Starring - Anna Clary (Grandma, Amityville Ripper), Clint Beaver (Massacre at Femur Creek, Babezilla vs. the Cyber Skanks: Rise of Mechababezilla), and Katie Bennett (Gore Theatre)
Release Date - 2024
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "It's Halloween Eve and he's ready to party"
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
Matt Cloude is a filmmaker that I befriended many years ago on Facebook. I can't remember how our paths crossed but I'm damn near positive it had to do with indie horror. I assume he was promoting one of his earlier films or something to do with Troma. Regardless, he's a passionate filmmaker that truly loves the genre. Sometime ago he started posting about his newest film Coffintooth. The title alone had me fucking hooked and as some cast announcements made their way to social media I knew I had to see it. A few days back Matt sent over the finished film for me to check out. I quickly made room for it in my schedule so I could check it out. I want to thank Matt for sending this one over to check out!
The film follows a young woman and her small group of friends On Halloween who find themselves being hunted by the local legend Coffintooth.
Coffintooth was not the movie I was expecting but it did not disappoint. I tossed this one in and the opening scene made me think I was about to dig into a hixploitation flick. Sadly, that was not the case. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Coffintooth but I was a little excited thinking I was getting into a hixploitation flick. With that being said, Coffintooth is a lot of fun especially for fans of classic slashers and the current indie scene. The acting in this one is great. We get great performances from several familiar faces like Pool Party Massacre director and star Drew Marvick, iconic rape/revenge starlet Camille Keaton known for starring in the cult classic I Spit on Your Grave, Troma president and director Lloyd Kaufman (people really thought they sold to Disney...), the pillar of the indie horror community Jason Crowe, Pumpkinhead and Society star Brian Bremer, and one of my favorite indie horror scream queens Angel Nichole Bradford just to name a few. This film really does have an impressive cast and we get zero weak links...besides Michael McGlynn. He doesn't deliver a bad performance, in fact, its the opposite but I really do hate seeing him with a shirt on. The story for this one is a slasher in a literal sense of the sub-genre and could easily continue with a sequel, prequel, or spin off depending on how Cloude approaches it. While I would love a prequel that fully embraces the hixploitation aspect, it would be easy to make a sequel featuring more Coffintooth or even a spin off. The movie is a slasher that creates it's own lore and doesn't over do it with a complicated story. It's straight forward with great pacing and phenomenal storytelling. Finally, the film has plenty of the red stuff. We get some deaths that fit the film very well with some great effects and gore. I would have loved to see more, especially after seeing how great it looks here, but I understand budget restraints and so on. Overall, Coffintooth doesn't try to reinvent the slasher sub-genre. Instead, it tries to capture what makes the sub-genre so much fun for viewers while giving them some blood and gore. Honestly, it works and I can see myself revisiting it several more times before I tire of it. I highly recommend checking it out if you ever get the chance.
