By Geno McGahee
The year is 1988 and the VHS camcorders became commonplace, which led to many youngsters using the cameras to create art through this new medium. The horror movie market at the video stores created their shot on video films that found their way on the shelves and the kids that had parents that owned camcorders decided to give it a go. I know because I was one of those kids that made short films from age 12 and on and was doing so in 1988, much like the Wilkinson brothers.
THE VIOLENCE MOVIE was a short film shot in 1988 and there really isn’t a lot to it, outside of some blood and the obvious love of the horror genre. FRIDAY THE 13TH was huge in the late 80s and that inspired this film, and it is as basic as it can get. There is almost zero dialogue outside of one poor guy saying “Hey Joe, it’s me, your best friend” before being killed, which I found funny. This is a film that would make the Wilkinson family and friends laugh and they’d enjoy it, but the majority would not. As a guy in the same position, I actually found a lot of joy in it. I appreciate the love of the genre and the creativity, but there’s not much too it. A crazy escapes prison and tries to kill Joe and Joe fight back against this hockey mask-wearing killer.
I should probably talk about THE VIOLENCE MOVIE 2, a follow up that was included on the same DVD that I picked up. The sequel to the short film is much better than the original with the newscaster (who I believe to be Joe’s best friend that was killed in the original) being attacked by the killer. We get more dialogue, but not much more. We do get some neat fighting on top of a roof, which was a nice touch, and I’m sure the parents were not wise to what their children were doing.
THE VIOLENCE MOVIE 2 is what you’d expect it to be. It was two kids showing their love of horror and of Jason Voorhees. If you hold this to any standard, you could tear it apart, but if you see what they saw and understand that this is two horror fans showing their love of the genre in a very unique way, there is plenty of enjoyment to be had.
As a backyard filmmaker in my early years with countless short films from the time I was12, this really clicked with me. The 1980s was such a special time and the camcorders were part of it and led to many great things like THE VIOLENCE MOVIE series. I recommend these if you don’t have a stick up your ass and hate raw shit.
