MY CALL: Just bad enough in a good way that an adventurous B-movie connoisseur would doubtfully regret it. MORE MOVIES LIKE Blades: Slaxx (2020) and Rubber (2010) spring to mind.
IMDB summary—“Somewhere in New Jersey, a killer lawnmower stalks a small town’s golf course.” And with that description, how could you possibly not feel the need to watch this?!
For a little indie 80s horror movie I’ve never heard of, this is much better made than I would have expected. I expected intolerably bad editing, acting, writing, ultra-cheap sets and clunky sound and scoring—more like Nightmare Weekend (1986). But this is not the case. I’m not calling this some overlooked hidden gem or anything. I’m just saying it’s not complete and utter crap right outta’ the gates at all.
Our first (off-screen) lawnmower death scene results in a pile of a young couple’s body parts in a sand trap. While clearly low budget, even this seemed to exceed my expectations. Baffled by the massacre, the new golf pro and club owner decide to keep things quiet since there’s a major televised golf tournament coming up. So basically, they’re pulling a “mayor from Jaws (1975)” and putting everyone at risk.
The tone of the movie is very light. This is practically a horror comedy, even if light on the comedy. The death scenes are all somewhat silly in execution. They are all off-screen, and after-the-fact remains of the victims are nothing special—some bloody, torn clothes and some occasional severed limbs. Two attacks feature some on-screen (implied) leg shredding and squirming bloody stumps, but that’s about it. Not that it isn’t worth a good grin or two. There just isn’t enough. Still, this remains better than I expected. Despite being very capably produced, the budget limitations reduce the pacing to boredom more frequently than most viewers would prefer.
It’s kind of funny how they “hunt” the lawnmower in the end. But nothing notably eventful comes of it. The lawnmower even has its own local folklore—deliciously laughable. And again, this is where I defend this movie’s merits, however few they may be and even when lacking in the classically integral scares and gore departments.
The final fight with this lawnmower is senselessly stupid. Our protagonists shoot at it and throw grenades from a van while the mower rams the vehicle, then runs away and charges back at them like a remote-control car requiring a wide birth. Ultimately, this killer gardening tool is defeated by golf. Yes—golf. So dumb, yet so perfect.
Definitely got a few laughs out of this movie. Again, there’s just enough “good” in this bad movie to recommend it (to fans of bad movies). I’m not ranking it high in this respect. I’m just saying that adventurous B-movie connoisseurs would doubtfully regret it.