The blood-soaked, sun-scorched homage to ‘70s horror “Brute 1976” delivers exactly what it promises: gritty terror, masked killers, and a strong retro vibe that echoes the likes of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “The Hills Have Eyes.” This is an indie horror film for genre fans who will appreciate the little details that make slasher flicks so much bloody fun.
The story kicks off with the familiar setup of two young women stranded on a lonely desert highway and quickly spirals into a tense, gory descent into madness. When the action shifts to a dusty, abandoned, appropriately-named town called Savage, director Marcel Walz finds his gruesome footing as the group is hunted by a clan of feral masked murderers.
The production values are surprisingly high, with strong cinematography, gory practical effects, and a killer sound design that adds to atmosphere of dread. The kills aren’t always the most inventive because they tend to rely more on brutality than creativity, but horror fans will find enough grisly savagery to scratch that slasher itch.
The film does begin to drag in its final act when it stretches a relatively simple story a bit too thin, but that’s a minor quibble in an otherwise solid piece of throwback horror.
Grim, gritty, and just the right amount of campy, “Brute 1976” doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it wears its influences proudly and pulls them off with confidence. It’s a love letter to a bygone era of horror, a film made for fans of grindhouse terror and psychopathic slaughter.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 