Shredder (2003)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Greg Huson

Writers:

Craig Donald Carlson (writer)
Greg Huson (writer)

Release Date:

16 December 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

Icy Dead People!

Plot:

At an exclusive, secluded North American ski resort up on Mount Rocky Summit, brutal slashing, severing and beheading on a group of teenagers are taking place and are believed to be the work of a mysterious skier dressed in black. |

Plot Keywords:

Slasher | Axe | Flashlight | Snowboarding | Snowboard

Cast

Scott Weinger	...	Cole Davidson
Lindsey McKeon	...	Kimberly Van Arx
Juleah Weikel	...	Pike
Billy O'Sullivan	...	Skyler (as Billy O')
Holly Towne	...	Robyn
Brad Hawkins	...	Christophe
Peter Riggs	...	Kirk
Candace Moon	...	Evil Skier / Shelly
Ron Varela	...	Mystery Skier / Bud
Seth Reston	...	Sheriff Toney
Elliot Olson	...	Chad
Kjersti Cubberley	...	Shelly's Little Sister
Drake Smith	...	Snow Blower Driver
Jessica Veal	...	Snow Boarding Chick

Directed by
Greg Huson

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Craig Donald Carlson		writer
Greg Huson		writer

Produced by
Jerry P. Jacobs	....	line producer
Geof Miller	....	producer
Rory Veal	....	producer

Original Music by
Alan Derian

Cinematography by
Charles Schner

Film Editing by
Andi Armaganian

Casting by
Patti Carns Kalles
Jason James

Set Decoration by
Brown Donna

Costume Design by
Lisa Kohl

Production Management
Jerry P. Jacobs	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jerry P. Jacobs	....	second unit director
Lynnette M. Myers	....	assistant director
Luke Pascale	....	second second assistant director

Sound Department
Elijah Lawson	....	boom operator
Mickey McMullen	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Jerry L. Buxbaum	....	special effects coordinator
Mark Villalobos	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Minky Billups	....	visual effects compositor
Scott Billups	....	visual effects producer

Stunts
Jerry L. Buxbaum	....	stunt coordinator
Amanda Steen	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Mark L. Anderson	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
James 'Keeper' Auld	....	key grip
Michael Judd	....	second assistant camera
David Leite	....	key grip
Dean Mongan	....	first assistant camera
Anthony Tackett	....	camera loader

Music Department
Skip Adams	....	music supervisor
Mark Bensi	....	music editor
Jacqueline Woolf	....	music clearances

Other crew
Katherine A. Loveall	....	script supervisor

Distributors

• MGM Home Entertainment
• Skrik Horror Video (2006) (Sweden) (DVD)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence/gore, sexuality, language and some drug use.

Runtime:

Canada:86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:14A

Filming Locations:

Kellogg, Idaho, USA

Trivia:

The film had a limited theatrical release in the Pacific Northwest of the USA.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Robyn is first on the chairlift, her snowboard is white. When the Evil Skier looks down at it a few minutes later, it is black.

Quotes:

Pike: The next time we're being stalked by a serial killer, *don't* go into the basement.

Movie Connections:

References Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Soundtrack:

Shores of Lake Mendosa

Not quite as bad as I thought it would be

This film, directed by Greg Huson, is about a group of teenagers (oh joy) who go away for the weekend to a disused ski-resort that apparently one of the teenager's fathers is planning to buy.

In echoes of such campsite slashers as Friday the 13th it seems that this deserted ski-resort is not deserted, a strange skier in black seems to glide around the slopes.

It's a shame this movie started off so badly as the last twenty minutes are pretty good fare for a teen-slasher. Much of this movie was bad, badly directed, badly acted and badly scripted.

Kimberley (played by Lindsey McKeon from 'Saved By The Bell: The New Class' "fame") put in one of the better, but still poor, performances but often seemed like she was forcing the words. However, she was playing a character that was trying to be seen as someone to detest, which she managed to pull off for a small while so credit for that. Of course, one may think that is due to the script, but no...There is so much useless dialogue and so much

lack of useful dialogue that it's hard to actually understand what's going on. At times it seemed like the actors were improvising. It all makes sense eventually, but you do have to look for your answers.

Except for one thing that is, towards the beginning of the film on their way to the resort, the teens stop off at a service station. After a girlie chat in the bathroom the girls run into a European guy named Christophe (Brad Hawkins). After talking with him for a couple of minutes they invite him along. One question - why?! How many women are there out there who would do that? I'm sure even the girls out there that act like Kimberley does in this film wouldn't do that. But anyway, I digress a tad.

Another problem with the film is the way they introduce the characters. Almost all the other characters in the film suddenly just make an appearance and then come back much later. Also the acting abilities of these extra characters (especially a pervy Sheriff) was highly questionable. For the short time that they are on screen though it doesn't really matter.

The directing for most of 'Shredder' was sub-par but, having said that, there were a couple of quite well done ski-chase scenes. They were fast paced and aesthetically good. I must also mention that there were some good scenery shots of the snowy mountains. Huson adopted an MTV-style approach to the direction which was mostly an annoyance. It seemed that there were (towards the beginning) many filler scenes which served no purpose to the script just so punk-pop music could be played on the soundtrack. Whether this is his style I don't know having not seen his only other film as a director, 'Decaf', and according to it's IMDb page, no one else has either.

The make-up quality was inconsistent. Sometimes the make-up is quite good, fairly realistic looking and quite gory but othertimes it is extremely fake looking and poorly done. The quality of the make-up generally improves later in the film, so maybe two different guys were doing the effects? Thankfully though, apart from a quick and unfortunately cartoony image at the end no CGI was used.

What's most important is the actual film though and like I mentioned previously, the ending helped salvage it. The first hour of the film is where most of the problems I've mentioned can be found. The last twenty minutes on the other hand seemed fairly well thought out. Admittedly there were a few consistency problems and the lack of previous and current interaction between the teenagers and the other characters in the film harmed the quality somewhat but I still have to give some credit where it's due. If the film had been given an extra 10-15 minutes, or hadn't used so much filler, it could have been improved. It's the lack of understanding that begins through the non-development of the characters and ideas that's the problem. A little more character interaction and some extra dialogue would have made everything much more plausible and coherent. Another thing that shamed the ending was the quick array of plot twists that were tried. None really worked well and unfortunately it made things a little sloppy. There were some good suspense scenes and a few moments that might increase your heart-rate but this film isn't really scary. Also, despite being a small gore content, most of the killings are either off-screen or a camera turn which flicks back to the finished result.

Will I watch this again? Yes, probably. I wouldn't say it's worth checking out (I definately wouldn't go out of your way) but there are much worse films out there. At least the last twenty minutes somewhat helped to salvage the film, though not entirely fixing the mess the first hour made the film definately upped it's rating from me in that time. If you see it and like the sound of it then you should check it out. Think 'Friday the 13th' with less of a story and set at a ski-resort and your getting close here. I'd say 5.5/10