SHREDDER (2003) - Coming Soon from Scorpion Releasing

[The Great Owl]

Six snowboarders sneak into an abandoned ski resort for a gnarly weekend of shredding some fresh powder slopes and throwing down some steezy landings with nobody else around. Unfortunately for them, a totally wicked serial killer is on the loose, and this person does not like snowboarders one bit.

The 2001 direct-to-video slasher horror film, Shredder, hits all of the stops from the genre blueprint. We've got an isolated location with a rumored past of murders and disappearances, we've got the nearby townspeople who warn our protagonists to stay away from the area, we've got an unknown masked assailant (this time in goggles and a cool-looking black outfit), we've got two partying women and one comparably reserved woman, we've got the earnest handsome guy who looks out for his friends, we've got the nerdy guy who goes around filming everything with a handheld camera, we've got the mysterious outsider who joins the group early in the story, and we've got several creative death scenes.

Lindsey McKeon (Supernatural, One Tree Hill) and Scott Weinger, who is best known as the voice of the title character in the original animated 1992 Disney film, Aladdin, are the most recognizable faces here, with Juleah Weikel (7th Heaven), Billy O'Sullivan (Waking Up in Reno), Brad Hawkins (Boyhood), and Holly Towne (Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd) as some of the other fun-loving, but oblivious souls. Candace Moon (Cobra Kai) appears as one of the locals. None of these cast members had Academy Awards waiting for them at year's end, but I have seen worse in movies like this one.

The primary strength of Shredder is the setting. This is not an outright scary film, but the backdrop of snow and trees during the pivotal moments makes for something eerily different when it comes to post-Scream slasher titles. If nothing else, the scenes with the characters snowboarding are immersive and engaging in their own right.

One ill-fated character dies when the killer impales him with an icicle. The murder-by-icicle strategy is actually quite brilliant, because the weapon would undoubtedly melt away before forensic evidence can be collected from it.

This is not a milestone of horror cinema, but it's not a complete wipe out either.

This Scorpion Releasing Blu-ray is a pretty rad item, with a good-looking transfer and a decent audio presentation that brings out the best with the music of the era. This disc does not bail on extras, either, with a charming Lindsey McKeon interview and an informative director commentary being the main supplement attractions.