Considering I had never heard of Lovers Lane before deciding to give it a blind buy when it received a shiny new disc release, my expectations were understandably low. There aren’t any big names leading the proceedings (Anna Faris has a supporting role, and she is the most well-known cast member, as far as I can tell), the plot revolved around the idea of the hook-handed killer we have seen utilised in one or two decent horror movies already, and it looked like a very traditional approach to the sub-genre while other slasher movies were trying to find fresh ways to deliver the gory goods.
While I was unfamiliar with most of the people onscreen, I was equally unfamiliar with director Jon Steven Ward and writers Geof Miller and Rory Veal. Or so I thought. I had seen a couple of other films written by Miller, but nothing that you would present to people as a standout script.
Aside from Faris onscreen, Lovers Lane focuses on a couple of young main characters played by Riley Snith and Erin Dean, and I didn’t mind either of them. While maybe not shining stars, both are likeable enough for you to care when they start to look more likely to meet the business end of a sharp hook. There’s also a fun turn from Sarah Lancaster, being both beautiful and entertainingly ruthless, and the main adults who end up spending a night trying to catch a killer are played by Matt Riedy (a sheriff), Richard Sanders (a doctor), and Suzanne Bouchard (school principal). Every adult has a teen who could be in grave danger, of course, and the cast does okay with a very weak script.
I haven’t given any full plot description here, mainly because there’s no point. An opening sequence has some gratuitous gore and nudity to establish the killer with the hook, and we then move forward years later to watch a night when that same killer escapes his secure accommodation. But horny teens still want to be horny teens, which allows for a good selection of victims.
While this is clearly never bothering the titles at the top of the slasher movie tree, Lovers Lane tries to keep everything fun for the majority of the runtime. No other moments equal the strength of the opening, but the pacing isn’t too bad, the characters generally do enough to feel like individuals, and the finale throws in enough fun twists and lunacy as it shows that it isn’t just the very familiar tale you thought it was going to be.
There are things that could be better, of course. From the music to the gore gags, and one or two more major death scenes wouldn’t have gone amiss, but this is an above-average slasher that remains worth your time for at least one viewing. And if you think it is the worst example of this type of thing, feel free to ask me about the ones that you should really continue to avoid at all costs.
6/10
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