That’s a Wrap review.
Although it references being a Giallo film…That’s a Wrap is pure old school slasher cheese. In all the best ways.
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That’s a Wrap
Directed by Marcel Walz
Written by Joe Knetter and Robert L. Lucas
Starring Cerina Vincent, Monique Parent, Sarah French, Gigi Gustin, Robert Donavan, Adam Bucci, Joe Castro and Kwame Head
That’s a Wrap Review
That’s a Wrap doesn’t take itself very seriously. I mean that as a compliment. What results is a very fun slasher movie. A consistent “scream, run, kill, repeat” pattern works to its advantage due to the quiet absurdity of the whole production. That’s a Wrap mixes in genuinely funny film commentary and an unexpected move or two to keep things feeling fresh…even as it’s mostly just playing the hits.
That’s a Wrap is both the title of the movie and the movie within a movie…the wrap party of which is the setting of the…um…movie. Yeah. That’s what we’re doing here. Absurdity that offers a bit of a smile or a chuckle with an accompanying head shake. It’s not trying to be clever in a way that overpowers the nonsense it wants to offer. It revels in that nonsense. In some clever way. After a stylized opening kill…we spend the entirety of the film hanging out at the wrap party with various cast and crew members who will be butchered by the end of the night. The antagonist is called The Mistress. In both versions of That’s a Wrap, of course.
This isn’t a movie character come to life story…it’s a standard whodunnit. Well…as standard as anything in That’s a Wrap can be anyway. Pompous director Mason (Robert Donavan) believes he has made his masterpiece. After debuting the first trailer to his cast and crew…we spend some time getting to know our characters. It’s a fairly eclectic group of rising talents and veteran hands. There’s enough funny dialog to get us through the talking portions of That’s a Wrap but the pacing does tend to slow down in between kill scenes. Instead of driving through to the next bloody altercation…the movie tends to reset itself in a new scene…complete with long conversations between impending victims.
It’s not a deal breaker…especially when there is so much assorted silliness always on the horizon. That’s a Wrap cares enough to offer a solid reason for the lack of cell phones in a modern slasher story. It’s a small thing but it is always appreciated. In this case, Mason doesn’t want any leaks about his film…so there is a technology ban. This is the kind of slasher that references other slasher movies. It’s good for a few smirks but the real comedy comes from a cleverer place than that.
That’s a Wrap finds solid laughs in its commentary on filmmaking. Things like…a discussion of when a director should cut out of a scene just as this director cuts out of that scene. Or…a very funny comment about off screen deaths by a character who subsequently is killed off screen. That’s a Wrap comes from a slightly different place than other meta-slashers. It’s more interested in process than product.
There are some decent kills here but for budgetary reasons they largely happen just off camera. You do get someone killed by a nail gun while getting…well…nailed…so there’s some fun thought put into everything. There’s also a completely unnecessary and gratuitous shower scene. A true throwback to an era of slasher movies long since passed. Which makes it pretty hilarious, to be honest. Funnier still is that it exists to do the standard Psycho riff…even though its existence echoes movies from decades later.
The story, as it is, eventually leads to the reveal of The Mistress’s identity. Here too That’s a Wrap slows down. The reveal is decent…but the aftermath carries on far too long. This leaves a big pacing issue at the most important time of the story. The movie never finds a consistent pacing or momentum from scene to scene…even if those scenes are fun. Once things get moving again, however, That’s a Wrap does end with a great flourish.
That’s a Wrap has all the makings of a late-night crowd pleaser. It’s fun and stupid…and it knows it. Real life director Marcel Walz may love his color filters as much as he loves poking fun at the filmmaking process…but he delivers a memorable effort that should please slasher fans of all ages. The kind that midnight screenings were made for.
Scare Value
Referential humor accompanies an old school slasher story in That’s a Wrap. You should know what you are going to get when I say that. This is a fun version of it. Pacing isn’t perfect and most kill shots happen out of frame…but the energy of the movie makes it all worthwhile. This was made to have fun with. Give it a chance and fun will be had.
3/5
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