The Murder Game

I have a thing for contemporary slasher films that have an 80's type feel to them. Films like "Sleepaway Camp," "The Slumber Party Massacre," "The Mutilator," "My Bloody Valentine," and even the original "Friday the 13th" rarely get made anymore, so it is always a pleasant surprise when I run across a recent film that has that is unforgiving in the fact that it is a 100% pure slasher film and doesn't try to be anything different. "The Murder Game" is one of those films. It reminds me of the more recent DTV film "Death Clique" and the 80's "Hide and Go Shriek." Unfortunately, something was lacking that doesn't make it as an effective of a film as those two. The film centers on a group of friends who invent a "murder game," which is similar to hide and seek. One of them is elected to be the killer based on drawing a specific card. The others have no idea who the killer is and the group splits up and the elected killer "kills" anyone he finds. Whoever can figure out who the killer is first win. Their parents don't approve of the game (I can't imagine why) and forbid the group to play it. Being teenagers, they find a way around this by deciding to sneak into a large storage warehouse one night and play. Unfortunately, they are not alone, as a mysterious killer almost immediately begins disposing of them in some pretty bloody ways. The Good: As I mentioned, this film does not apologize for being a slasher film, and a pretty brutal one at that. The action comes fast; they are very few "drawn out" scenes. The setting is very claustrophobic and provides a nice, creepy atmosphere. Think about it...a storage warehouse is a perfect location for a slasher film. Once the warehouse goes dark, I really liked that there was a red hue to the film...it really provided a nice, unsettling touch. The murders are actually pretty graphic. We get axings, throat-slittings, decapitations, and brutal stabbings. Overall, the tone if this film is very effective and I hate to keep mentioning it, but fans of the 80's slashers should be somewhat pleased. Also, the killer's identity is a surprise and I didn't have it figured out. I wouldn't call it a "twist," but when it is revealed who the killer is, you should be somewhat surprised. The Bad: The dialogue is terrible. There are some extremely cringe-worthy things uttered by these teen characters, including a reference to "Abbott and Costello" that I found baffling. Do many teenagers even know who Abbott and Costello are? There are too many attempts to throw in some "light humor" but it falls flat because (1)it's terribly written (2) the actors who say it are terrible in their delivery and (3)no sane person would utter these things when they think their friends are being slaughtered. The acting is also very uneven, and I am not sure it is because the actors knew the lines they were saying were horrid or because they are truly bad actors. I tend to think it is a little bit of both. Not to mention that none of the characters are particularly likable or fleshed out, so it's not a big deal when the start being picked off. There are also some pretty bad clichés, such as the red-herring outsider and the ending, which again, has been done before many times and was somewhat unrealistic here. Overall, not as good as some are saying on here, but certainly not as bad as other are saying. I say this film is pretty average, but does have some positive things going for it. You could do a lot worse (trust me....I watched two other DTV horror films the same night I watched this one and this was BY FAR the best one). My Grade: C

I don't usually write comments because most movies have at least one point, or moral, or meaning of something of common interest! So did the actors not show up for production and they had the cast wing it? because if that's the case then I retract my statement. Otherwise for all who rated this with anything above 3 stars (I'm being generous)should be banned from misleading future viewers. Unless of course you enjoyed the acting in the educational films they showed throughout years of school. Thank god I didn't buy it, although when i'm on my death bed and cannot stay awake long enough to say my farewells to my grandchildren, and children so forth I will remember that this was the 87 min of my life i'm never getting back ! ! !

I seriously cannot think of why anyone would give this movie a 10/10. Sure we all have different taste in films, but to call this movie perfect is absurd in my opinion. I have nothing against the fact, that this indeed is a low-budget movie. I like plenty of low-budget movie. Its not the budget that makes the movie good, its the acting and the plot, but sadly this movie lacks in both areas. Okay, the acting wasn't completely bad - actually it was pretty average and what you would expect from a movie of this sort. This movie could however use an actor who really took the movie to that next level, but I'm sorry to say that no one even came close. The actors seemed to lack of strong reactions which I think the movie could use. Come on, your friends are dead and you are trapped in a storage facility - wouldn't you go nuts? I'm not saying they all should act like lunatics, but they could at least show some emotions. The story - well. I guess its okay. A bunch of friends playing a killing game and someone starts dying for real. Its acceptable for this kind of movie. Its not trying to win Oscars, its trying to entertain - and scare the crap out of people. The thing is, in this case they just didn't put in enough effort to make it work. And these twists people talk about - did we see the same movie? This was pretty much straight-forward. Just because you don't figure out the killer, doesn't make it a plot-twist when you find out who it is. If there even was a plot-twist it must have been a pretty dull one, because I missed it completely. But hey, it wasn't all bad. I did finish it, didn't I? No seriously, its passable. I don't regret spending around 80 minutes seeing it and I've seen worse movies - thats for sure. Having said that, its not a movie I'd catch again or buy on DVD. For the average movie fan I would not recommend this movie. Devoted fans of the teenage-horror film genre may like it however, I wouldn't know.

