Trailer Review: Stage Fright (2014)

Stage Fright is a new horror slasher starring Minnie Driver, Meat Loaf and Allie MacDonald. A new trailer for the film was also released online recently and it gives viewers some details about the plot. The movie is the feature film debut for director Jerome Sable.

The plot itself is relatively simple and it also fits in with slasher movie tradition. A bunch of young people are isolated in a small location with a mad dog killer on the loose. In this movie, the kids have gone to a summer camp for musical theater with a few teachers. Things quickly turn sour when the killer who wears a creepy mask starts cutting people to shreds.

Stage Fright appears to have a few similarities to a lesser known eighties Italian horror film with the same name. In that movie which was directed by Michele Soavi, a cast of actors were locked inside a theater during rehearsals for a new play with a killer. This new film has a similar premise but it changes the location of the film to a summer camp with teenagers. The masked killer also resembles Ghostface from the Scream series as he/she wears a white mask and a black hood.

The trailer is quite bloody and it features plenty of inventive killings with all manner of dangerous weapons. There is also a nice bit of black humour in there too which is nice. Stage Fright doesn’t appear to take itself too seriously and it has an interesting concept as it combines campy musical theater with horror. These elements all combine in a way which makes the trailer stand out in a crowded market. The only flaw here is that the producers show a bit too much in the trailer which will spoil the feature film slightly. Sometimes it is good to show a bit of restraint in a trailer, especially one for a film which uses shocks and jump scares to jolt the audience with cattle prod horror.

Eager fans can catch the movie when it is released on May 9th in the US, the film will also be available on demand from April 3rd too. There is no UK release date yet sadly but look out for it. Also, check out the trailer and share your thoughts.