BILLY CLUB (2013)

BILLY CLUB (2013)

Tagline: A ruthless killer right off the bat

(Horror, Nail Bat, Blue Birds) [R]

Note: This movie was not given an MPA rating, but would have likely gotten an R. On streaming services, it is rated TV-MA. It should be noted that this thing has its share of accolades. The film won the "Best Feature" award at the Hollywood Horror Fest, the "Best Horror Film" award at the Phoenix Film Festival, the "Best Wisconsin Film" award at the Beloit International Film Festival, and the "Award of Excellence" at Indy Fest.

Batters up lug nut. 

In this one, 4 players from the 1981 Blue Birds Little League team have come together to play a reunion game in honor of two players and a coach for their team who were killed years earlier by Billy, one of the kids on the team that went nuts. He went nuts because he blew a game and they tortured him over it and now he’s back to finish off the rest of his tormentors. 

As a tidbit, I played one year of Little League baseball in the 3rd grade. Our team was co-ed like the one in the movie. I sucked at baseball. 

This is listed as a horror comedy but it’s not funny. It’s just super campy. This is another one of those horror flicks where everyone sucks. The dialogue in this thing is really crappy. The pace is super slow. Interesting how they had Billy wearing another mask inside his catcher’s mask so you couldn’t tell who it was. I thought it was a bit weird that there was an announcer at this little league game and the record of the game had his voice on it. Maybe that is a thing now and I just don’t know it. 

The practical effects are intense for a low-budget film. Alison looks like she has plenty of time to wash her face, but she never does. The acting is horrible. Which brings me to the cast. Erin Hammond (IN HER NAME) plays Alison McKenzie and unfortunately, she just has a really bad outing here. The script seems to be mostly depending on her looks. She does pull off the final scene pretty well though. Max Williamson is terrible as Danny. After this movie, he didn’t act for 7 years straight but got back into it again around 2020. I hope he’s better at it now. Marshall Caswell is actually good as Bobby in this compared to the rest of the cast. He doesn’t seem to be acting anymore or at the very least he’s been taking a break since 2019.

If I have some good things to say about this one, it’s that the ending is surprisingly appropriate. We do get a scene in this where you can see Billy’s catcher’s mask in Danny’s eye which is just really cool camera work. I thought the idea of a killer dressed up as a baseball catcher was pretty intriguing, but it’s not a skeleton like the poster indicates. Props for the idea, the title works and overall it’s definitely not the worst indie horror flick out there. 

With this cast as rough as it is, it kind of shocks me that this won best anything anywhere. I have seen a lot of indie stuff better than this. So when I start thinking about how to rank this, I think I can give it a 3 out of 7, but I really can’t recommend it as a film to run to and watch for any sort of horror movie marathon. This would be one of those “I’m bored so I am going to watch something” movies. 

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