Deadly Weekend (2014) - Certainly a movie of two halves

Anyone who has a passing interest in horror B-movies will watched at least one (or two hundred) films where the basis premise is... bunch of teens find themselves off the beaten path and get stalked by... and it's at this point you can insert your chosen monster and/or serial killer into the proceedings.  So, as per that logic, two couples here decide to go on a weekend away in the American countryside.

They're your typical horror stars, i.e. young, good looking and always run back into the house whenever they're supposed to be running away from it.

And they bicker.  Okay, they're technically friends and the script keeps telling us how much they like each other and how long they've been friends, but they seem to get at each other more than any group of mates I've hung around with.  The leading man is especially paranoid about his girlfriend seeing other guys - hardly a sympathetic trait for a primary antagonist.

And they bicker.  I only mention this again because the film is about ninety minutes and I was still at the halfway mark where absolutely nothing that could define this as a 'horror' film had actually happened yet.  It was all coming across as a romantic drama.  In fact, I even tried a little experiment as I lay on my sofa and closed my eyes (as it was Boxing Day and I was a bit tired!).  I just listened to them talk for a while and never really missed anything relevant because of it.

It's only in the last (just under) half where the 'threat' comes into play.  I won't spoil who or what it is, but either way the blood and guts eventually start to flow.  There's not that much in the way of gore to write home about and, when the cast members start - shall we say 'decreasing' in number - they start doing that thing where they make every dumb horror movie decision you've even rolled your eyes at.

I guess if I had to go for a negative then I'd say that the leading lady is quite attractive, but that's about it - and it's probably only really a draw for the male audience.  If you really want to watch this 'horror' film just start it at about 45 minutes in, otherwise I'm sure you'll find better.

5/10 a hard trek, a bit like unicycling to Mordor and back