This is an ok movie, definitly a good effort for the people who made this with an almost nothing budget. A guy escapes from a mental hospital, has no hand, and puts a fork thing on his handless arm. Nothing special, very low budget like usual. This movie can only be seen on the Attack of the Killer Refrigerator video.
5 Reviews
Not as vomit inducing as should be expected
LuisitoJoaquinGonzalez7 August 2008
Warning: Spoilers
It's easy to make a slasher film. No really, it is. Compared to any other cinematic genre, the funds and tools needed to complete the production of a basic entry to the vast catalogue are invitingly meagre. That's why a category so low on room for authenticity and creativity is as overcrowded as a central-London bus during rush hour. Although it may be a relatively simple task to pitch a dime store maniac against a group of your closest buddies and then package it as the most shocking cinematic gross-out since The Exorcist, creating a decent slasher movie has become something of a mission impossible.
Many, MANY budding directors have attempted bravely to give the cycle a new landmark feature, but the results have almost always been resoundingly dismal. Of the six-hundred-plus entries currently in existence, only a marginal 3% have achieved worldwide recognition from celebrated cinema critics. 3%! Despite those shocking statistics, the genre continues to thrive on the bottom shelves of video stores across the globe and every now and then future stars are discovered hamming their way through a woefully uninspired killer in the woods yarn.
The huge personal satisfaction gained by a crew being involved in the production of a film that people have actually seen - that has actually gained some kind of back-hand distribution - also cannot be ignored. For most people it's a dream that's as far away as an undiscovered solar system; but for a select few even if the said feature just happens to be an awful low-budget splatter flick that dream has become reality.
With that said, it's easy to understand the motivations behind the production of The Hook of Woodland Heights. Released on a twin-pack with the equally appetising (in the cheesiest possible way) Attack of the Killer Refrigerator, Hook is one of those movies, made strictly tongue in cheek in order to be consumed in a similar fashion. Long live trash cinema
It all kicks off with an introduction to our central characters. First off we meet Tommy, a weasel-like jock whose modus operandi throughout the runtime seems only to be to succeed in getting his leg over his frumpy sweetheart Katie. Kate is also no one's definition of a genius and spends most of the movie attempting to do everything in her power to get herself killed. The pair head out to the serenity of the local woodland, blissfully unaware that Mason Kraine a maniacal one-armed maniac has taken it upon himself to escape the surprisingly cosy confinement of the local asylum and head out to bolster his already impressive list of victims. Will the angst-ridden youngsters be able to make-out in peace and avoid the now fork-handed psycho? Do ducks float on water?
Produced on the kind of budget that a wide-boy salesman spends on a night out in the city with his good friend Charlie and a couple of 'ladies of the night', Hook is a movie that seems content to swim amongst the platitudes of its brethren. There's no danger of breaking any new ground here as director Savino stumbles through the clichés like a wrong-footed alcoholic on a Marine assault course.
With that said, in many places the film transcends its $32,000 budget. There's some fun gore on display and the hilarious performance of the hyperactive killer is worth the budget rental price alone. It even plays host to by far the most bizarre murder ever committed to cheap videotape. Death by clipboard anybody? Exactly.
Hook of Woodland Heights runs no longer than forty minutes, which is something of a lesson amongst moving pictures with psycho killers in them. It manages to pack in all the necessary character development, whilst in the same breath laughing in the face of titles such as The Prey, which found it essential to pad their runtimes with pointless and irrelevant footage in order to bolster the length of the feature. The script packs in everything that's needed to keep the plot running and the audience are never left feeling short-changed.
Rumour has it that none of the cast and crew saw a shiny circular dime for their participation in the production of this ambitious title, so kudos to director Savino for keeping them motivated enough to deliver enthusiastic, if not decent, performances. There are the expected continuity shotgun holes and the acting is as rancid as a blooper reel from an English soap opera, but Hook is by no means the worst slasher flick on the market.
Savino even tries to go all controversial by killing a pre-teen halfway through his splatter fest, but the movie never feels mean spirited. This is mainly thanks to the killer's laugh-inducing performance and his awful make up, which leaves him looking like a cast-off from glam rockers Kiss' late seventies tour of the US.
OK so there's nothing here to recommend, but if you're like me and have an unhealthy addiction to slasher trash, give this cheapie a try. There are a lot worse efforts clogging up Amazon.
Many, MANY budding directors have attempted bravely to give the cycle a new landmark feature, but the results have almost always been resoundingly dismal. Of the six-hundred-plus entries currently in existence, only a marginal 3% have achieved worldwide recognition from celebrated cinema critics. 3%! Despite those shocking statistics, the genre continues to thrive on the bottom shelves of video stores across the globe and every now and then future stars are discovered hamming their way through a woefully uninspired killer in the woods yarn.
The huge personal satisfaction gained by a crew being involved in the production of a film that people have actually seen - that has actually gained some kind of back-hand distribution - also cannot be ignored. For most people it's a dream that's as far away as an undiscovered solar system; but for a select few even if the said feature just happens to be an awful low-budget splatter flick that dream has become reality.
