THAT’S A WRAP (2023)

New On Demand and digital download from Quiver Distribution!
Directed by Marcel Walz.
Written by Joe Knetter, Robert L. Lucas.
Starring Sarah French, Monique T. Parent, Robert Donavan, Cerina Vincent, Gigi Gustin, Sarah Polednak, Adam Bucci, Ben Kaplan, Robert L. Lucas, Eve Marlowe, Steve J. Owens, Brandon Patricio, Dave Sheridan, Jed Rowen, Frédéric von Anhalt

When a movie named THAT’S A WRAP finishes its filming and cuts a teaser, the director Mason Maestro (Robert Donavan) and his wife and producer Lily (Monique T. Parent) throw a wrap party with all of the cast. But when the killer of the movie shows up, the cast is murdered in the really real world in a case of life imitating art. Though she survived as the final girl in the movie, Harper (Sarah French) doesn’t know if she’ll survive the night.

THAT’S A WRAP is SCREAM with a little stank on it. It’s got just enough over the top gore, unbridled sex, raunchy humor, and unexpected twists and turns to make those who only like Hollywood horror cringe, but that makes it so much more entertaining in my book. Writers Joe Knetter and Robert L. Lucas deliver a very clever script that is self-referential, but keeps from being stale and looking down on the genre. You see, I always felt SCREAM looked down on the very slasher films the series was birthed from, often snarkily pointing out the bad cliches that true horror fans grew up loving, but those in the movie acted as if it was better than. In SCREAM, when a well-worn trope comes up, a snarky remark is shat out by one of the over-plasticized stars, garnering a chuckle from the crowd. But that’s what makes THAT’S A WRAP so different. It cleverly points out the cliches by having the party the cast is experiencing play out just like the movie they just completed. To clarify, there’s a scene where one of the female stars asks another how she can appear nude on film, to which the actress gives a little insight about feeling comfortable with her body and doesn’t think it’s a bad thing. Later in the film, that same actress (the shapely and beautiful Sarah Polednak) has a drink spilled on her dress, forcing her to go to the bathroom and take off her dress, thus appearing nude right before she is killed in the shower in a PSYCHO-esque homage. While SCREAM puts down the genre, THAT’S A WRAP celebrates it and dammit if this movie isn’t filled with tons of clever little scenes like that.

But on top of all of that clever scripting, THAT’S A WRAP also manages to have some fantastically unique and bloody death scenes, again all of them relating to previous dialog in the film. One cast member talks about having to…shall we say, get down on her knees and say ahh for the role, and later, let’s just say she gets something jammed down her throat in a death scene that you’ll be talking about days after. The entire set is lit with vivid lighting reminiscent of some of the more stylish giallos. The giallo homage continues with the black gloved and masked killer who literally paints the walls with blood in some scenes. Director Marcel Walz does a fantastic job of making everything look vibrant and gruesome on what looks to be a pretty small set.

THAT’S A WRAP may not have ripped its cast from the WB, but still manages to deliver some really good performances. First and foremost, Monique T. Parent delivers her best role, probably ever. The scream queen and Skinamax staple is best known for her curves and willingness to bare all, but here she is given a role with an extreme amount of depth. There’s a conversation between her and Sarah French about women’s roles in horror and Hollywood that are pretty profound. French is also strong here as the final girl, even though the story seems to give everyone their time to shine and her moment is, of course, as the final girl, later in the movie. Robert Donavan is equal parts sleazy and goofy as the director. Smaller roles from GHOSTWORLD’s Dave Sheridan and CABIN IN THE WOODS’ Cerina Vincent can be found as well, with Vincent playing the SCREAM-esque Drew Barrymore role exquisitely well in the opening reel.

I really loved this movie from beginning to end. Walz was responsible for the good-looking, but somewhat messy LOVERBOY movie from a while back. But with THAT’S A WRAP, Walz’s talented eye is paired with a much stronger script, and the results is the SCREAM movie true horror fans have been drooling for. I liked SCREAM 6 quite a bit, but for my money, I prefer the lower budget look and feel of THAT’S A WRAP that seems like it actually respects the genre its paying homage to in a much more genuine and sincere way. This is a lower budget movie, so be warned. It doesn’t have the glitz and glamour of the SCREAM series, but while that series seems to have dialed down the meta and gone straight up slasher, THAT’S A WRAP actually finds fresh and fun ways to honor the slasher film.

Check out the trailer here!!