If I remember correctly, Charlie’s Farm was a pretty big straight-to-DVD release in its homeland of Australia in December 2014, but it struggled to find distribution in foreign territories until December 2015. I remember seeing this title everywhere on Facebook and I did several posts in support of its overseas release. Now, I’ve finally gotten my hands on a copy of Charlie’s Farm and here are my thoughts having watched it in full. The only question is: was it worth the wait?
Charlie’s Farm is written and directed by Chris Sun. Cast members include Tara Reid (Urban Legend, Sharknado), Nathan Jones (Mad Max: Fury Road, “WWE”), Bill Moseley (Devil’s Rejects, Texas Chainsaw Massacre II), Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th VIII, Hatchet), Sam Coward, Madeleine Kennedy, Allira Jaques, Dead Kirkright, David Beamish, Genna Chanelle Hayes, Justin Geradin, Trudi Ross and Cameron Caulfield.
“In an effort to do something different, four friends head into Australia’s outback to explore Charlie’s Farm, the site where a violent family met their end at the hands of an angry mob. Despite all warnings, they persist in their horror-seeking adventure. Once there, the four friends are unaware that they are being watched. While exploring the property to prove the myth, they encounter Charlie, who shows them that some legends never die.” – Amazon
Here’s the thing about Charlie’s Farm… I feel that it made a lot of promises that it was unable to keep, especially in respect to its trailers and marketing campaigns. Besides the all off camera opening death scene and the gunshot flashbacks, there are no death scenes until about 75% through the movie when the lead/supporting cast gets massacred. It left a lot to be desired, despite the fact that Charlie can be classified as a slasher and usually those movies tend to save the bloodbaths for last. Instead of giving us gore and terror, horror fans are treated to the ever developing backstory of Charlie that isn’t all that new or original and could have been explained in the first fifteen minutes and we all would have understood it. Really, Charlie’s Farm should have gone forward as a ghost story with a palpable ghost because of all the backstory and theorizing. Too much story, not enough character development and gore – two important things viewers look for.
Speaking of characters, I’m not sure if I wan to applaud Tara Reid for continuing with the horror genre or if I should caution her to give it a rest for a while. Reid has been in a dozen scary movies, of all budget calibers, but now she’s going back to her Urban Legend days of unnecessary, unpleasant wines of fright. Listen, Tara, I want you to survive for once… I really do… But your constant “aaaayyyyyyyyyyyyhhhhhhhhhhsssss” are starting to grate on my nerves a bit. And why did the writers add in that one annoying horror stereotype – the sexually charged, bad joke slinging, overweight douchbag who you want to die from the moment he starts speaking? All of the characters in Charlie’s Farm are marginally redeemable and have likability, but then there’s just that one guy that you want to scream at. You’re not funny. Just stop. All of the characters are are backed by incredibly talented actors including icons of fright Bill Moseley and Kane Hodder, so I have to give a lot of props there for superb casting choices and excellent performances.
At this point, I’ve seen hundreds of horror films and when it comes down to my final rating I need to base it off of whether I can recommend this movie to people and if I could watch it again. In this case, I think Charlie’s Farm exists as a one hit and quit it horror film. I think it’s good enough for one viewing, whether on DVD or a stream, but it has no shelf life after that. I don’t really see myself picking it up again and I don’t think you will either. Charlie’s Farm is all bark, but barely any bite. Final Score: 5 out of 10.
