Tunnel vision is scary.
I never intended to watch Stag night – not this one anyway. I read on imdb about a British film that was more or less a wannabe Shaun of the Dead entitled ‘Stag Night of the Dead’. It was supposed to be reasonably amusing and with the action transpiring on a Stag Night you can’t help but guess that a certain number of strippers might’ve been involved…
I wasn’t actively hunting SNotD but as things tend to do the title lodged itself in my subconscious. A few weeks later at the video shop I spy the cover for Stag Night and my mind does a quick double-take; was that supposed to be good and if so why?, as it was on the weekly shelf I threw caution to the wind and slapped down the $1 required to borrow Stag Night for an entire 7 day period.
Stag Night has no ‘of the dead’, no laughs and only a brief moment of nudity… But it isn’t terrible. Here’s why;
Predictably enough the movie is set during a Stag Night. Not a glamorous or large scale affair, just four guys having some beers in the city. When we meet the four guys they are being kicked out of a strip club and discussing whether to call it a night or kick on.
Kicking on wins.
Shortly after they are aboard the subway heading to the next destination with two of the strippers from the club who are done for the night. After some obnoxiousness from one of the quartet leads to mace being released, a door is forced open (somehow) and all 6 exit the train in a dark section of subway tunnel at 4 AM.
Let’s fast forward only a few minutes: SUBWAY TUNNEL CANNIBALS!!!
Yep it’s that kinda film. The ensuing hour has the usual chaos, stupid decisions and unlikely events as the 6 mostly unlikable anti-heroes stumble about in the dark.
There is liberal use of F-Bombs even well before the Rob Zombie looking cannibals show up to slice and dice. The film has one good kill scene that is more entertaining than it is inexplicable – and it is quite inexplicable – and an hour of running from bad guys in a film most aptly described as Mimic Vs Wrong Turn.
I didn’t hate Stag Night. It’s just too reminiscent of so many other better movies to stand out from the pack. I like the fact that they played it straight and never winked to camera or made things too unbelievable… what am I saying? SUBWAY TUNNEL CANNIBALS!!! I’d like that last remark stricken from the record.
Final Rating – 6.5 / 10. If you want lotsa gore and minimal thought all wrapped up in a familiar package Stag Night isn’t bad, how good Stag Night of the Dead is remains to be seen.
One last thing: How many movies feature monsters/killers or creatures that have apparently been prying their deadly trade for some time without anyone ever realising. Fine I can believe that they have a 100% kill rate once they target their prey, as unrealistic as that is. But no-one ever seems to ask about the missing or looks too hard into things.
And when cops do they are invariably killed… but who looks for them? (I know, I know. Just a movie.)
