Rating: ***
Starring: Norbert Velez, Todd Bruno, Aniela McGuinness
Remember the show Scare Tactics? The one where an unsuspecting victim gets pranked by their friends and family through elaborate scenarios inspired by horror movies? Now, I always wondered what will happen if prank shows like this screw with the wrong guy? Maybe someone too unstable to understand that everything's a joke? Would there be misunderstandings? Lawsuits? Or perhaps, even murder?Hazmat (2013) jabs an interesting plot from this idea, molding a slasher story about a crew running a show called "Scary Antics", currently setting up for a Behind-the-Scenes Special featuring a target named Jacob and his friends.
Well, the term "friends" may be pushing it a bit; technically, Jacob only has one friend who's willing to put up with his obsession over a power plant he believes to be haunted, but said friend's patience is growing thin. So unknown to Jacob, his buddy and two accomplices set him up for a prank with the Scary Antics crew at the very same power plant. But when the joke goes too far and one of the staffs get hacked with an axe by accident, Jacob loses it, dons a hazmat suit and gas mask, and the axe fatality begins to rise up.
It's a cool concept, one a lot of fans of similar-themed prank shows may find interesting, but I personally think Hazmat (2013)'s execution feels flawed, if not overly unengaging; though we do understand Jacob might not be the kind of friend you want to share bunk beds with, the company he hangs out with were sort of jerks. Though their intention to scare him straight seems reasonable, I sense a lot of hate against the weird guy and this kind of spite makes it hard for me to root for any of the casts save the killer. The staffs behind the fictional show fare a little better but are hardly interesting due to their two-dimensional characterization and their proneness to dumb decisions.
The other thorn on the bush here is its direction; after a third into the movie, we finally got our killer and some bloody good axe murders but after the cast figures out that they're momentarily safe inside a locked office, which also happens to be their base of operation for the prank, it halts and lagged around with us watching these guys thinking of ways how to get out unscathed.
It's a bold move that was meant to build some character in between the stalking and killings, to see if they're smart or witty enough to find a way on surviving. Unfortunately, this only further cements their stupidity as typical slasher victims as it never occurred to them to check for possible exits in this abandoned plant or allow some employees to carry cellphones should things go down South. Hell, one of them even suggests ganging up on the killer, a fact that I keep pondering on every time I watch these films, but I guess one regular guy in a hazmat suit wielding an axe is strong enough to take on seven to six adults. Yeah, that's, uh, some real math work there...Yet, I can't hate Hazmat (2013) for dumbing down its victims. It is, afterall, a slasher movie and victims in these kind of films are classically shortsighted, eventually leading them to their own demise. Asking them to be smarter is like asking a cat to stop licking their groin clean: it's not pretty but it's just the way it is and you must live with it.
The rest of the production looks pretty fair for a low-budget indie and I do applaud their good use of resources; the plant itself is really claustrophobic and it would have been used a lot better with more victims being stalked around in it. The killer's get-up, while simple, does look menacing enough thanks to the well-handled cinematography and lighting. The murders are pretty basic axe hackings which are okay in terms of bloodiness, though I do wish they try varying the kills once in a while. Some of the effects were done in CG, but with a good eye on details so it's no big flaw. It's a misfire on some aspect but Hazmat (2013) has its heart on the right place. Hell, it could be just me and my opinions keeping myself from liking it more, but I'm sure this bodycounter deserves the attention it is getting. Perhaps a few tweaks on the movie's flow and direction may make it better, all in all worth a look for die-hard slasher fans.
Bodycount:
1 male hacked on the gut with an axe
1 male axed on the gut, bled to death
1 female gets an axe to the back of her head
1 male had his limbs cut off with an axe, hacked on the gut
1 male axed on the temple
1 male decapitated with an axe
1 male stabbed on the eye with the pick end of an axe
1 female hacked on the neck with an axe
1 female hacked with an axe
Total: 9
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