel to it, yet it’s not so over the top in terms of giving the film that griddy look, as it does give us a more updated feel as well.
Now, one thing that really made this film for me, so much that I’m giving it it’s own paragraph in this review is the films score .Normally I don’t mention the score in my reviews but my god does this film have one of the best scores I’ve ever heard in a horror film. And I’m not talking about the song that plays in the beginning of the film, I’m talking about the entire score of the picture. It’s very effective, and it what drives this film.
The acting in this film is one that I’ll probably be a little biased about. I’m a fan of Joe Zaso cause he’s good guy, so I’m not going to go on about how great I think Joe is. Instead I’m just going to say that he did a good job in this film. except for the fact that I had to see his ass, a scene where my wife walked into the room and said; Wow who’s that guy? if you know who Joe is, then you know he’s got a great physic. He takes good care of himself and has a body that would make most women wet themselves. And what about Raine Brown? What a dick tease! In that same scene where Joe get nude and jumps in a lake you think she about to do it as well. Instead she just teases all of us. good for her though, I have more respect for films who don’t need to rely on the lead getting nude just to make the film good. Raine is a respectable actress and she does not need to take off her clothes to be considered good. In fact Raine stole the show in my opinion. And it was good to see her playing in a lead role. Especially the character of Nina. while a big guy like Michael (Joe) in this film is getting his ass kicked over and over again by the mutant family, Nina (Raine) is the one doing all the ass kicking. She is the heroine of the film, and I don’t think anyone could of played this part as good as Raine Brown did. As a women with such stature and beauty, Raime Brown is one hell of a trooper to make a film like this one. She covered in blood, running though swamps and rivers and rolling around in dirt. You have to give her a lot of credit for choosing to be in a film with such a role. I can’t forget to mention that the rest of the cast did very well also. Timo Rose also makes an appearance towards the end of the film and gives us a great cameo performance as well.
Overall, Where slasher/ torture films such as Saw and Hostel fail, with the big budgets they have. Barricade gives us the gore and violence that those movies can’t. There’s plenty of great blood and gore to go around. And why some of it is over the top, I can’t help but think that it made this film that much more disturbing to watch. Barricade is one of those rare gems that we rarely get to see in such a large independent horror film market. In my opinion it shines for the sheer fact that it takes from some of the best horror films of all time and makes those ideas it’s own. All fans of horror and independent horror in general will most likely enjoy this one. I sure as hell did.
– Horror Bob
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- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
