Strangeland backdrop
Strangeland poster

STRANGELAND

1998 US HMDB
October 2, 1998

A pierced and tattooed sadist, Captain Howdy, trolls the Internet for naive teens, luring them to his home to torture and defile them. When Howdy kidnaps and tortures the daughter of police Detective Mike Gage, he is caught. Deemed insane, he is sent to an asylum but is released soon after, seemingly better. However, Gage knows it is only a matter of time before Howdy strikes again, and he's ready to unleash his own form of retribution when the time comes.

Directors

John Pieplow

Cast

Kevin Gage, Elizabeth Peña, Brett Harrelson, Robert Englund, Linda Cardellini, Tucker Smallwood, Ivonne Coll, Amy Smart, Dee Snider, Amal Rhoe
Horror

REVIEWS (1)

MC

Marco Castellini

Genevieve and Tiana are two girls who enjoy spending their free time on chat rooms looking for new friends online. One day they come into contact with a guy who calls himself Captain Howdy, apparently nothing more than a boy eager for conquests, and who indeed invites the two to a party. The girls accept, but when Genevieve does not return home, the father, a police detective, begins to worry and suspect that behind the mysterious Captain Howdy is actually a ruthless serial killer who uses the internet to lure his prey. A decent and rather fluid thriller-horror (actually more thriller than horror). The situations and ingredients are those "classic" of this kind of films (ruthless killer, girl-victims, detective personally involved in the case) and therefore the more "savvy" viewers might find the film unoriginal and rather banal; the performances are all of decent level (among the cast, it is worth mentioning the brief appearance of Robert "Freddy" Englund in the role of one of the victims of the mad killer), there are no lack of some "bloody" sequences (see the piercing-based tortures) and the director directs the film without flaws but at the same time in a too "scholastic" manner. Precisely for these characteristics, this film will certainly not remain impressed in your memory for long, but it remains acceptable.