Terrore senza volto

(**1/2 out of *****)

I was eager to see this movie about people trapped in a supermarket with a homicidal maniac because of: 1.) some of the favorable reviews I'd read for it; 2.) the director -- Spiegel co-wrote Evil Dead 2; and 3.) the interesting cast (Sam and Ted Raimi, Renee Estevez, Bruce Campbell -- only a cameo). Well, for one thing, it's about as low budget as you can possibly get (what is the deal with some late ‘80s-to-present low budget horror films? Most low budget slasher movies made in the early ‘80s look so much better than this grainy, seemingly shot-on-video crud. Has financing and video distribution for these independent studios deteriorated that much over the years?) -- in fact, it looks like it might have even been shot with a supermarket surveillance camera. Anyway, I was a bit disappointed overall. The story's not that good, the acting's mostly mediocre, the writing is often just bad, and even the gore -- as gratuitous and unrelenting as it is -- is kinda dull (one victim is hung by his face on a meat hook and another has his head sliced in half with a large meat cutter.) One disclaimer: I was plastered when I watched this, so a lot of it is jumbled together, but my general philosophy is that if I don't care that much for a movie even when I've tied one on, then it really can't be that good. The direction shows some flair, but all of those stylish camera angles draw too much attention to themselves and get kind of irritating after a while. The minor twist ending is similar to the ending of the even worse flick "The Dorm That Dripped Blood."

HIGHLIGHT: One character is beaten senseless with a human head (hmm, on second thought, maybe that's a lowlight -- ?)