The Night Before Easter

Director(s) - Joseph Henson (Gory Graduation) and Nathan Johnson (Till Dusk Do Us Part)
Starring - April Sinclair (The Locksmith), Emily Chidalek, Alyssa Matusiak (Human Supply), and Bonnine Marilyn Jean
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Horror
Tagline(s) - "You've survived Halloween and Black Christmas, but will you survive The Night Before Easter?" and "A Tisket, A Tasket, A Bloody Yellow Basket."
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     In 2010 AMC released the television adaptation of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead.  The show was a hit which spawned countless zombie and apocalyptic horror films in it's wake that I commonly refer to the post-Walking Dead zombie movement.  A majority of these films suck monkey balls while a select few are truly worth watching.  This sucks because I am a huge fan of zombie and slasher flicks.  Since The Walking Dead spawned these slack jawed pieces of shit I have started leaning more towards the indie slasher.  Since 2009 the slasher sub-genre has slowly been making it's way back to it's bloody roots with many of them paying homage to the classic slashers of the 80s.  When Easter was approaching I checked out a few holiday themed slashers and reviewed them.  It was then someone told me to reach out to the Facebook page for the indie slasher The Night Before Easter.  I did that and received a reply very promptly.  Sadly, I was in the middle of moving and my wife had our first child (it's a girl!) and this took all of my spare time.  Now, as I sit here in the hospital as she gives the small bundle of screams some tit I decided to not waste anymore time and review this bunny themed slasher.  

     The film follows a group of twenty-somethings as they have a small get together in a building owned by one of their fathers.  The purpose of this party is to tell her high school friends that she will be moving out of the states and relocating to London.  The real reason for this little get together is so this young lady can let a young comic book shop owner know that she has feelings for him.  However, he invites his new snotty girlfriend.  This does not change her mind and she still tries to tell him her real feelings but a madman in an Easter bunny outfit crashes the party and starts killing her friends.
     A lot of modern slashers have tried to duplicate that look and feel of the classic 80s slashers.  This is, of course, the most popular decade of slashers altogether.  What set these slashers apart from the other decades was a culmination of so many things.  This involved the wardrobe, score, kills, overall story, and most importantly the artwork for the film.  This film is only able to invoke the 80s vibe by artwork and soundtrack alone.  The artwork is able to pull you just like some of the best 80s artwork.  The sound track was a solid attempt at that 80s slasher sound.  Though it did not fully go the distance it was still a better effort than most.  The acting in this one actually on the bad side.  The cast tried but the lack of experience showed through in every scene.  This made a lot of the scenes awkward to watch.  The story for this one is one that has been told before.  The slasher formula is one that has been used over and over again but with one little aspect of the film changed to set it apart.  Most slashers just changed the killer and the killer's back story.  However, this one doesn't change anything at all.  In fact, the film is oddly similar to Bunnyman.  The film also moves at a snails pace making it difficult to watch at times.  Slashers tend to be slow, and that is ok, but we need some kills to break up the boredom.  Sadly, the action in this one doesn't pick up until after the 30 minute mark.  Most people tend to turn the movie off way before the 30 minute mark if the film is too slow so the only people who see these kills are the ones that are dedicated enough.  Finally, the kills and special effects in this one are not the best I have seen during my short time writing reviews.  The kills consist of the typical slasher stock but with minimal special effects and some take place off screen.  Slasher fans despise the off screen kills and I can see why.  It honestly takes away from one of the main reasons people watch slashers.  Overall, The Night Before Easter is a valiant effort at creating an 80s slasher but falls short.  Though I was not a fan of the film I am very excited to see what is in store in the future from these two filmmakers with the experience they learned from making this film.