I love slasher movies and I saw this late one night on Amazon Prime and decided to give it a shot. I knew it was low budget, but the cover art sold me on giving it a shot. I should have went with something else.
What The Film Is About (Non-Spoiler):
A young goth girl is forced to attend a cheerleading camp where she clashes with the other girls. But once the girls end up dying one by one, they must unite to survive.
What I Liked About It:
-Not much. This is a very low budget slasher and it shows everywhere: from the music to the cinematography to the acting. I was able to enjoy the film a bit more once I realized exactly how low budget this was and I lowered my expectations.
-The movie poster is a very good and reminds me of an 80’s slasher poster.
-The film does a good job with the chases.
What I Didn’t Like About It:
-Like a lot of low budget horror films, the film knows it doesn’t have the talent/budget to play it straight, so they infuse quite a bit of humor into the movie. I hate when movies do that, since it shows how uncommitted and the lack of faith they have in telling a straight up scary story.
-There is very little gore and the kills take place mostly off screen.
Additional Notes:
-The camp is named Lumis which is most likely a nod to Dr. Loomis from Halloween and the camp’s director is named Mrs. Haddonfield which is clearly a nod to Halloween.
-Some pre-orders came with signed panties.
Rating:
Spirit Squad was a waste of time. I judged a movie by its cover and I lost. That’s not to say there is no enjoyment to be had here. That’s not to say there is no enjoyment to be had here. The movie is a slasher and it can be fun at times, just think about some of the acting in the worst 80’s slashers and apply it to the 2000’s.
I’d rate Spirit Squad a two out of five and say skip it.