With that said, it's easy to understand the motivations behind the production of The Hook of Woodland Heights. Released on a twin-pack with the equally appetising (in the cheesiest possible way) Attack of the Killer Refrigerator, Hook is one of those movies, made strictly tongue in cheek in order to be consumed in a similar fashion. Long live trash cinema
It all kicks off with an introduction to our central characters. First off we meet Tommy, a weasel-like jock whose modus operandi throughout the runtime seems only to be to succeed in getting his leg over his frumpy sweetheart Katie. Kate is also no one's definition of a genius and spends most of the movie attempting to do everything in her power to get herself killed. The pair head out to the serenity of the local woodland, blissfully unaware that Mason Kraine a maniacal one-armed maniac has taken it upon himself to escape the surprisingly cosy confinement of the local asylum and head out to bolster his already impressive list of victims. Will the angst-ridden youngsters be able to make-out in peace and avoid the now fork-handed psycho? Do ducks float on water?
Produced on the kind of budget that a wide-boy salesman spends on a night out in the city with his good friend Charlie and a couple of 'ladies of the night', Hook is a movie that seems content to swim amongst the platitudes of its brethren. There's no danger of breaking any new ground here as director Savino stumbles through the clichés like a wrong-footed alcoholic on a Marine assault course.
With that said, in many places the film transcends its $32,000 budget. There's some fun gore on display and the hilarious performance of the hyperactive killer is worth the budget rental price alone. It even plays host to by far the most bizarre murder ever committed to cheap videotape. Death by clipboard anybody? Exactly.
Hook of Woodland Heights runs no longer than forty minutes, which is something of a lesson amongst moving pictures with psycho killers in them. It manages to pack in all the necessary character development, whilst in the same breath laughing in the face of titles such as The Prey, which found it essential to pad their runtimes with pointless and irrelevant footage in order to bolster the length of the feature. The script packs in everything that's needed to keep the plot running and the audience are never left feeling short-changed.
Rumour has it that none of the cast and crew saw a shiny circular dime for their participation in the production of this ambitious title, so kudos to director Savino for keeping them motivated enough to deliver enthusiastic, if not decent, performances. There are the expected continuity shotgun holes and the acting is as rancid as a blooper reel from an English soap opera, but Hook is by no means the worst slasher flick on the market.
Savino even tries to go all controversial by killing a pre-teen halfway through his splatter fest, but the movie never feels mean spirited. This is mainly thanks to the killer's laugh-inducing performance and his awful make up, which leaves him looking like a cast-off from glam rockers Kiss' late seventies tour of the US.
OK so there's nothing here to recommend, but if you're like me and have an unhealthy addiction to slasher trash, give this cheapie a try. There are a lot worse efforts clogging up Amazon.
made at the end of the slasher era
trashgang13 August 2009
First of all, this short movie is extremely hard to find. It's a low budget one and never officially released so it was up to depravity lane to search and at last find it. So I did, only to be available on NTSC VHS. So for an European that means trouble but friends in the US converted it so I could watch it. The storyline is simple, some serial killer escapes from an asylum to go on a killer spree. It's all done in a very good way, i would like to give a big cheer to the cameraman, beautifully filmed, knowing that it dates from '88, camera's were very heavy then. Anyway, the acting could have been better but it's home made so this is what you get. The editing is okay too, some scene's are a bit too long but it only clocks in at 40 minutes. The blood flows but you never see the 'hook' going into the flesh, when they show it it's a close up so you know that it's a 'special effect'. No gore, only bloodletting as said. Should they have made it 30 minutes it would have been a lot better. But what makes it an ode to the slashers, the stupid victims, the slashers, the hero who dies, the girl who solves the problem almost, the open ending to make ...part 2. Well if you ever find it buy it because it contains Attack of the killer refrigerator.
From the dustbin of video history
lor_3 June 2023
My review was written in November 1990 after watching the picture on Donna Michele video cassette.
Released on VHS with "Attack of the Killer Refrigerator", this is a 40-minute short film shot on video with a $3,500 budget in 1987 in Worcester, Massachusetts, by Mark Veau and his partner Michael Savino. Poorlymade-up by Robert W. Allen stars as an escaped mental patient who sticks a barbecue fork in the stump where his hand used to be and cuts up various youngsters.
There's precious little talent displayed by these tyro filmmakers, yet the video tape cues unintentional hilarity with the inclusion of a 26-minute local tv show "Behind the Scenes' hosted and produced by gushy Sean Nelson. It plays straight but is an unwitting parody of such documentaries. Comments at the "gala local premiere" of "Hook" are naive in the extreme.
Released on VHS with "Attack of the Killer Refrigerator", this is a 40-minute short film shot on video with a $3,500 budget in 1987 in Worcester, Massachusetts, by Mark Veau and his partner Michael Savino. Poorlymade-up by Robert W. Allen stars as an escaped mental patient who sticks a barbecue fork in the stump where his hand used to be and cuts up various youngsters.
There's precious little talent displayed by these tyro filmmakers, yet the video tape cues unintentional hilarity with the inclusion of a 26-minute local tv show "Behind the Scenes' hosted and produced by gushy Sean Nelson. It plays straight but is an unwitting parody of such documentaries. Comments at the "gala local premiere" of "Hook" are naive in the extreme.
Oh Yes
rockoutwithme18 September 2003
The film is soooo intensely awful it's amazing. So awful in fact, that it's awesome. From the villain's undeniably bad makeup to the shotty special effects, you'll be sitting in complete disbelief. But wait--just when you think it's over and your night is about to once again descend into mediocrity...the behind the scenes documentary starts. You'll be perplexed to say the least as you learn everything about the production and more importantly the premier party for the movie. Keeping in mind that this is also packaged back to back with the short "Attack of the Killer Refrigerator", you should already be trying to find a copy at your nearby rental store.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
