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‘The Ranger’ Is The Punk Slasher Movie We Needed

Published

5 years ago

August 18, 2018

The slasher movie, for all its fun, has often been noted for carrying conservative overtones, especially prominent in the heat of the sub-genre in the 1980’s. The victims usually being rebellious teens who smoke, drink, have pre-marital sex and disregard authority and the rules, leading them to an untimely and often gruesome demise with the ‘final’ girl usually being the pure member of the group. Now comes a slasher movie where the entire cast are delinquents fighting a psychotic authority figure in Jenn Wexler’s The Ranger!

The crew. From Left To Right: Abe (Bubba Weiler), Jerk (Jeremy Pope), Garth (Granit Lahu), and Amber (Amanda Grace Benitez)

The story follows Chelsea (Chloe Levine) as she takes her punk friends to her family’s old cabin in the woods so they can evade the police after her boyfriend Garth (Granit Lahu) stabs a cop. The gang has a bag of drugs, punk music, shop-lifted food, and enough beer to last. But they couldn’t foresee their biggest obstacle being one psychotically overzealous Park Ranger (Jeremy Holm) who doesn’t take kindly to miscreants running amok in his woods…

At its core, The Ranger is a traditional slasher film. You got teens going out into the forest only to encounter a crazed killer who starts picking them off one-by-one for their perceived misdeeds. But it is in fact more than that. It’s the 80’s-set slasher Green Room evocative of Return Of The Living Dead (with a few homages) with a full-on cast of punk rockers in a life or death battle with an insane authority figure. On that note, Jeremy Holm really stands out as the titular Ranger.

THE RANGER poster. Image via IMDB

Affable, kindly, and dead serious about the rules and regulations of ‘his’ mountain. He’s in total contrast to our group of punks, appearing in the beginning prologue set to Charlie Rich’s pop-country hit “The Most Beautiful Girl” in opposition to the hardcore punk soundtrack and themes of the main cast. But he meets all the staples of slasher villains that have come before him. Slaughtering delinquents for minor transgressions while spouting one-liners and using his ranger theme and gear to deadly and brutal ends. Every scene he emerges from the woods like the forest’s ghoulish guardian is always a memorable one. More Psycho Cop than Freddy Krueger, but with the outdoors themes of Jason Voorhees and the killer of The Final Terror. An unhinged naturalist who seems obsessed with ‘survival of the fittest’, and Chelsea in particular.

Chelsea (Chloe Levine)

Chelsea herself stands out as our lead. She shares the same rebellious nature of her friends, but even she is disgusted by their shallow disdain for the nature around her family’s cabin. Deriding them for spray painting trees and setting unsafe bonfires, she shares more qualities with the ranger than she’d care to admit. She’s not afraid to speak her mind, even when she comes into conflict with her friends. Questioning Garth’s plans and how they’re going to outrun the law. She’s resourceful and knows her way in the wilderness with secrets about her past to the cabin and The Ranger to be seen.

Jerk (Jeremy Pope)

The rest of the punk crew are interesting in their own ways. Jerk (Jeremy Pope) and Abe (Bubba Weiler) are a gay couple who genuinely love and care for one another, in stark contrast to Chelsea and Garth’s often tense relationship. Amber (Amanda Grace Benitez) is the more laid back punk, contrasting Chelsea in both hair and attitude. The cast does well in displaying their friendship through the movie as they go from the raided punk show to the van and into the woods. Which makes it genuinely heartfelt when tragedy and horror befalls them. The cast of characters are actual characters with relationships with one another that shows they do truly care about one another, a lynchpin that is sadly absent from many films of the genre. Director Jenn Wexler has made a slasher movie that absolutely feels genuine in everything from story to tone. Though genre throwback movies are a dime-a-dozen nowadays, The Ranger treats the slasher themes and punk aesthetic respectfully, with comedy mainly coming from it, instead of at it.

Overall, if you’re looking for something that feels like it came from the horror heydays of the eighties, The Ranger comes recommended. The Ranger is in select theaters in New York and will be hitting VOD and Digital in September.

