Music Store Massacre (Review)

Director – Gordon Price (Hellphone)
Starring – Gordon Price, Frank Bliss (A Louisiana Ghost Story), and Dave Meadows (Captain Phillips)
Release Date – 2013
Rating – 3/5

A sure fire way to get people to watch your film is to add massacre or bloodbath to the title. At least 99% of all horror fans would buy it just because of those two words. Now, if you really want to appeal to the hardcore horror fans then you should add one of those words to a movie revolving around rock or metal. A majority of the horror community is obsessed with metal and if you can combine the two then you will reach a more grander audience.

Recently a director reached out to the Horror Society Facebook page to review his film Music Store Massacre. With a title like that I could not pass up the opportunity. After I watched the slasher The Night Before Easter I went ahead and gave this one some of time and I’m glad I did.

**Spoiler Alert**The film follows an unusual guitar as it changes hands and creating chaos every time a new owner picks it up. The guitar starts this tale in the hands of a priest for some unknown reason. The priest becomes possessed by the evil guitar and cuts his leg off. The guitar then finds it’s way into the hands of a local musician. While at a show the musician snaps and shoots into the crowd.

Some time passes and a relative of the musician takes the guitar to a music store to sell it to the owner. The owner buys it and in his spare times picks a few songs on it. This unleashes the killing urge and he goes on a murdering rampage but loses the guitar along the way. This leads to a few individuals picking the guitar up randomly only to lose it again before a simpleton gets it and the murdering impulses do not work on him like it does everyone else.  **Spoiler Alert**

I said earlier that if you add the words bloodbath and massacre to the title of the film more people would watch it. This is true, but you would still have to make a movie worth a damn. This is crucial if you want to make other films and not have your name tainted with shit. You also have to have a film that lives up to that name. If you have the word massacre if your title then the viewer expects a bloodbath. That is exactly what Price gave us. A massacre is exactly what this film is. Price knows what horror fans want and delivered the goods.

The acting in this one is not the best. In fact, it is some of the worst I have seen. The cast looked great on screen but had a hard time interacting with each other. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the audio in the film wasn’t so messed up. In many of the scenes it was hard to hear the actors because the music was just way too loud.

The story for this one is one that has been told many times before but this time it is in a more contemporary setting. Numerous films have told stories in the past about items possessing the owners forcing them to do vile things. I actually enjoy this plot line and adding it to the whole music store angle made it extremely fun to watch.  It reminds me a lot of the golden age of VHS and so many tapes I rented had a plot very similar.

Finally, the film has more kill scenes than I care to count. In fact, like I said earlier, has enough kills to warrant the massacre title. The special effects are surprisingly good for said kills. I was actually shocked when I saw the caliber of practical effects. They are actually top notch. However, visual effects and CGI looked like smeared shit on white walls. They looked bad and out of place. Overall, Music Store Massacre is a fun flick that is rough around the edges. If you enjoy sleaze and a shit ton of dead bodies then check this one out!