A film that has some good reviews from some notable sites, but had a negative one from one of my writers kind of left me thinking who was really in the minority here. After SIMON SAYS, right from the get go had a lot of positive things about it. Crispin Glover as the villain, and comparisons to the likes as being as fun as EVIL DEAD II really made me think that this was going to be one hell of a great horror film. Then again I’m not one to go with the flow all the time. So I think along with Steven West I’ll be part of that minority that says nay over yea.
SIMON SAYS has your typical horror film set-up. Five College kids take a camping trip into a remote mountain region where no one but them and a psychotic killer, or in this case killers have there way with them, while the kids try to escape alive. In this case the killers are twin brothers named Simon and Stanley (Crispin Glover) they own a local general store and gas station in town, but Simon has a disability where his brother Stanley does not. Both have pretty bad social skills, but together they have the perfect plan of making lost campers feel pain.
It’s not that SIMON SAYS is a bad film, but it’s not a good one either. While I found the script to be a little better than the hoards of college kids camp in the woods horror films; it still had that basic premise and clichés that make me say “enough already! get to the point” As a horror fan you know what I’m talking about. the corny dialogue, the tits and ass, the cocky jock boyfriend with the innocent virgin girlfriend who cheats on her with the slut of the film. You all know what I’m talking about, and this film has it. What it does have going for it is that some of the dialogue is decent and the killers are well developed characters.
The movie has some decent acting, but nothing great. Crispin Glover as always is great. In the two roles in this film, he really had two different kinds of characters to be, one was very out going, why one was mentally challenged. The rest of the cast was alright, but they all seemed to be type casted in their roles. Some notable faces in the cast included Blake Lively, Margo Harshman, and Kelly Blatz whom was in the PROM Night remake.
The films strong points where within it’s production value. There were some cool looking sets, and some great special effects and decent visuals. There is a lot of gore in this film and some of the stuff is done is that comical gore filled way that is similar to all the crazy effects used in the EVIL DEAD movies. You have everything from a dog being smashed to death by a boot, to a bunch of paint ball players being cut to pieces by a flying log with all kinds of garden tools attached to it. There are a lot of dead bodies and even a scene very similar to the dinner scene in TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Simon and Stanley also have some creative gadgets and traps that they use on their victims that give the film some original kill scenes.
The DVD has a few special features which include Commentary with Director William Dear, Storyboard Comparisons and a Still Gallery.
Overall, SIMON SAYS has some fun little things here and there, and the story is somewhat original. My problem with the film is that it was not original all the way. All the college kids were disposable and they all followed that same horror movie victim format, there was sex and nudity for the sake of there being sex and nudity and it took from other notable horror films and let us know it did. Sure it’s a fun film to watch and it has a lot of action and gore. But as a whole it was not a horror film that made me say WOW, this is great. It’s fun yes, but by no means is it a great horror film.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- 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
