Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre (2009)

Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre: Directed by Júlíus Kemp. With Pihla Viitala, Nae, Terence Anderson, Miranda Hennessy. An epic tale about a group of whale watchers, whose ship breaks down and they get picked up by a whale fisher vessel. The Fishbillies on the vessel has just gone bust, and everything goes out of control.

“They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If thatu0026#39;s the case, then Tobe Hooperu0026#39;s u0026quot;The Texas Chainsaw Massacreu0026quot; must be a very proud man. Many a movie has tried to imitate that movie for a while now, to the point of it becoming more than a little tiresome. Sure, some have managed to succeed in this regard, but many, many more have failed. Though nowhere near as bad as others, u0026quot;Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacreu0026quot; just canu0026#39;t pull it off in the end.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn Iceland, a motley group of friends and strangers decide u0026quot;Hey, we should go whale watching!u0026quot; This is all great at first. Then an all around annoying alcoholic Frenchman named Jean-Francois (Aymen Hamdouchi) startu0026#39;s goofing off, leading to the boat breaking down and the captain (u0026quot;Chainsawu0026#39;su0026quot; own Gunner Hansen, here advertised in top billing yet regulated to a cameo) dying. Fortunately, they end up being picked up by a whale fishing vessel. Too bad that itu0026#39;s run by a group of sadistic u0026quot;Fishbilliesu0026quot; who have some harsh plans.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFrom the get go, you can tell that u0026quot;Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacreu0026quot; wants desperately to be the Icelandic answer to u0026quot;The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.u0026quot; To itu0026#39;s credit, it does manage to get a few things right. The movie is rather tongue in cheek to say the least, and some of the humor on display got me to laugh a few times. Thereu0026#39;s also a great, eerie score by Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, as well as some choice cinematography. Oh, and the kills and gore are pretty fun at times too, with one near the end that made even jaded old me applaud.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut it still comes up short. I know that this isnu0026#39;t going to be the most original movie, but this is an instance in which familiarity doesnu0026#39;t breed contempt, but boredom instead. This kind of horror movie has been done so many times, and here there just isnu0026#39;t enough to make it stand out. I donu0026#39;t care how crazy these sea-faring hillbillies are, itu0026#39;s still rather annoying. From a social standpoint, the film seems to be making some kind of statement about the whaling industry and itu0026#39;s effect on nature and economy, yet the movie likes to have it both ways, portraying anti-whaling types as selfish, unlikable hippies (though that is true in some cases-look as u0026quot;Whale Wars.u0026quot;) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe biggest problem though, is that it doesnu0026#39;t seem to know who should be the main character. First you think itu0026#39;s going to be Annette (Pihla Viitala), but the next thing you know itu0026#39;s Mary-Anne (Miranda Hennessy) and Leon (Terence Anderson) and then itu0026#39;s a female Japanese tourist named Endo (Nae.) Not only do we have nobody to root for, but we also have no real main character. Films like this need a major character to hope for, and this offers none of that.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI will say again that in the world of u0026quot;Texas Chainsaw Massacreu0026quot; tributes and rip-offs, this is far from one of the worst. At the same time though, it offers very little else, and feels like a wasted opportunity. Oh well, chalk up another one.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eInteresting fact: Apart from writing the screenplay for this movie, Sjón Sigurdsson also wrote songs for Lars Von Trieru0026#39;s u0026quot;Dancer in the Dark.u0026quot; Quite a difference to say the least.”