The first ten minutes of The Weedhack Massacre will let you know what to expect from the rest of the movie. It is a jumbled mess that is hard to follow. Characters are introduced and just as quickly killed, a woman literally digs her own grave, and a seemingly important marijuana subplot is introduced.
And then the story skips ahead a decade and the actual story begins.
A film crew has arrived at the site of the murders from ten years ago. Many remakes have been done here, but theirs is going to be different; they have the only survivor from the titular event. As they commence shooting, people begin to mysteriously disappear and are found dead.
There is nothing wrong with the time jump or the premise behind The Weedhacker Massacre. Both have been a part of slashers for a long time. The introduction of the filming is actually a good thing. Up until then, it seems like film is just going to be a series of random segments. Once they enter the picture there is something to follow. It is the only part of this film you can say that about.
The passage of ten years is clumsily handled. Watching the movie, you cannot tell that it has happened. Pokerface (the main villain) kidnaps someone named Willie because they have similar hair (seriously) and they drive off. They head a little down the road before crashing and wake up the next morning. Except somewhere along the line a whole decade has passed.
And that is just one of the many missteps in The Weedhacker Massacre. The fact that the two could not be found after ten years even though they just make it a little down the road can be overlooked. The town is corrupt and would not go out of their way to look for them. Willie’s flip flopping between whether he is a killer or not is not as easy to ignore. It is an important part of the plot, but it is hard to follow.
There is also his love interest. Clearly, the writers forgot that the two had just met at the beginning of The Weedhacker Massacre. He spends all his time pining for her. On the plus side, someone did remember they had no previous relationship and put in a throwaway line near the end addressing it. The film is supposed to be a comedy, so it may be intentional, but it sure does not feel like it.
There is a lot of good low budget horror out there and The Weedhacker Massacre is not without its moments. It has some funny moments and decent kills. Unfortunately, just as much does not land. Add in too many characters and motivations and the film ends up being more disappointing than fun.
The Weedhacker Massacre opens on digital platforms October 17.
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