"Small Town Folk" Review - Written by Anthony Thurber

Small Town Folk
Year: 2009
Director: Peter Stanley-Ward
Stars: Chris R. Folk, Warwick Davis, Dan Palmer
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Xeron Pictures
Running Time: 87 Mins
Official Website: http://www.smalltownfolk.co.uk/







Slasher films are films that usually tend to not be weird and abstract. But this film isn’t your ordinary slasher. Take this for example, if Terry Gilliam or Michel Gondry ever decided to make a horror film, the end result would be “Small Town Folk, as this film tends to fit the same weird and fantasy like style that commonly used by those two directors that I just mentioned.

This U.K. slasher film takes place in a far and a fantasy like place called Grockleton, where a family is living high on a hilltop called Beesley’s Manor. The manor is managed, by a demented landlord and his three brothers. They are desperate to find a female to impregnate, so that that they can carry on, their family name. Soon, three people will discover their hideous plan to carry on their legacy, as the family snares them into their villainous game of hide and seek, where no one has ever come out of it, alive.

“Small Town Folk” is a very weird and odd horror film that pretty much succeeds with a few minor flaws. The direction was very different to what I usually see, in some of these horror films. One of the reasons for that, the backdrop and settings are very odd looking, but it helps make it different from other slasher films. That can be contributed to director, Peter Stanley -Ward, who makes this background sort of fantasy like. To my surprised, it works, as it helps bring the oddness, to which this story has. It one of those films, where you have to at least see the first half, to be interested in the film, as some of that cheap fantasy backdrop might turn some people off, especially, in the beginning, as it took me a little while, before becoming interested with the tone of the film. Another thing that made Stanley-Ward’s direction, effective, the way some of the death scenes were handled. It really got me interested, when I was getting used to this weird fantasy background. He created those scenes, by actually having some these kill come all suddenly, as it provided good scares, considering the film’s budget. The acting was also very good. I liked how, he makes the villains, weird and demented. The performances helped add to the film’s dark and very odd tone, which in return made it entertaining.

If there was one thing that I didn’t like with this film, it was the fact that the screenplay really didn’t develop most of it’s characters and backstory, as I thought it was a little flawed and left you wanting more information. For example, I would have liked to have known more, on some of the other villains, as there were just too many. They should have condensed it to the family that’s at the mansion. Also, I would have like to have had more information, on the town itself, as it would made some of the other villains and the backdrop, more interesting.

With that said, there are also some good things that Stanley-Ward and screenwriter, Hannah Conway did that make this film, a good experience. One of the things that they did right was to have some of the deaths, come out of nowhere. That does two things. It gets you into the flow of the film and provides good scares, since the tone is odd like, for a slasher film of it’s kind. Another that makes this work was that they added a little dark humor. This wouldn’t work for a regular slasher film, but this isn’t your run of the mill, slasher film. That helps the screenwriters get away with, since the whole film is very Troma and fantasy like.

“Small Town Folk” is a very odd and entertaining slasher film that will make you appreciate the fact that the filmmakers are going for something different, in a slasher genre, where a huge amount of films, have no originality or vision.

Review Rating: Four Stars