WTF! A Dan Lee Review

Never have I seen a movie that so perfectly lived up to its title like WTF! and I’ve seen my fair share of slasher movies over the years. I’ve watched all the classics and I’ve dug down into the dregs and I can safely say that, despite the overwhelming popularity of the genre, it’s very hard to make a timeless classic about a crazed killer. But there are always exceptions. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, and Friday the 13th set the bar for fans and filmmakers while others like Hatchet and The Strangers have elevated the notion over the years. WTF! adds to this proud tradition while making some genuinely different and memorable marks through a narrative that is both familiar and completely unique. The film is about a young girl (Rachel) who survives a terrifying slaughter while on a spring break vacation with her friends to a cabin in the woods. The final girl, she spends the next three years rebuilding her life, making friends, and struggling to graduate as she come to grips with the horror she witnessed only to allow herself to be drug along on another rustic outing destined to end in bloodshed. Unfortunately for Rachel’s friends, some traumas are too powerful to be forgotten.

I’ve seen a lot of low budget and indie slasher movies and very few of them have been good. In fact, I try not to write about them unless there is something redeeming to mention. Usually the camera angles are terrible, the editing is amateurish, and the acting is on a par with an amateur porno. WTF! , however, has to be one of the more professionally and skillfully made indie slashers I’ve ever seen. From the opening scene as a topless woman covered in blood runs screaming from a darkened cabin only to be struck down by the killer, the film hooks you from the start and won’t let you go. The cinematography is on point with the writing while the director and cast make this one of the more relate-able, and bizarre, crazed killer flicks I’ve had the pleasure of watching.

“Three years ago, twenty-two year old "girl-next door" Rachel barely survived a brutal massacre that left all of her friends murdered. Time has passed, and Rachel has moved on, but unfortunately her close friends are spending Spring Break in a secluded house in the woods, and they have cordially invited her to join. She would never have accepted the invitation if she realized that another bloodbath would be showing up as plus one...” -IMDB, WTF!

Reading that synopsis on IMDB doesn’t do this justice. WTF! is more than just a 20-something slice and dice extravaganza. It’s a slow burn of a story that gradually builds on the tropes of drug abuse, sex, perversion, and paranoia while creating some truly memorable, though low budget kills. I mean, where else are you going to see some frat bro get castrated by a knife wielding maniac? Or some blonde beauty immolated with a can of hairspray and a lighter? The answer is nowhere but WTF!

You’ll notice this article is a little more scant than most that I write, coming in right around that common, 600 word mark or so. The truth is, I don’t want to ruin this for you and, in a film with some pretty crazy turns and surprises, it’s hard to give you a complete rundown without hitting you with spoilers. As I said, the film style and quality was amazing and the acting was far better than anything you’d normally expect to get in a low budget slasher. There are some genuine creeps that this story is going to give you that you won’t find in any big studio slasher remake.

I absolutely love the insanity of the final slaughter at the end -a veritable smorgasbord of murdered rich kids getting one final taste of the movie not to mention that slow build that allows us to get to know the characters a bit before they start dying. WTF! Is definitely a movie that will have you asking

WTF! is available to stream on VOD services Tuesday, August 1st so be sure to check it out.