As the title suggests, “Reeker” is a movie that revolves around a bad smell – perhaps not the most riveting of subjects but at least something seemingly unique. If somebody described the atmosphere that Dave Payne wanted to create, out loud, then it would come across as impossible to convey properly via the silver screen; you can’t see a smell, so how can it be utilized well enough to feature heavily in a horror movie? Well, Payne came up with an answer to the question his subject matter posed and after a late night viewing of his conclusion, I was inhaling the bittersweet smell of indecision.

“Reeker” really tends to mix the rough with the smooth, you may be sitting on the edge of your seat with your fingernails piercing your palms but, without warning, a hideously misplaced quip will jolt you back into a coherent and considerably less excited state of mind. It’s this kind of thing that really holds the film back; Payne has successfully managed to heed and build upon the intense and effective schematics laid down by films such as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Halloween”, but on top of that he hasn’t managed to fully demonstrate what “Reeker” hints he is capable of.

The blind guys date went completely wrong.

Despite the afore mentioned bad comedic timing that breaks up some key sequences, “Reeker” also harbours a small, but generally amusing, arsenal of one line japes. Most of these come from Trip (Scott Whyte) who assumes a main role during the first hour and seems to fancy himself as a bit of a comedian; they’re quite well placed and witty so will probably conjure an offhand chuckle or two. With regard to the placement of roles, the main characters switch around as the film progressed (mainly due to Payne’s mind games and some grisly deaths) and the film takes on a more serious aurora although still managing to pitch in a joke every now and again to indicate that the movie isn’t taking itself too seriously.

The plot speaks for itself really, starting with a bunch of college kids driving through the desert in order to get to a rave entitled Area 52. Needless to say the old clash of personality within the group cliché is employed to entertain us as they embark on their journey, but our minds wander as we discover that their car is out of fuel and that they will have to spend the night in an unusual, seemingly abandoned, run-down desert motel. As the night progresses, a series of inexplicably peculiar and terrifying events occur, all of which lead us closer to unraveling the mystery of the fatally putrid stench and the motel it pollutes. Essentially, the typical calculated killing off of the characters one by one is the structure that “Reeker” uses, although towards the very end of the film there are some intriguing and unexpected events that will completely reformulate your perceptions of the movie.

Trip’s night fever impression didn’t help at all.

Where “Reeker” really shines is during the exploration and development of a seemingly unidentifiable fear, there’s a really intense half an hour where all the action starts to begin and our personal ideas about the fiend terrorizing the motel are fed and nurtured. Some of the moments within this period are genuinely creepy and thanks to Payne’s uncanny ability to anticipate our expectations, there’s a number of shots that have you hiding behind your hands to no avail; of course, as soon as you believe nothing is going to happen, something does and you’re once again caught in no man’s land. Despite being employed quite readily throughout the film, you won’t become wise to this deceptive trick because it can always leave you guessing.

“Reeker” is another entertaining horror movie that just fails to cleanly hit the nail on the head, its main villain is a disappointment of “Jeepers Creepers” proportions and there is some ridiculously implausible and audibly absurd dialogue that really spoils it in places. However, despite these sadly evident flaws, it still manages to keep you glued to the screen for most of the duration and Payne’s psychological games coupled with some classic suspenseful camera work will leave you feeling that the film has more redeeming features as opposed to negative ones. There’s no denying that “Reeker” doesn’t manage to fully embrace it’s capabilities but what it’s achieved with such a limiting subject matter is still rather impressive – there’ll be a long debate with yourself before you finally resolve the paradox as to what side of the fence “Reeker” actually lies on.

Director: Dave Payne
Starring: Arielle Kebbel, Scott Whyte, Devon Gummersall, Tina Illman, Derek Richardson.
Year: 2005
Genre: Horror
Buy: Amazon UK