Death Stop Holocaust

Death Stop Holocaust

Director: Justin Russell

Stars: Lisa Krenisky, Jenna Fournier and E. Ray Goodwin

The retro movie scene is ever changing, a few years ago it was all about the 70’s Grindhouse era. Numerous directors tried their hands at making films that were not only close in subject to the Grindhouse days, but also had the same gritty feel.

Now VHS has made a comeback in a big way. People too young to remember the 70’s era Grindhouses and adult drive-ins have fond memories of standard definition low resolution images of the VCR age. Collectors are paying unbelievable high prices on ebay for certain VHS tapes, just for the clam shell box art alone. Still there are others who are embracing the actual films contained on these tapes.

Ti West’s phenomenal 70’s throw back House of the Devil comes to mind as a great example. Still there are other directors not so well known (yet) on the Independent scene doing a great job as well. 

The results vary in quality and execution as much as the originals; some are great, others just ok, and still more just plain bad. I had read several different pieces on writer/director Justin Russell’s Death Stop Holocaust. All the reviews I had read were mostly positive, but I still went into this with reservations as I have seen quite a few of these types of films done horribly wrong.

From the opening shot I was taken aback by how 70’s this intro looked. The composition of the title sequence lay on top of a girl driving in her car while the sun sets looks like it could have been shot decades ago. The background music is a synth score reminisce of an 70’s Italian horror movie, something I’m sure was done purposely since it’s credited to a band named Gremlin, and sounds not to different to Goblin. The opening scene does a good job setting the viewer up for what’s to come.

The story itself is simplistic and not burdened by too many directions. It’s about two young girls who decide to take a weekend trip to a secluded island were they will stay alone at one of the girls father’s house. They make it to the island but don’t get too far before they find themselves being stalked by masked killers.

Not a whole lot more can be said without giving away too much and ruining surprises. What can be said is writer/director Justin Russell does a commendable job bring his vision of horror to the screen. The pacing is methodical and slowly works towards what the viewer knows isn’t going to be good for the two protagonists. The final few minutes of the film are very visceral and for some could be hard to watch. It doesn’t tread into torture porn but gets close.

That’s all the more reason I like this film, not just for the gore bits but because it’s ending is truly disturbing. When I watch a film I want to feel something for that film and that off kilter feeling in my gut is as good as Roger Ebert’s thumbs up.

A solid effort from Mr. Russell wherein he manages to do a mash-up of 70’s and 80’s genre films and gets it right, and is a sure sign of great things to come.