THE PLOT THUS FAR
A snobby musical theater camp is terrorized by a blood-thirsty killer who hates musical theater.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“Stage Fright” is a slasher film about a Broadway accident that forces Meat Loaf into the comforts of a musical theater camp. An Opera masked killer has gored Minnie Driver and left her kids as orphans. Now, Meat Loaf deals with her orphans a decade later at the musical camp. He wants to restage his grand show using the deceased’s daughter in the lead role. Unfortunately, this causes the killer to return from wherever killers disappear to for years at a time. Everything is pretty basic and I’m just glad that no female characters were shown to possess a dick by the end of the movie.
Slasher movies are as American as a Western culture’s preoccupation with mindless violence and unqualified entertainment. That being said, “Stage Fright” takes time to play around with the music and comedy of the situation. At times, all three blend together in a way that we haven’t seen in ages. But, it ultimately boils down to the fact that the end result feels like a disappointment by the end of the third act. I like the build-up, but the pay off suffers from what most modern horror films keep producing. A slightly hackneyed way to forgo any credibility that the first two acts brought. Movies aren’t a race, people. The audience is with you for each frame. Make everything account, because we’re all going to remember a lackluster ending.
The Blu-Ray comes with a commentary, deleted scenes, interviews, sing-along and featurettes as the special features. The DTS-HD 5.1 master audio track makes masterful use of the film’s many musical moments. That being said, the 1080p transfer goes dark way too often. But, that’s the aesthetic of the movie. In the end, I’d recommend streaming to the curious.
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!