Review by Jon Donnis
I grew up in the days of the 1980s slasher film, most of these types of films were pretty straightforward, scantily clad, ridiculously attractive women, getting picked off by a murderous killer one by one in inventive manners. That's it. And it was fun because these types of film never took themselves too seriously. Unfortunately, such films are rare in the 2020s, but out of nowhere comes Kill Her Goats, a strangely titled slasher that could have been made in the 1980s. Even better the murderous killer is played by Kane Hodder, yes THAT Kane Hodder, one of the biggest stars of the 80s, better known as portraying Jason Vorhees. Well now he has a big goat head instead of a hockey mask.
The film starts off with the murder of a couple of campers by "Goatface", he kills them using huge hedge trimmers, so plenty of blood and lots of bare skin.
We then get a reversal of time effect and an "earlier that day" note on screen. We get to meet Reese (Monica Sims) and Missy (Ellie Gonsalvever) who are gossiping about their friend Audra (Arielle Raycene) who has just come to town. Queue another "earlier that day".....
For the next 40 minutes, the film is basically attractive women on the beach and then in the Tupp House that the bloke killed in the opening scene had bought his daughter Audra. The house is cursed, and at the start of the film there is some storytelling about the history of the house going all the way back to the 17th century and the Tupp family.
Once we get towards the one-hour mark, things start to pick up again, as Goatface finally starts appearing again, and seemingly he also has the ability to invade people's nightmares?
Once Goatface is in the house, with his hedge trimmers which now have lit sparklers on for some reason, things start to get good again. Lots of near naked women running about and getting killed on proper 80s slasher style.
The Good
A slasher film truly in the style of the classics of the 1980s. Also worth mentioning is that there is no CGI in this film, all the effects are "Practical FX", so clever makeup basically. The women in the film are all stunning, and Kane Hodder truly is the king of the slasher film.
There are REAL goats in the film, that are super cute.
The bloopers at the end are hilarious!
The Bad
At about 90 minutes the film feels a little long. It could easily have a run time of 80 minutes, cut some of the bland stuff in the middle featuring the girls in the house and it would make no difference to the film.
Overall
I am a fan of the 80s style slasher. I am a fan of attractive blonde Playboy pin ups. I am a fan of jump scares. And this film has it all.
Ok the film is too long and there is little plot and a bit too much filler, but this is not a film to be taken seriously, it has plenty of light-hearted moments, as well as inventive kills.
For an independent film with 100% practical FX, I was impressed.
I score Kill Her Goats a slasherific 8/10
Out on Blu-ray now at https://killhergoats.com/products/kill-her-goats-blu-ray-dvd-2-disc-set
Full Release coming at the end of April.
