Nothing good ever happens in Manhattan’s Central Park and, yes, that is a reference to the 1989 jogger case that captivated the nation. I was expecting this film to exist somewhere in that reality, but what I found instead was a high class slasher flick! Surprising! Justin Reinsilber created a hip, visually pleasing thriller with a decent body count. What more can you ask for in a movie that follows a group of friends throwing a party in New York’s most famous park, only to be attacked and dispatched by a revenge seeking masked man. Most importantly to me, and this is on a completely unrelated wave length, Central Park proved a very strong point in regards to one of my previous articles.
When MTV announced that “Scream: The TV Series” was going to be rebooted with a mostly black cast, I received a string of comments saying it’s going to be Scream in the hood because there’s no way of showcasing black people other than as ghetto and poor, and there was certainly no room for them in the horror genre. Obviously those people are seriously misinformed (and racist) and I felt the need to stick up any actor or film who wants to include black people in their cast/crew. Horror is all inclusive. We all bleed red when stabbed. Central Park serves as the example to my sentiments as it contains several very strong black characters. Three, to be exact, and the icing on the cake is the lead actor and his father are worth millions of dollars – thus putting them in a completely different league than everyone else in the movie. And you know what? Central Park was still a thoroughly enjoyable slasher flick with outstanding performances, and no, no one was ghetto.
Although I think Central Park is a culturally relevant horror-thriller, let me get back to reviewing it as a product and overall experience. Justin Reinsilber did a great job as writer and director and he did a great job at making a film that was filled with old school style and modern techniques. It felt like a 1980’s straight-to-VHS horror flick was remade in 2017, especially with the added cop drama material. I thought it was interesting and it worked here. Central Park begins with a much needed dose of creepiness, it very subtly gives you the motive for the killer, and then it gives you the good ol’ calm before the storm where you get to meet all the characters. From there, the film moves to the party in the woods – everyone gets all boozed up and tells stories around the fire. When the slaughter begins, you’re treated to a few chase scenes and a lot of gory deaths. And I think that’s something we can all get behind!
The murderer doesn’t just kill people here; he really does a number on them. I’m talking axes to the head, lighting them on fire, and crushing their body parts with boulders type kills. There’s a fair amount of hacking-and-slashing and bloodshed, too, but he’s more creative and violent than other slashers we’ve seen recently. And that’s because he literally has an ax to grind. My only wish is that his motive wasn’t so obvious from the get go because that subtracted from the suspense in a big way. It gave Central Park a level of predictability that I wasn’t a huge fan of. Yet at the same time I was perplexed by the homeless man and his role in the plot. Besides being a decent human being, did he have any reason to intervene and risk his life for the kids? This was never explained. Central Park is starting its film festival run next week and I’m expecting it to see more venues in the future, so this is a question you’ll get to answer for yourselves.
Justiin A Davis, Ruby Modine, Malika Samuel, Guillermo Arribas, Grace Van Platten, Deema Aitken, Charles Borland, Marina Squerciati, Michael Lombardi, David Valcin and Nicole Balsam star in this hidden gem produced by Melissa Chamberlain. It features cinematography from Eun Ah Lee with editing by Eric Pennycoff. All of these areas – star quality cast, fantastic cinematography, and flawless editing – put Central Park a step above the rest when it comes to independent slashers. It’s not the quickest, most intense entry in its subgenre, but it gets the job done well. The retro cop scores, the realistic looking blood, the cool stoner vibe mixed with the mundane struggles of private school life, the great location… This was a solid production and quite the directorial debut for Justin Reinsilber. If this is what he has in store for horror fans right out of the gate, I’m excited to see what he has planned for us in the future. Please stick around, sir! Final Score: 7 out of 10.
