It’s the mark of doom for me, but the horror film The Shortcut’s PG-13 rating is a selling point judging from the sticker on the front. It’s surprisingly violent though as our Scooby gang tries to solve the horrors of the evil doings on the shortcut. Jinkies!
Our tale begins in 1945, a lad is about to ship out to war and tries to force himself upon an unwilling young lassie. She resists and the boy huffs off. The injured girl is left on the “shortcut” when a young kid comes along and kills her.
Move forward to modern day and the shortcut has become overgrown as it has become the bogeyman of the town and is seldom used anymore. Derek (Drew Seeley) is new to town and his kid brother Toby (Nicholas Elia) is tricked into going down the shortcut, sees a dead dog, and is menaced by a mean old man (Raymond J. Berry).
Derek has been making goo-goo eyes at Christy (Katrina Bowden) and thinks he’s about to get pummeled when he’s approached by jock Taylor (Josh Emmerson). It turns out that Taylor’s beloved pooch is missing and he wondered if the dead dog was his.
Derek, Taylor, and other friends Mark (Dave Franco), Lisa (Shannon Woodward), and Christy decide to investigate the old man and find out if it’s him that is killing the dogs. They uncover a conspiracy that stretches back to 1945 and involves the town’s most prominent family.
In my eyes, the awarding of a PG-13 to a horror movie is the kiss of death. Maybe I’m too cynical in that because some of the most frightening movies were not tied to their ratings. The Haunting (1963) and The Innocents (1961) were truly scary and were either PG or even G if my memory serves (simpler times I suppose).
My annoyance usually stems from a film seeming to be edited down to get to that fabled “teen friendly” box office rating. The Shortcut also marks the first Scary Madison production. That’s a new division of Adam Sandler’s production company devoted to making horror flicks.
The Shortcut, however, is neither short on disturbing scenes, just don’t expect the red stuff to flow onscreen, the kids hooking up, or much cussing. The film is surprisingly violent for its rating and much of the cast is taking the dirt nap by the time the credits roll.
Our characters never discover it, but we’re treated to much of the back-story of the killer during those 1940s flashbacks. There’s some parallel of the surprise ending that made me shake my head in frustration as it felt tacked on, but I’ll not spoil it for you. Let’s just say that I would’ve said the film was better if it hadn’t happened the way it does on screen.
There’s also a scene involving a hand and a sledgehammer that had me cringing, though I’d imagine that what happens would’ve caused some bloody repercussions but that might’ve shot the PG-13 rating.
In some ways the film reminded me of an episode of Supernatural, which isn’t a bad thing. However, it also seemed a harder edged Scooby Doo episode (some of the teens work at an ice-cream parlor called Scoopie Doo so the filmmakers thought so too, wink wink). It was a decent little film that didn’t offend me too much.
The Shortcut is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a commentary by director Nicholaus Goossen where he reveals that the moneymen insisted the violence be toned down to achieve the desired PG-13 rating. There’s also a 2 minute theatrical trailer for the film.
Those annoying moneymen soured me with their PG-13 rating, but I was entertained by the film. It does offer some minor shocks, but seems overly familiar in the storyline. An attempt at a surprise ending felt tacked on to me though.
I hope the next Scary Madison feature puts more of the horror back into horror films instead of sanitizing them for a preferred rating.
The Shortcut is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a released date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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