I confess that I’m just a little bit gunshy around the Ghost House Underground lineup. I’ve seen some really good pieces come out of the line, and some really awful ones. Therefore, it’s impossible for me to tell up front just what I’m in for. And that’s what I walked into with Stag Night, a copy of which Lions Gate sent out for me to review. Would it be one of the good ones? Or one of the bad?
Stag Night follows a group of guys indulging in what may be the grandest guy tradition: the bachelor party, otherwise known as the Stag Night. They’re in New York, hitting the subway–things are going to be pretty big. And when the best man starts hitting on a couple ladies, it’s clear we’re in full swing. But it doesn’t take long for the six–four guys, two ladies–to find themselves at an abandoned subway station. They’ve missed their stop. And what they’re in for instead is a horror beyond imagining as we discover the warren of tunnels that comprises the New York subway system contains a horde of cannibals. Now the six will have to get out of the New York subway alive before they wind up food.
Those of you making comparisons to 28 Days Later are not really that wrong, but I submit that this is a bit more like an earlier Lions Gate release called Creep. And I liked that one myself, but this one is a whole lot more so.
They’ve traded suspense for horror and thrills here–there is no chill, no slow building of danger–instead, this thing is a hyperkinetic, nightmarish romp that will keep you quite thoroughly engrossed. I didn’t even bother to notice the time I spent in until the whole thing was almost over. That’s a terribly good sign. This thing is so packed with action and frenzy that it keeps you right with it through the whole thing.
In fact, about the only bad thing you can say about it is that it’s a bit of a downer. Frankly, these people are badly overmatched by the subhuman monstrosities living under New York, and they stay that way throughout. I’m not pleased by this at all–the battle is so one-sided that it’s almost not worthwhile to watch. Note that I said almost. There will be some satisfaction here, though it’s of the grimmest sort.
Still though, the end result will be surprisingly impressive and well worth your time to watch.
The Screenhead Ten Scale breathes a sigh of relief at having found one of the good Ghost House titles and gives Stag Night a seven out of ten. It’s very watchable, though it spends entirely too long being entirely too much of a downer to be really entertaining.
