Shallow Grave (1987)
aka
Shallow Grave - Reise in die Hölle
Shallow Grave: not really a typical and brainless 80's slasher movie, yet not really an obscure exploitation gem, neither. This movie is merely a totally forgotten but nevertheless worthwhile thriller with a handful of genuine scares and fairly likable acting performances. It deserves to be a little more known, actually, since it definitely does contain more suspense than the majority of 80's horror films and because the plot is also rather convincing and compelling. The film opens with a pointless and pretty stupid homage/spoof to Alfred Hitchcock's classic horror film "Psycho", as a (gorgeous) girl gets assaulted in the shower by a knife-wielding figure. Then we learn that this whole set-up actually is a prank of a quartet of naughty catholic schoolgirls on the evening before spring break. The next morning, these same girls head for a beach vacation in Florida, totally unaware that they'll end up in redneck hell. After a very banal car trouble incident, one of the sweethearts witnesses how the local sheriff of a little Southern village kills his mistress and buries her body in the woods. Whilst on the run, two of the other girls get killed when they fatally encounter the sheriff themselves. Now, the two remaining girls are stuck in a strange environment and facing a relentless killer who doesn't want to keep any witnesses alive. The few murders in "Shallow Grave" are pretty disturbing and shocking without showing too much gore. One poor girl is shot in the head from close range and two others are strangled, yet the true horror lies in the fact that the survivors can't convince the deputy that his boss is a wild animal. The unknown actresses perform well enough for you to care about their fades and Tony March (with an awful lot of hair on his chest) makes a pretty impressive villain... Especially wearing his police uniform. There are also some nifty wood-settings, some gratuitous nudity and we better NOT mention the completely stupid sub-plot of two frat boys that fruitlessly search for the missing girls, simply because they didn't show up for a breakfast appointment. (IMDB Coventry)
