Saturday Morning Massacre - Review

Saturday Morning Massacre has a simple premise. Scooby-Doo meets R-Rated horror film. It's an interesting concept that will probably resonate with any of us adults who grew up watching Scooby-Doo on Saturday Mornings. If you happened to be one of those early watchers you will recognize the plot. A group of four college age paranormal investigators go to a spooky old mansion with their dog and VW bus in tow with the goal of debunking a supposed haunting. Following some accidental drug consumption the line between reality and hallucination are blurred until events finally spiral into the promised massacre.

Our four main characters are Nancy, Gwen, Chad, Floyd and their dog Hamlet. These are of course fill-in's for Velma, Daphne, Fred, Shaggy and Scooby. The casting works relatively well here. The "Velma" and "Shaggy" characters have the right mix of believable character and cartoon based caricature. They manage to emulate the characters we expect them to be based on the influence without going over the top into cartoon land. The "Fred" and "Daphne" fill-in's are a bit more underwhelming. They don't come close enough to fitting the bill of what we expect and come off as more generic than anything. There is, however, a pretty gratuitous sex scene between these two characters for anyone that ever wanted to see Fred and Daphne get it on. Basically the casting of the lead's if 50-50. It's probably better that some characters feel more generic than caricature as it probably would have put the film too over the top. There's a good amount of comedy in here but it comes from the situation's and dialogue rather than the characters themselves.

The film is also effects heavy especially as it goes into the third act. The practical effects are good and gory and there are some fun over the top set pieces that really help push the film briskly to its conclusion once the third act kicks into gear. There are some CGI effects but they are minimal and forgivable.

The story itself can be easily segmented into three acts. The first act sets up the characters and the plot and there are some fun humorous moments early on. The second act is focused on the initial investigation and there were moments here that I felt the pacing drag. There was some clock watching on my part as it felt a bit repetitive at moments and I was waiting for things to really pick up again. Once the third act does pick up it's a good amount of fun for the remaining run time.

Overall Saturday Morning Massacre is a fun movie and worth checking out. The nods to it's influence are there but the creators definitely have their own story to tell and aren't afraid to meld the Scooby-Doo elements with a straight up horror film. It's flawed for sure and I won't be running out to buy it but it was worth the rental for me. It's no masterpiece but it's a fun concept with some genuinely fun moments and gore effects.

Score 2.5/5