Ruin Me Review: A horror film experience starts to amass an actual body count in this nifty horror thriller.
Ruin Me Review
Alex (Marcienne Dwyer) does not like horror films. Despite this, she finds herself volunteering to join boyfriend Nathan (Matt Dellapina) on an interactive horror experience after his friend drops out at the last minute. The event, ‘Slasher Sleep-out’, grants fans of horror films the chance to experience one first hand for fun. Soon after arriving however, it becomes clear that something truly ominous is occurring and this is one game that is getting way out of hand.
The concept within this film is genius. What horror fan wouldn’t want to play slasher movie?! Interactive theme park attractions and Escape Rooms are all the rage at the moment. Escape rooms in particular seem to be making a killing, especially those with a scary spin. Apparently us human folks are no longer happy to be merely frighted by fiction, we also want in on the action too. The idea for Ruin Me actually came after writers Trysta A. Bissett and Preston DeFrancis participated in an overnight event in LA called The Great Horror Campout. Fortunately for them though, their experience didn’t have an actual body count.
Ruin Me Review
Ruin Me, although a fairly straight horror film, is a lot fun. There’s a cheeky strand of humour running through the core. It’s a film that embraces everything that one would expect of a slasher film. For example, the group that Alex and Nathan are placed into include our typical character types – the slut, the goth, the loner, and the prankster. They may, for the most part, be stock archetypes, but the majority have more to them lurking beneath the surface. The story is also much more intricate than the usual slasher fare; this narrative has hidden layers and depths. There are a lot of ideas here and they work really well, adding a fresh slant on a very established genre.
The film receives its World premiere at Frighfest and it really couldn’t have picked a better venue to debut at. As you might expect from a film featuring an event that celebrates horror movies, it is peppered with little nods and references to famous films. Fans of the genre are going to have an absolute ball trying to spot all of these Easter eggs.
Ruin Me Review
An interesting story that works harmoniously with some really engaging characters, Ruin Me is a rip-roaring ode to the slasher genre. With giggles, gore and homages aplenty, this is an absolute delight for genre fans.
Ruin Me review by Kat Hughes, August 2017.
Ruin Me is currently playing as part of the Horror Channel Frighfest 2017 programme.
