Macabre…ish Horror Review: Terror Trips

 

 

Terror Trips, 2021/ 1 hr 24 min

 

Six friends (Ed (L.C.Holt), Molly (Roni Locke), Ginny (Hannah Fierman), Eli, Dan (Mike Blaney) and George (Abigail Esmena)) who share a love of horror, are going on a trip touring shooting locations of the most famous horror films. Because one of them, Dan, is starting a guided tour business of horror film locations with his partner, George. At the location, there will be a screening of the film that was made at the location. So this weekend trip will be like the pilot program for the company.

 

The RV is already stocked and ready, they are leaving immediately! The first two screenings are Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Black Volga. None of the group has seen Black Volga which is based on a Polish urban legend involving the KGB and missing people.

 

After watching Black Volga, the group talks about how cool it would be to visit Poland, which is when the announcement is made that the tour will be expanded to Europe. So they are invited on a scouting trip to Poland. Three locations are on the agenda, the filming locations of Hostel, The American Werewolf in London and Black Volga.

 

The first stop is Poland, they will be hiking to their campsite after leaving their vehicle in a garage with the keys and cell phones, their host, Aleks, says there is no cell signal. They are warned by Aleks (Kate Kiddo) to not mention why they are there to anyone because Black Volga destroyed the town. Ginny thinks they should leave based on the info they were given and most agree, they will be removing this location from the tour. But since they’re already hiking to the spot, they will be camping tonight and leaving tomorrow.

 

That night, there is a feeling of impending doom. Which makes sense because they are being watched. The next morning, they rise and find Dan gone. He’s been kidnapped and his organ’s are harvested in a makeshift operating room but his friends don’t know that yet.

 

The friends pack up camp and hope he returns. When he still isn’t back when they are ready to leave, they leave GARAGE spelled out, in case he returns. The friends struggle to figure out what to do next because horror movie rules apply. They keep saying it’s not a horror movie but it’s feeling like one. They decide to split up anyway to try and find Dan.

 

When four of them meet up at the garage, it’s all locked up tight. Separate from the group, Molly finds Dan’s remains in a wheel barrow and run back toward the others but she’s chased down, hobbled and kidnapped. And she too ends up on the operating table.

 

Ginny is enraged that this is happening and believes it wouldn’t have, had they left yesterday like she wanted. She decides to break into Aleks’ house to get their keys so they can leave and Eli is totally against that but goes along with it.

 

In another location, Ed is executed right in front of George while asking a local if she’s seen Dan and she mentions KGB. Aleks finally is found in the garage but under the guise of helping them is actually keeping them there.

 

Soon, all of them are rounded up and taken to the makeshift operating room to be harvested. Since they are short one, the man, Eryk (Zak Bainazarov) who killed Ed will be taking his place on the table. And Eryk’s brother, Konstantyn (Kamil Julfa), is heartbroken. The leader, Anna (Carol Ann Van Natten), informs him that she does what she has to do to fill orders, even if she has to harvest from her own team.

 

Meanwhile, Ginny, escapes. And George takes the opportunity to choke out the surgeon, Katarina (Iryna Scarola), when she’s freed from her restraint. Eli finishes her off and he’s in the mood to kill a few more. Anna, under threat of death, demands the Americans to be recovered but when she finds Katarina dead, she orders Eli killed and the Ginny and George captured.

 

Ginny calls the police but they turn out to not be the help she hoped for, this entire town is in on this racket.

 

 

This indie horror was directed by Jeff Seemann. I like the concept, the cast and the fact that horror movies exist in this universe and informed some of their decisions. This felt a little CW but I still enjoyed it. It could have been more terrifying but it was still pretty eerie.  Plus Eryk’s mistake being ‘fixed’ the way it was horrifying. I don’t think I’ve seen that in this sub genre before. There is usually a clear line between the bad guys and victims. Anna is a savage!