This film is complete and utter garbage, I found myself watching it after seeing an above average review on a horror forum. Every single thing about murder game was bad, I cannot think of one thing that was remotely good about this film. The acting, the effects, the plot(lack of) and the actors(where do they find these people) and the location(whole thing looked like it had been filmed in someones garage). They could have at least upped the gore and thrown in a lot of gratuitous nudity which might have helped but I doubt it. I don't know who's been paid off but there a few above average reviews of this film around and it makes no sense, some even say how in touch the makers are with the real horror fan, a classic homage to traditional slashers, they must have watched a different film. Budget horror is great but rubbish like this will probably put people of funding it!

I first found out about "the Murder Game" at the 2006 Terror Film Festival. I heard some pretty good things about and decided to check it out from Netflix. Truth be told, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Lower budget Friday the 13th ripoffs predominate the market so I expected more of the same. It's not. It's actually a pretty clever movie. In general I'll give anything a shot. I like "A" movies, I like "B" movies. This plays off like a really good B movie. The script is pretty well thought out, the characters are simple but effective, there's a couple of nice twists, and most importantly, it's entertaining. I was also impressed with pacing of the film. Unlike most indies, it moves at just the right speed rather than dwelling on prolonged long shots that offer nothing to advance the story. There were some good comical flourishes, and the ending turned out to be more logical than I anticipated. In addition, the musical score is quite good, and the action scenes work. Truth be told, I found it to be a better film than some of the horrors big studios are releasing, ala Dead Silence. It's certainly better than the Friday the 13th movies that were thrown at us. And at a fraction of the budget to boot. On the downside, some of the acting doesn't ring true, there's a handful of cheesy lines that make you eyes roll, and the budget does show occasionally. But in general, it's an entertaining horror. Worth watching. As a regular movie, I'd rate it a 6/10. As an indie film, I rate it a 9/10. Final assessment: 7/10

I have seen a LOT of films this year, but very few of them even come close to this film. It fools you into thinking it's starting out simple enough, but once it gets moving, HOLD ON! Plot twists, surprises, red herrings, the works! And you'll NEVER guess the ending. It just moves like greased lightning. It's got sexy good looking people, one of the smartest scripts I've seen in a while, and directing that is right in tune with the big Hollywood blockbusters. I had a chance to chat with director Robert Harari, and he's a man with a plan. He knows what good film-making is and all the tech stuff, but even more importantly, he knows how to make a film work. His chops are razor sharp. It was like watching The Empire Stikes Back. It hits its groove, takes off, and never lets up for a second. And just when you think you have it all figured out, it turns out to be something else. Really, really GREAT film-making.

Don't know how these good reviews came about. Must have been related to the actors. This is beyond atrocious. Let me count the ways: 1. cringingly over-acted by supposed 'high school' students who look about twenty-five years old. They even ride a little yellow bus to school. Totally absurd. My 5 year old niece has performed "I'm a Little Teapot" with more skill. Hell, she's like Brando next to these people. 2. the killer, once revealed, chases the unsuspected 'teens' through a warehouse whilst slowly meandering around taking her old sweet time to do her 'deeds'. Of course the 'teens' can't get away from her despite her slow knife-wielding saunter through the hallways-- she's like Michael Myers with a D cup. (Although that is an insult to Michael Myers.) 3. the 'teens', whilst running from this hideous frightening killer (who wears a snarl like she's posing for her 'high school' picture on a bad hair day), look like they studied acting with cartoon characters right down to the double takes, the "I want to get away, someones chasing me, but I think I'll stand here and wait for her to come down the hall", and rounding the corners as if wearing clown shoes. I could go on, but suffice it to say, in a few final words: avoid like the plague. Although even the plague would be preferable.

very entertaining, lots of twists that made for a GREAT ending not to mention how h-o-t the red head is.....d-a-m-n...can't wait to buy it! So unlike anything i've seen in years - acting wasn't terrible and the effects were kick ass for such a small budget film! I hope that this film gets as much credit as it deserves!very entertaining, lots of twists that made for a GREAT ending not to mention how h-o-t the red head is.....d-a-m-n...can't wait to buy it! So unlike anything i've seen in years - acting wasn't terrible and the effects were kick ass for such a small budget film! I hope that this film gets as much credit as it deserves!