Fester

Director - Emir Skalonja (The Butcher)
Starring - Robert Bozek (Killer Rack), Edward Brown, and Tyler Cherry
Release Date - 2015
Genre - Horror
Format - Streaming (Online screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Killer rabbits.  I have said this time and time again.  We need more horror films with killer rabbits.  We have Night of the Lepus, Peter Rottontail, Kottontail, Easter Casket, and that's about it.  I don't know why we don't have more horror flicks centered around killer rabbits or Easter bunnies.  Hell, we have dozen of horror flicks with killer Santas that are just as effective as any other slasher.  A few weeks ago I came across the Facebook page for the film Fester.  The poster clearly showed a killer rabbit so I was immediately hooked.  I reached out to the page and they were kind enough to hook me up with a link to the online screener.  Thanks Emir for hooking me up!

     The film begins with a little boy who lives with his mother and alcoholic father that looks like Rob Zombie.  The boy is constantly bullied at school and his father ridicules him for it.  One day his father is good and drunk and makes fun of him for getting picked on at school.  The boy snaps and stabs his father in the hand with a fork.  He goes to beat his son for stabbing him and his mother steps in which invokes his wrath.  He beats the shit out the boy's mom while his son watches.  The son has had enough and kills the father before running off.  We then jump 15 years and a young couple is going camping in the woods near the little boy's home.  They do the traditional camping things like collecting firewood and fucking in their tent when they meet another couple who just happen to wondering through the woods.  They talk for a bit before revealing their true nature.  The couple is actually a pair of serial killers who just found their next victims.  However, what they did not count on is that the little boy that kills his dad is now all grown up and slaughtering anyone foolish enough to enter his woods.  

     I went into Fester blind.  I found the Facebook page for the film and did not really look into the movie much.  I was intrigued by the film's killer wearing a bunny mask so that was enough for me.  The film actually played out like a solid don't go in the woods slasher.  The acting in this one is far from perfect but was far from being bad.  The cast showed a lot of dedication and heart which really showed in each scene.  I just feel that they should have rehearsed a little more and work on their expressions.  In several scenes it felt like the cast was just trying a little too hard which did not make the film feel genuine.  The story for this one is one we have seen several times before but does work its way into the Easter season.  The slasher following someone wronged in one way or another stalking and killing people in the woods has been done hundreds if not thousands of times.  Hell, we have Friday the 13th, The Forest, Sleepaway Camp, and on and on and on.  What sets this one apart from the others is the killer has adopted the rabbit moniker and kills which makes this film one of the few horror films that fans can watch on Easter Sunday.  Also, the film has a double killer angle going that was very unique among the slasher in the wood type films.  Made this film feel like a double sided blade.  Finally, the film has several on screen kills that are somewhat bloody but not that memorable.  The kills are generic with some involving several camera cuts and tricks to make them work which takes the kill itself away from the viewer.  The effects we get are decent for what they are but one would expect more coming from a slasher considering how rich of a history the sub-genre has.  Overall, Fester is not the film I was expecting but one the indie horror community deserves.  It has a great story and can easily be added to your Easter Sunday horror film block.  Check it out!