20) Metalface (2015)

"The work starts now."

Director
Rene Perez

Cast
Natasha Blasick - Cindy
Richard Tyson - The Watcher
David Lockhart - Burnett
Charlie Glackin - The Killer (Metalface)

There's a nice rogues gallery of horror icons out there in HorrorMovie Land - Freddy Kreuger, Jason Vorhees, Chucky the Doll, Candyman, Pennywise... again, and Michael Myers for the bajillionth time. And then there's Metalface.
I never heard of "Metalface" until perusing the Suspense/Thriller section of DVDs at my local public library and finding a movie called "Metalface." The cover showed a maniac that looked like a poor man's Jason from the Friday the 13th movies, dawning some kind of mask made from a sack or human skin (I don't know) and wrapped in barbed wire. He sported some tattered clothes and a bloody hand print on his chest. Not a lot of metal in the face area per his namesake, but nevertheless, I've been officially introduced to Metalface. (Dun, dun, duuun).
Across the top of the cover was the claim this monster is "the world's most ruthless serial killer." Wow! I mean, the world's most! That's covering a lot of territory. And there have been a lot...A  LOT...of ruthless serial killers in film history. So, for this unheard of guy to be the most ruthless? This must really be full of blood and guts and ruthless...maniacal...scary...ummm...carnage - the kind only a man with barely a metal face can wreak.
To be fair, he does look pretty knarly and crazy on the cover. Actually, he looks absolutely maniacal. So, initially I was sold on that much. Plus, this blog is dedicated to the obscure in the genre. If I'm supposed to know who the world's most ruthless serial killer is in the horror genre, thank God I'm discovering that character at the public library where it won't cost me any cash.
This is an independent movie from a company called Uncork'd Entertainment whom I found out gave the horror movie world such titles as Pet Graveyard, The Amityville Murders, Krampus Origins, Dawning of the Dead, Gremlin, The 13th Friday and other titles that may or may not be milking off other, more successful and popular movie franchises.
Again, to be fair, they do have a nice library of original titles. One of their movies, Room for Rent stars actress and horror icon Lin Shaye who starred in A Nightmare on Elm Street and the Insidious movies.
Right off the spikey blood-stained bat, Metalface isn't a completely terrible movie. It has some redeeming qualities, such as its storyline.
It also goes by the title Playing With Dolls with sequels working off that title. In the UK, it was released as Leatherface (again...certainly not milking off popular franchises - *end sarcasm.)
It's a unique take on the slasher genre, but it really comes across as being an independent movie. It has that feel to it with the often bad acting, weird pacing, and abrupt beginning and ending.
The movie begins with a young girl not dressed for winter weather running through a snow-covered forest as prisoner AYO-886 (also known as Metalface) pursues. At the same time, we see a cop in the middle of a shootout with some group somewhere else in the forest.
Metalface catches up with the girl, and she wakes up tied to a tree. It's not long before we see what kind of maniac Metalface is.
Next, we meet a gorgeous girl named Cindy (Natasha Blasick) who just lost her job. On top of that, her roommate moved out without warning, leaving her with an empty apartment and a pervert of a landlord demanding overdue rent, or "something else" (wink, wink; nudge, nudge) as compensation.
Trying desperately to come up with a plan, Cindy gets a call from a woman who offers her a job Cindy applied for.
When Cindy accepts, she's given instructions to get into an SUV parked outside her apartment and drive to a location specified on a GPS system. That location is a secluded, well-furnished and fully stocked cabin. The job, as Cindy understands it, is a caretaker position for the cabin. However, she'll be there completely by herself. She'll also have no access to a phone, her cell phone service will be non-existent out there in the wilderness, and she'll be far from civilization (save for the cabins next to hers, which we don't know if they're occupied or not.)
Obviously, being in seclusion with no outside contact, we pretty much know Metalface is going to be paying her a visit...or two.

The interesting take in all this is, is that Metalface is being told what to do and what not to do from Cindy's "boss" who's watching all this through surveillance cameras placed all around the house for his own sick pleasure. It's a different, and welcomed, take on the slasher genre. Normally the monsters are acting on their own accord.
What's funny about the cameras is that despite how blatant they are-visible in plain sight (some even at eye level) Cindy is either completely oblivious to them, or just ignores them. It's not made clear. But in the middle of the movie, she finally looks at one as though she's noticing it for the first time. It was right there, were she could see it - a big black camera with a blinking red light, right there looking at her. Yet she notices it only in the middle of the movie. And after that, doesn't seem much to worry about being surveillance.
So, the production quality is rather poor and not very well thought through.

At various points in the movie, the audience can see Metalface walking behind Cindy who doesn't realize he's there.
In one scene, we see Cindy hesitantly checking the house late at night as she thinks she heard something. She checks the front door, which is locked, and then turns to check the living room. There's nothing out of the ordinary, so she turns back around towards the camera - the front door is right next to her. Metalface then walks behind her coming from the front door and heading into the house. That means he would have had to open the locked front door, or forced it open somehow. This obviously would have gotten Cindy's attention because SHE'S STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DOOR! But no...he just suddenly appears behind her, walks through the frame, and Cindy doesn't notice or react. Meanwhile, the door remains locked.
It does drag a bit. We see a lot of Cindy in this movie. And I mean we see *a lot of Cindy. We see her day to day routines while she's secluded. We see her making dinner, getting ready for a shower, sleeping, making coffee, checking stuff out, trying on outfits-list goes on. Metalface's appearances and jump scares build toward a climactic scene of sorts. It would have been great, I'm sure, if the movie's budget (I'm guessing) didn't run out.
The ending comes across as being a victim of the film's depleted budget. The movie finishes abruptly. Once Roll credits. We're done here. I literally shouted "That's it? What happened next?" at the TV. Yeah...literally. That makes my disappointment serious.
Sadly, I didn't get a response. I even Googled the synopsis for the second movie to see if I could get an answer to what happened next. I guess the resolution will remain in production hell forever, and ever...and ever.
Despite the sometimes laughable production quality, the movie's story pulled me in right away with it's originality - something new for the slasher genre.
It was entertaining, and the effort (again, despite the production value and sometimes poor delivery of lines) to make something different and scary was apparent. That's what this whole blog is dedicated to - starting a project and finishing it. Metalface is a fantastic example of that mindset. It's a good watch for a Friday night of horror movies.