Starring - Matt Freckingham, Baron Mynd, and Kerr Wykes
Release Date - 2016
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "The day Verne brought home his trophy"
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
A good portion of the horror community is avid wrestling fans, or rastling as the locals call it. I can't find enjoyment in it anymore and haven't watched it since the fall of WCW and WWF's Attitude era. Wrestling then was more about gimmicks and the wrestling match and not about the shoot interviews. Wrestling was what went on in the ring and not behind a microphone. Anyway, a majority of horror fans love the faux sport which has influenced several no to low budget horror flicks over the years. A few days ago I was contacted by director Matt Freckingham to check out his newest short that was co-directed by Jason Impey. Freckingham is a filmmaker I was unfamiliar with but Impey was one that I reviewed several months back when he sent over his film Fluid Boy. Not one to turn down a movie, I told Matt I would happily check out his short Turn Heel. Thanks for sending it my way. 
The film follows three men who head out deep into the woods for some camping. They struggle to put up their camping gear and then decide to part ways. They are then stalked by a maniacal man wearing a luchador mask. He slowly and brutally kills the three men one at a time before leaving the woods.
Some of you may remember my review for Fluid Boy directed by Jason Impey. I was not a fan of the film and it reminded me a lot of another film I was not a fan of, American Guinea Pig: Bouquet of Guts and Gore. The film honestly had no story and was rather boring. With that being said, the Impey/Freckingham collective Turn Heel was rather entertaining and offered up a silly slasher that could have been a feature length film if more thought was applied. The acting in this one is not the best. The cast awkwardly spits out their dialogue as we roll from scene to scene but they are just killing time until the blood is spilled. This is typical for a lot of the back yard horror flicks from the 90s and even some of the well known S.O.V. horror films we fondly love. The story for this one is nothing we haven't seen before but it does offer up a wrestling theme that we never see in slashers. The film follows a group of people getting picked off one by one in bloody fashion while in the woods. This is far from being original but the luchador killer does make it fun. My only gripe with this was we did not get any wrestling moves done to maim and torture his victims. Would have loved to see a DDT to a snapped neck or a full nelson slam and they break their arms. These types of kills would have knocked this one over the top and made it a memorable slasher and not another one that will soon be forgotten. Finally, the film has three kills and they milk them for everything they are worth. The kills are brutal and bloody with some decent practical effects considering the film's budget. I was thoroughly surprised by these kills and really enjoyed them. Overall, Turn Heel is the kind of slasher I want to see. This primitive splatter flick gets straight to the gore and offers up some pure entertainment. The film is very rough and has a lot of missed opportunities but is well worth a watch.
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