Let me start off by saying that this is a blatant rip-off of Friday the 13th. Some people say it’s better than Friday the 13th and has bloodier killings. I think they each have their charm. It’s hard to separate the notoriety of Friday (the film that spawned Jason) from the solo merits of the film itself. If you are into slashers it would do you no wrong to check this one out. I enjoy slashers quite a bit and this one is just as good as Friday, if not better. Watch out for budding stars Jason Alexander and Holly Hunter thrown into the mix.

A young group of teenaged kids at a summer camp despise the Caretaker for being mean and other things the film doesn’t bother to mention. It’s late at night and their plan to scare Cropsy is in effect. They are going to place a rotting skull with burning eyes on a table near to where he sleeps. When they have retreated a few of the other kids tap on the window. Cropsy wakes up and in shock knocks over the skull setting himself and the old shack on fire. He is taken to the hospital and treated for his wounds but his burnt flesh will remain, especially around his face which we don’t see till later. He is pissed off and lonely. He goes to a hooker for company but ends up stabbing her in the stomach repeatedly. I can only ask myself why did he not help the police get these punks, try them as adults and throw them in prison to get sodomized. I guess lurking round the camp grounds and waiting for sweet revenge is just as good.

Five years later, at nearby Camp Stonewater, the group of boys responsible for butchering Cropsy’s social life are now camp counselors in charge of a new batch of teens. The group plan a canoe trip to abandoned Camp Blackfoot, Cropsy territory. It isn’t long before Cropsy starts swinging his garden shears, bringing them down on necks, chopping fingers, and slicing foreheads. If watching dozens of slasher movies has taught me anything is that when a horny teenage couple go skinny dipping at night one or both of them get killed. In these types of scenes one can expect the girl exit the water and lazily put on her clothes, or better yet, as happens here, can’t find her clothes and is pursued by the killer. Breasts are always a plenty in any bonafide slasher and this one is no exception. The characters are goofy and fun in this movie. We mostly have pranksters and horny guys. The girls are mainly teases. The canoe trip comes apart when someone steals the canoes and the group can’t return to Stonewater. A few of them decide to build a raft but Cropsy ambushes them, and of course kills them.

There is a showdown between a couple of the boys and Cropsy in some sort of abandoned ruins. If we were meant to believe that these were the ruins of the old Blackfoot Camp that’s crazy. It looks more like an abandoned fortress, well, at least some larger structure. After a short struggle Cropsy gets a good whack to the head with an axe, but not before we get a good look at his face. By god it looks a whole lot like Jason’s face. Some might argue with me but he freaking looks like Jason except his face is more pinkish. The kids finish him off by setting him on fire...again! Poor guy. If hiding in the forest for five years (away from society) for no apparent reason but bloody vengeance wasn’t enough, then getting set on fire for the second time(!) was the icing on the cake.

I somewhat liked this movie. Did I mention that the killer looks like Dark man. Cropsy wears the trench coat, hat and has the burnt face, but no bandages. Cropsy was not a menacing killer. Garden shears don’t quite do it for me. I recommend this film for slasher fans and once again if asked whether this was better than Friday the 13th I say maybe...

- Jorge Antonio Lopez