Image via IMDB

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Movies

Shudder Promises: “Goopy practical effects…and LOTS of blood” in Upcoming Movie

Published

11 hours ago

December 8, 2023

Timothy Rawles

Shudder has been hitting out of the park with new horror releases lately. Now comes word that they will release the horror/comedy Destroy All Neighbors on their streaming platform starting January 12. The movie is helmed by music video director Josh Forbes. It stars Jonah Ray Rodrigues (Mystery Science Theater 3000), and Alex Winter, Ted, of Bill & Ted Fame.

There is no trailer for the movie yet, but Shudder explains that Rodrigues plays William, “a neurotic, self-absorbed musician determined to finish his prog-rock magnum opus, faces a creative roadblock in the form of a noisy and grotesque neighbor named Vlad (Alex Winter). Finally working up the nerve to demand that Vlad keep it down, William inadvertently decapitates him. But, while attempting to cover up one murder, William’s accidental reign of terror causes victims to pile up and become undead corpses who torment and create more bloody detours on his road to prog-rock Valhalla. Destroy All Neighbors is a twisted splatter-comedy about a deranged journey of self-discovery full of goopy practical FX, a well-known ensemble cast, and LOTS of blood.”

Destroy All Neighbors will premiere on Shudder on January 12.

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Games

Hideo Kojima and Jordan Peele Unveil Trailer for Chilling ‘OD’

Published

16 hours ago

December 8, 2023

Trey Hilburn III

Gamers have been waiting for Hideo Kojima to give us something in the form of a horror game ever since PT’s demo scared the heck out of all of us when it was released on PS4. Well, The Game Awards didn’t disappoint by bringing Hideo Kojima’s latest project OD out to tease. While the trailer didn’t focus on any gameplay at all, it did give us some motion capture of Udo Kier Sophia Ellis, and Hunter Schafer.

The short trailer focuses on close-ups of the actors; each of whom is reciting a haunting lines from a memorable text. Following the little video, Kojima came out on stage to share his excitement about the game. That wasn’t all though!

Kojima then brings out Jordan Peele, to announce that the game is in partnership with the director. The latest horror game is titled OD and is already on big most anticipated lists.

Kojima announces that this is of course a game but is also a new form of media altogether. He remains cryptic about the game but makes sure to give us all a lot to take in and be excited about.

Peele is on board to put gamers into the shoes of characters that will feel familiar to the sort of experiences that he brings to his films.

There is no word on when OD will see a release date but we are very excited and will be sure to let you know more when we receive more info.

Are you excited about Kojima’s new partnership with Peele? Let us know in the comments section.

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Games

Arkane Studios and Marvel Reveal Rad Trailer for Blade

Published

17 hours ago

December 8, 2023

Trey Hilburn III

One of the biggest and most exciting moments from last night’s Game Awards was the unveiling of Arcane’s latest game, Blade! That’s right, y’all. Marvel is getting together with Arkane Studios in order to tell the tale of the Daywalker.

Arkane has been responsible for some of our favorite games over the last few years. They are responsible for Deathloop and Dishonored just to name a couple. So, the idea of a Blade game is very exciting. Mainly because we have seen what Arkane does with their special powers and perks in game. So, we already can’t wait to see the powers they unleash with Blade.

Not much is known at the moment other than the game will be a third-person experience that takes place in Paris.

The synopsis for Blade goes like this:

In Marvel’s Blade, Eric Brooks is the legendary Daywalker, half-man, half-vampire torn between the warm society of the living and the rushing power of the undead. From Bethesda and Arkane Lyon, the studio that brought you Dishonored and “DEATHLOOP”, Marvel’s Blade is a mature, single-player, third-person game set in the heart of Paris, now in development in collaboration with Marvel Games.

We are already dying to see what Arkane and Bethesda does with Blade. It will undoubtedly be a huge and memorable experience. Marvel has been doing a great job of carefully brining their games to life. If you haven’t played Guardians of the Galaxy, please do. It is a singular experience that goes beyond the game films and gives us an all-new experience in the Guardians tales. We are sure that Arkane will give us another amazing Marvel chapter when Blade is released.

There isn’t any word on when Blade is going to be released. But, we will be sure to keep you updated as soon as we hear more.