Legacy of Thorn [Review]

This brings us to his latest offering, Legacy of Thorn, which is a crowd-funded film which takes us into the world of Thorn, previously seen in MJ Dixon’s previous feature Slasher House. This one seems to play as a prequel to their previous film while expanding on the mythology of the character in question, and the end result is a hack n’ slash fun popcorn flick, which does have its fair share of ups and downs.

The film follows this hulking beast known as Thorn, who only appears once every four years on February 29th, a leap year, and our would be heroes must fend him off every four years or fall victim to his vicious assault. Other wise, this beast will keep emerging, but how do you kill something that just won’t die?

Well, that’s the question of pretty much every slasher film in existence. There is no easy answer and MJ Dixon takes us on a much more complex ride than your average slasher. The plot isn’t just simply laid out. As the viewer you must pick up the fragments of information along the way and try to put the puzzle together. It’s an interesting take, although a little misplaced in parts.

Still, it’s great to witness Thorn hack up these teens. It’s almost as if a member of Slipknot went a little more crazed than his brotherhood, and is out to hack up every teen that listens to the latest processed artist. Either way, you would not want to meet this sucker in a dark alley, he’d rip your spine out and still come back for more to simply add insult to injury, it’s great!

But there does seem to be a bit of an identity crisis going on, as this is meant to be in the UK, but a lot of the characters seem to be Americanized. We have a slew of American blazers, cheerleaders and even the SWAT team, but saying that, it doesn’t take away from the film, I mean, who can complain about scantily clad cheerleaders running amok? Heck, this is a throwback to slasher films of the eighties, and it does it well, but it could do with a little work.

The acting is okay, some a little more convincing than others, and there are a few slow scenes throughout, but thankfully Thorn usually makes a quick appearance here and there, so it breaks it up a bit, and the score is fantastic. The scenes are really brought to life by the music and certainly helps set the mood throughout, perhaps they could lend their musical skills to others in the field as it really helps open the film.

Now, the gore scenes are a bit hit and miss, we have some CGI here and there which lets down some parts, but we also have some excellent practical effects, for example, being impaled by a machete from the rear and, well, you get the idea, its top stuff, just a shame there isn’t much more, but considering the small budget they did a stellar job.

As you can tell, the film isn’t without its warts, but there are some great scenes, excellent deaths and hot chicks running around, and with their next feature Cleaver on the horizon, I can only see Dixon and crew go from strength to strength, so keep those eyes peeled on their future.

So, if you’re a slasher fan, Legacy of Thorn is a must have and you guys can find this one on DVD this October 27th, just in time for Halloween. So, crack out some beers, get that popcorn on and crank this little slice of horror in your DVD player and get ready for Thorn!

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