Mr. Buzzkill (2025)

 

Synopsis 

People go missing near the seemingly quiet town of Silver Grove. Many attributed to a slasher known as Mr. Buzzkill. While sitting around a fire telling the story a group of friends are about to found out the truth about their town's local legend.

Review

Full disclaimer, I helped fund this one on Indiegogo and am online friends with the writer and some of the cast, so I'll admit some bias. The acting in this one is not A24 by any means, but that's not why you watch a flick like this one.  The movie has what you want from a slasher: gore, tits, and a menacing antagonist.

Writer and producer, Shawn Burkett portrays the adult Mr. Buzzkill. He cuts and imposing figure and is utterly brutal. While there are several blood soaked deaths my favorite involved the travel bong (which gets its own song), followed by the final camp massacre death.

The rest of the cast do a good job as the victims. You know not to get too attached because of the style of flick, but that's part of the fun. If you're a fan of the filmmakers, Ohio's very own Concept Media Films, you'll recognize several of the folks from their previous flicks Don't Fuck in the Woods, Don't Fuck in the Woods 2, and Stranded (among others).

Mr. Buzzkill is an indie slasher that doesn't even remotely try to reinvent the wheel. It wears its slasher roots on its sleeve. There are elements of all the Friday the 13th, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Halloween, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre in this one. The kills are bloody, brutal, and would do Jason, Michael Myers, and Leatherface proud. The mystery surrounding Mr. Buzzkill reminded me a lot of how Springwood dealt with Freddy. 

One thing I appreciate about the flick is one of the characters is constantly poking fun at the logic of the story being told. This is a valid critique of slasher flicks in general. I was surprised that some characters' deaths were mentioned, but you don't see them or know how (or truly if) they go. Maybe we'll get to see them if the flick gets a sequel. 

Mr. Buzzkill isn't for everyone, but there's an audience for it. Obviously, I'm a member of that audience.

In Your Game

As I mentioned Mr. Buzzkill is very familiar to other famous slashers. If you'd like to add him to your Bloody Appalachia, What Shadows Hide, or We Die Young game you could just use one of the Jason Vorhees stat blocks from my free Friday the 13th SURVIVE THIS!! fan supplement.