On DVD: Hack

Written and Directed by Matt Flynn

Starring William Forsyth, Danica McKellar, Juliet Landau

A horror film starring Winnie from The Wonder Years? I thought I would give it a spin in the old DVD player. Hack was recently released on DVD by Allumination Filmworks on DVD.

The Movie

Vincent King (Sean Kanan) and his wife Mary Shelley (Juliet Landau) and no, faithful readers, Mary Shelley is not a mistype, are not your typical suburban couple. They are positively obsessed horror fans with a penchant for not only passively watching gore flicks, they desire to get a few kills in themselves. But, how to go about achieving such a dream?

They conjure up opening up their island retreat to some biology nerds. When the nerds arrive to study the plants and flowers, the instead become part of the King’s personal slasher film.

Enter into the picture helpless nerd Emily (Danica McKellar, of The Wonder Years) who brings a group of college students to the King residence to study, relax, have some sex and get away from it all. Little do they know what Vincent and Mary have in store for them.

Hack could have been a fun little gore flick, but Matt Flynn, the writer and director, steals too heavily from Scream for anything to feel very fresh and original.

And if you couldn’t tell by one of the characters being named after the famed Frankenstein writer, subtlety of homage and influence is not on tap in any frame of this film.

From one character chasing another with an axe shouting “Here’s Johnny” to many more, Flynn doesn’t just get influences from his love of horror film, he outright plagiarizes them.

Danica McKellar and William Forsythe do the best with the material given, as does Juliet Landau (Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV Series and Ed Wood), but their valiant efforts do little to help this struggling film.

I wish I could say Matt Flynn was an up and coming horror director to keep your eye on, like Eli Roth or Lucky McGee, but based on Hack, I couldn’t say that.

Still nursing a massive crush on Winnie from The Wonder Years would be the only reason to put this film in your Netflix queue, other than that, there are other more worthwhile horror flicks to pop into the player when you need a gore fix.

4/10

The Video

Hack is presented in widescreen. The colors are very vibrant with a nice depth to the color black. I did not notice any instances of grain or artifacts.

8/10

The Audio

Hack is presented in English with optional Spanish subtitles. The dialogue is clear and easily understood throughout. The audio is also nicely balanced.

7/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features

Hack is presented in a standard amaray case with artwork that captures the spirit of the film nicely.

Other than a trailer, there are no bonus features included on this release.

1/10

Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

The Review

The Movie 4/10

The Video 8/10

The Audio 7/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 1/10

Overall (Not an Average) 5/10