MEMORIAL VALLEY MASSACRE (1988)

MEMORIAL VALLEY MASSACRE (1988)

Tagline: Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back In The Tent...

(Horror, Thriller, Cave Dwelling) [R]

Note: This movie was also called VALLEY OF DEATH and MEMORIAL DAY. 

Well, all I know is it gives me the creeps. 

In this one, a group of 20-somethings and some bikers go to a campground in Memorial Valley to get it ready for a big opening. David is left at the camp to help fix it up and protect his father’s interests when his father who owns it leaves. His boss considers him a bit of a corporate spy, but David eventually shows he isn’t. David then kind of falls for Cheryl after like 5 seconds of meeting her. It doesn’t take much longer than that before a feral human living in the area starts killing off everyone in sight to protect its territory. 

First off, Memorial Valley Campground is in such bad shape even the construction workers are leaving due to unsafe water. The first thing the campers are told is that there are no restrooms because of the water situation. I think most hardcore campers wouldn’t even care, but clearly, people dying off one by one would dampen the “Let’s have fun cleaning this place up” vibe. I do think it’s pretty weak that you aren’t allowed to ride ATVs in that area (at least according to the film). The excuse they give is even more hilarious. To this point, I have never been to a campsite where ATVs were not allowed.

I was not a fan of the pacing. The entire middle of the film does have some stuff going on, but most of this movie happens in the daytime making it feel a lot less horror than it could have. The score is also pretty bad. 

As far as the cast John Kerry plays George Webster who is kind of a taskmaster, but ends up kind of embracing David as an equal. Kerry is most famous for BLACK DYNAMITE and is still acting to this day. Pretty impressive for a dude who didn’t look like a spring chicken with this thing came out. Mark Mears plays David Sangster and actually does fine, but never made another film. You tend to see one-and-done actors and actresses quite a bit with b—movie horror especially in the 80s. Lesa Lee (THE BOYS NEXT DOOR) is good in this as Cheryl. She had actually done several TV and movie projects before this film but stopped acting in 1992. This was a rough outing for Erin O'Leary who played who plays Wendy and gets a decent amount of screen time. Her only other acting gig was for an ABC After School Special. That sounds like a joke, but I am totally not kidding. She did go into camera work at some point so that’s awesome. 

This kind of reminds me of YOU CAN’T KILL STEPHEN KING. In both films, the killer can’t handle noise at all. Like if you snore too loud, this feral thing is going to straight up kill you. You step on a box of crackers, this feral thing is going to straight up kill you. Having said that, the killer in this isn’t intimidating at all. It would be like if Brenden Frasier got pissed off on the set of ENCINO MAN. 

One big issue with this movie is that the score seems like it would have been better suited for a comedy in some parts. They go with straight horror which only occasionally works in this because the premise is just kind of TEENAGE CAVE MAN-level goofy. The dialogue isn’t completely terrible, but it’s not very witty either.

Overall this one gets a 3 out of 7. It does not shock me that I never heard about this movie in the 80s.

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