BLOODY MURDER 2: CLOSING CAMP

Although five long years have passed, young Tracy still can't forget the horrible massacre that occurred at the summer camp of Placid Pines and in whose aftermath her older brother Jason disappeared. Now Tracy works as a camp organizer and, with the summer season over, it's time to close up for the arrival of winter. But before the camp can be considered closed in all respects, a new horror is preparing to take shape: one after another, all the organizers begin to be brutally massacred by a mysterious killer. Tracy fears that the killer who acted five years ago may still be alive and that the story, therefore, may repeat itself a second time. Talking about "Bloody Murder 2" would be like spending words on a book composed entirely of blank pages: it wouldn't make any sense! The first thing one wonders after finishing the viewing of this film is why Eagle Pictures bothered so much to want to distribute in our market this movie when the first "Bloody Murder" never arrived in Italian territory and never will; the second thing one wonders is why this film exists. It is rather difficult to attribute a satisfying answer to both dilemmas, the only thing we can assert with conviction is that we, of this "Bloody Murder 2", did not feel the need at all. To be honest, the film in question cannot be properly categorized as "bad" (although we are certainly far from a quality product) but without any difficulty it can be categorized with the label "useless film". As much as the concept of "uselessness" may be relative and subjective, it seems impossible, during all eighty minutes of duration, to find a real reason of interest that could save the film from the attribution of such an adjective. The film, directed in 2003 by the same Rob Spera who directed "Leprechaun 5: In the Hood" (if the quality of his films will always be this, better change the name to Rob Wait and Hope), does nothing but repeat from beginning to end all the most well-known clichés of the genre making sure that, in the end, the result is that of a soulless film that could be considered without too many difficulties the tarot version of "Friday the 13th" (too many affinities: camp, campers, killer with white mask and morbid attachment to a parent, one of the characters is named Jason, etc, etc). What remains unclear is knowing what the intention of the writers was: to make a film "as a tribute" and therefore aware of the lack of originality? Or to make a slasher, with the minimum effort, looting the ideas of someone else? Whatever the basic intentions were, however, it doesn't matter given that what you have in your hands is anyway an anonymous product that smells of already seen for all the runtime that extends between the opening and closing credits. The viewer who is about to watch the film for the first time, in fact, will not be late to be assaulted by the strong doubt of having already seen the film on some other occasion. Such is the feeling of déjà-vu and the predictability of each single event. Having overcome the "originality" factor, there is really little else to add and it must be recognized that everything else, each single component, does not stray much from the result offered by a classic bad slasher among the many that crowd the direct-to-video market. One will be able to notice, therefore, a particularly flat direction; a screenplay full of banality; characters not well developed and thrown under the sign of the stereotype; anonymous actors and of questionable talent, among whom only a Tiffany Shepis always little dressed ("Nympha", "Abominable", "Dead Scared") ready to give a touch of eroticism to the film; approximate set designs and a somewhat glossy photography. Given the few (none) ideas available, one could have played the splatter card by at least trying to keep the viewer awake, but nothing to do. Although there are some scenes that timidly try to approach gore, all the murders are unmemorable and unable to offer anything new. In short, "Bloody Murder 2" is the classic film that was not needed, a product so insignificant that it will be forgotten even before the film ends.