The Shed (2019)

The humble garden shed. Somewhere to stash things that you intend to use for one or two months a year, if you can put a braver face on things and move them out from all of the spiderwebs that are built on them throughout the rest of the year. Or a place of solace that people escape to, often indulging in some beloved hobby in there. There have also been, certainly in recent years, scary things lurking in there. Zombies (although I have only seen the trailer for Shed Of The Dead so I may be exaggerating things slightly), David Cameron, and now a vampire.

Frank Whaley is Bane, someone we see hunting a vampire at the start of the movie. And then he gets bitten. Seeking shelter from the sun, he ends up running into a shed. That's how young Stan (Jay Jay Warren), who lives with his grandfather (Timothy Bottoms), ends up eventually finding out that he has a bloodsucking creature in his shed. This may make it difficult for him to try and date the lovely Roxy (Sofia Happonen), or it may make it easier, which is how his best friend, Dommer (Cody Kostro), views it. Because you don't need to fear anyone, not even the bullying Marble (Chris Petrovski), when you have a way to get rid of them.

Only the second feature from director Frank Sabatella in the past twelve years (that was the enjoyable Blood Night: The Legend Of Mary Hatchet, and he has a number of shorts to his credit), The Shed is a film that feels like it should have been made a few decades ago. It's an enjoyable blend of vampire action and teen movie beats, but would have ultimately worked better with the cast members who populated so many John Hughes movies of the 1980s. This should have been the kind of gem that fans of Fright Night held in the same high regard as that slice of fun. Instead, it's just here and now, not a bad film, but not able to fulfil the potential of the central idea.

Warren isn't a bad lead, although he's not the most charismatic either, but he's a solid enough anchor for the events, especially when surrounded by a good mix. Happonen is a bright presence, Kostro does the put-upon teen thing well enough, and Petrovski is a bully that you look forward to getting his comeuppance, however bloody that may be. And Bottoms is as good as ever, even if he's not being all that nice to his grandson.

The Shed deserves kudos for trying to do something a bit different. Based on a short story by Jason Rice, Sabatella gets the tone just right as things move between schoolday threats and the ominous presence that viewers know is waiting in that shed. It's everything else that needs tweaked and tightened, from the dialogue and character moments to the pacing. The film clocks in at a not-overlong 98 minutes, but it feels longer than that, thanks to a slow start, saggy middle section, and a third act that really only pays everything off in the last 15 minutes or so.

It's still worth your time though, and I hope we don't have to wait as long for the next feature from Sabatella. The man has talent. He just needs to work with better material.

6/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share 

All Cheerleaders Die (2013)

Co-written and co-directed by Lucky McKee and Chris Sivertson, All Cheerleaders Die is a chance for the guys to remake/rework a concept that they first delivered to audiences back in 2001. I haven't seen the original version so I can't comment on how closely this follows it, but I'm happy that this movie is here. It's a lot of fun, reminiscent of Jennifer's Body, with a little bit of The Craft and Heroes added to the mix.

The story starts with a young woman, Maddy (Caitlin Stasey), infiltrating the world of the cheerleaders as she puts together what seems to be some kind of documentary/promo piece about their lives. When tragedy strikes, and I don't think I'm spoiling anything by saying that a cheerleader dies, then Maddie ends up taking the plunge herself and applying to join the squad. It's all part of her plan to cause no small amount of upset, but her plan is scuppered when more deaths occur. Thankfully, a young witch (Leena, played by Sianoa Smit-Mcphee) is able to help out. But witchcraft isn't an exact science.

It may not have a script full of sassy one-liners, and it may not be as fast-moving as some may like, but I really had fun with this film. The humour stems from the fact that a bunch of cheerleaders end up being quite dangerous and powerful, completely by accident. They would, if it wasn't for Maddy, just get right back to their usual high school routine, which involved bitching about others, trying to get through classes with minimal effort, and fending off potential rapists.

McKee and Sivertson don't exactly twist genre conventions, but they mix things up in a way that makes everything a bit different from the norm, while also providing enough standard goodies for fans (there are some decent moments of bloodshed and, hey, the main characters are attractive cheerleaders - call me shallow, but I was happy throughout most of the movie).

Unfortunately, the main characters aren't all that strong. Stasey and Smit-McPhee both do well, setting themselves apart from the main crowd in their very first scenes, but Amanda Grace Cooper, Brooke Butler, Leigh Parker and Reanin Johannink all blur into one cheerleading mass. They're supposed to be that way, understandably, and their characters are allowed to develop slightly in the second half of the movie, but it still doesn't help viewers to fully engage with the unfolding events. Tom Williamson, playing Terry Stankus, stands out from the boys who are onscreen, mainly because he's the worst of the jocks, in ways that become clearer with each scene that he's in.

Perhaps suffering from a bit of an identity crisis (ironically enough, considering the fate of two main characters - see the film and you'll know what I mean), I still ended up enjoying All Cheerleaders Die, probably because I had no idea what to expect on the way in. I know some other people who have enjoyed it as much as I did, but I've also seen a lot of people thoroughly dislike it. I still recommend it anyway. If you hate it then it's only 90 minutes long. If you love it, well, you can thank me later.

7/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews