The Ranger (2018) Reviews

• Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but irritating punk kids!

  Coventry2018-11-01

  I added "The Ranger" straight to my watchlist, because I instantly liked the premise of a psychopathic National Park Ranger. Some of the best slashers of the 1980s took place in the backwoods, but the killers were always toothless rednecks or cannibalistic inbred families, so this could have been an interesting and original new angle, especially because the film (like so many others nowadays) supposedly also takes place in the 80s. But alas, "The Ranger" never fully lives up to its potential despite the cool titular killer and an adequate performance by Jeremy Holm, and that's principally because co-writer/director Jenn Wexler is seemingly more interested in a bunch of pathetic punkers and atrocious loud music than in atmosphere or scenery. Running from the police after an idiotic and unnecessary incident at a punk club, five vexatious teenagers seek shelter in a cabin in the middle of a National Park. One of them, the introvert Chelsea, spent much of her childhood vacations here with her uncle, and her own dark secrets from the past gradually come back to the surface. Meanwhile, the psychopathic Park Ranger ensures that Chelsea's disrespectful and arrogant friends receive the excruciatingly painful deaths they deserve. "The Ranger" is a textbook and thus unmemorable slasher that sadly doesn't make proper use of the locations, the villain, the numerous potential slash-methods or the 80s setting. The grim film poster remains by far the best asset of the entire production.

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• Punked by a Horror Gimmick

  barbaragolia2018-08-27

  Got sucked into this one with all the over the top hype at the Fright Fest film festival, I guess putting a punk rock sound track into a films sound design means a film is "Unique" and "Something New" in the genre. It wasn't. The premise and plot are well worn - aka Cabin in the Woods - The Hitcher - Stalker. This film doesn't do anything that's already been done really well in the aforementioned films except for it's 80's theme. Throw in some bad, over used teenage angst and it's a thinly veiled episode of Buffy the vampire slayer in a park with a punk rock sound track to boot.

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• Meh...at best

  patrickbivona2019-05-11

  Boring for a "slasher" movie. A pretty slow start and middle. In my opinion how people are killed make for the most entertainment, and these are just boring.

• Park Ranger vs Punks

  troma_freek2019-05-02

  A deranged National Park Ranger is killing off a group of punk teens in this retro flare Backwood slasher by writer/director Jenn Wexler. Following an incident in a Punk club, 5 Punk kids are running from the police only to seek shelter in a remote cabin in a national park. This first half plays out like a teenage crime drama just before taking a sharp turn into predictable slasher territory. While The Ranger is not without it's charms it offers nothing new or unique to the genre and never fully lives up to it's potential. Pink haired Chloe Levine gives a solid performance, and so does Jeremy Holm as the Ranger. It's watchable, but nothing to write home about.

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• Very watchable

  alicepetit2018-10-03

  Frightfest opening night film, and very watchable as a VoD release when you get a chance. Nothing new in the concept, slasher in the woods picking off a group of teens, but the execution (ha ha!) was good and there were a couple of aspects which made this a fun genre offering. First, the punk setting and music. OK green room did it first, but this was much more fun and retro. Second, the relationship between slasher and final girl offered an engaging spin on procedings. Overall, if you are a genre fan then this should be on your watch list.

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