I remember hearing about this some time ago and thinking that the idea of mixing musical theatre and slasher could be quite interesting, even though it doesn't sound that intriguing, but I was willing to give it a shot and the results were actually pretty good, but overall pretty much a mixed bag.The opening of this starts off quite promising where you think you've seen a murder, but then pulls away and turns out to be a performance, which worked , and then later the real murder happens which was full of tension and thrills and I was genuinely excited to see what was to come next. But while most of this movie was interesting and the leading characters were decent, it just doesn't quite reach its full potential, as for one thing after the first murder, no more happen for quite a while and the rest of time is more like a teen filled drama with a bunch of unmemorable musical numbers thrown in to pad out the running time. But when the murders do happen, that's when things really get going and highly enjoyable. But another thing that fails to work is the mystery element of the killer which was sadly disappointing and way too predictable, and to be honest when the killer started singing, I just found that way too stupid.The performances though do make this work the main girl Allie MacDonald was pretty good and convincing in her performance. Douglas Smith also gives a standout as her brother and very likable and even Meat Loaf was fun and wonderfully over the top as the owner of the camp. Then Minnie Driver was wonderfully fine in her brief but memorable role at the beginning of the movie, which really did set the tone for the rest of the movie.All in all Stage Fright is a decent effort that tries something different with mixing two genres, but doesn't quite succeed , but with good performances and good kills it's still a entertaining watch.

Let's start with country of origin.Lately the "smart" thing to do with Canadian movies is label them as US and hope no one notices. This is an attempt to remove Canadian films from the stigma of "for the money" productions which invariably results in some of the worst quality product in the history of the medium.(Here is an FYI -- the Canadian film industry was created by an eccentric "consultant" to a former Canadian parliamentary Secretary of State who worked for $1 a year and wrote the original white paper explaining how tax incentives could be used to kick start an industry. That was in the 1970s -- and the Canadian industry has been trying to hide from its crude origins ever since.) The movie is much much better than the reviews suggest. To start with, it takes brass balls (which BTW is a nautical term, look it up) to even attempt to combine a slasher film with a musical, and cast it (save for Driver and the irrepressible Meatloaf) with unknowns.But the ultimate test of any film is, and always will be, does it entertain?, does it connect?, and here the production is consistently of high quality and yes indeed it is a fun watch.This is also a "Lantos" pedigree film, which is meaningful only if you are student of Canadian cinema, a fact (as above) this film tries to hide.Recommended.In fact, if the film ever decides to come out of the closet, it is one of the most interesting Canadian efforts ever.

I watched this expecting it to be a regular old horror movie.Holy cow was I wrong.I'm not going to spoil any of the actual plot, but the blend of slasher-style horror, black comedy and Broadway musical really works. Once the first song got underway I was, to be honest, somewhat suspicious. I'm glad I didn't just give up on it, though. This was a real treat.Although there is a fair bit of graphic violence (it is a slasher film, after all) there is still an inherent amount of a comedic element even in the murder scenes. The way that they interweave what would, under normal circumstances, be a reasonably good slasher flick with a musical is what really makes this movie stand out and be unique.While there are certainly better ways to spend 90 minutes, there are certainly also worse ways too. Dive in with a willing suspension of disbelief and enjoy it.

This film is excellent - but it may not be for you if you don't enjoy both irreverent musical comedies -and- slasher films of both the serious and guilty pleasure variety.So if you really enjoyed Pitch Perfect, Scream, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and have seen more than a few stage musicals, then this might just make your night.The only reason this doesn't have a better rating (its currently at a 5, which to me is a crime) is because viewers come to it expecting a slasher, and hate the musical comedy, OR they come to it expecting a musical comedy, and don't like the gore. Or they come to it to see meatloaf - who here plays and sings very much against type, and feel cheated.This is smart, amusing, and will tickle the right people in the right places.