Time's Up

Gathered together on New Year's Eve, faculty members at a small-town high school trying to get past a recent tragedy are sent on a wild scavenger hunt to quell the whims of a deranged killer seeking revenge for their involvement in a student's death and must stop him before it's too late.

This was an underwhelming and somewhat problematic slasher effort. What works nicely here is the film's attempts at trying to bring about a fine slasher villain which is quite fun here. The whole motivation of the rampage aside, the idea of this one is about a revenge rampage taking out the guilty party associated with a tragedy which is a traditional setup at play that comes off rather well here. That carries over to the stalking and slashing scenes here as the graphic carnage on display is wholly impressive as the encounters in the barn, a stellar series of confrontations that take place in a library outfitted with various neon lights in the rooms, and a big confrontation in the school auditorium that lets the great mask and nice gore work to have some positive points. There are some really big issues holding this one down. One of the main drawbacks with this one is the rather unlikable main group of teachers that we're asked to follow who are immensely tough to get behind. The opening party that brings them into the film is the wrong kind of introduction required here with everyone shown out to be a back-stabbing group of gossips who are out to cause drama with everything they do, from digging in and needling the one trying to expose some kind of tragedy that just occurred, verbally cutting down their co-workers for stepping into the conversations or dealing secrets that don't make anyone out to be sympathetic in the slightest. This type of introduction is carried over into the opening stages of the game they're forced into playing where their argumentative behavior and combative tone make it hard to care about the group whether they'll make it through the entire game. That brings about the other big issue here with a scattershot and chaotic game at the center of the film. The whole idea of the flashbacks to explain their actions on the bullied student whom everything is based on serves the film well but only paints this out as yet another in a long line of bullied teenagers that has nothing new or original about it the more this goes on, so these scenes end up just stalling the pacing instead. Also, the constant back-and-forth nature of everyone turning on each other throughout the game never comes off as logical as everything seems to happen merely to prolong the film with their insecurities brought up to use as an excuse to not go for the killer when they have the upper hand, so they end up losing out and causing the killer to strike so it's all continued for nothing. With an overlong finale that is infuriatingly stupid trying to make a point about bullying, this one has some big issues that hold it down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

On New Year's Eve, a faculty party for local teachers still reeling from the suicide of a bullied student, goes horribly wrong when an unexpected guest arrives with an unusual request: participate in a scavenger hunt--or die.

Accompanied by a diligent reporter and a girl bent on discovering the truth about her friend's death, the party-goers race to reveal secrets about their mysterious tormentor and one another before the first firework explodes and the New Year begins with a bloody surprise.

The surprise would be you sticking with this boring, horrible juvie train wreck. You will never be able to imagine just how truly bad this movie is unless you watch it for yourself.

I can't even talk about the acting because these people are not actors. They are horrible. Everything about this movie is horrible.

TIME'S UP! (2022) is an independent horror movie whodunit written and directed by LC Holt of "You're Next" and "Phantom of Fun World " fame. Holt also stars in the movie along with Damian Maffei of "Haunt" and "Strangers Prey at Night," Hannah Fierman from "V/H/S", Kamarra Cole of "Demonic Toys: Jack Attack," and Jonathan Tiersten of the original "Sleepaway Camp." Horror icon Felissa Rose served as a producer on the movie and appears in the film as a police officer.

The storyline on IMDB is that on New Year's Eve, a faculty party for local teachers still reeling from the suicide of a bullied student, goes horribly wrong when an unexpected guest arrives with an unusual request: participate in a scavenger hunt--or die. Accompanied by a diligent reporter and a girl bent on discovering the truth about her friend's death, the party-goers race to reveal secrets about their mysterious tormentor and one another before the first firework explodes and the New Year begins with a bloody surprise.

Time's Up! Was shot smack dab in the middle of the 2020/2021 lockdown, the production had to follow severe health and safety rules. Despite these hurdles, I feel this crew did an incredible job with this motion picture. The cinematography is both beautiful and eerie, the production values are lush, and the actors give the audience top notch performances.

The look of the killer is really creepy, as they are dressed as FatherTime/Father New Year. They also carry a wicked scythe as their main weapon. I giggled a bit thinking about how the killer had to keep getting in and out of the costume, as well as being able to carry this huge scythe in their little car.

The kills overall are done well. The audience gets a decapitation, slit throats, a body sliced in half, gouged eyes. Pretty good stuff. If you want blood, you get blood.

It's not a perfect movie. It can feel a little disjointed at times. I wonder how much of that is because of the restrictions the cast and crew were under due to Covid. But I did really enjoy it. I first found it on Amazon, then on Tubi. It is also available in physical form from Plan 10 Pictures. I recommend it with a 7/10!

Slasher movies are historically low budget affairs. From Halloween to Friday the 13th, The Burning to Maniac, low budget movies that overcame that to be effective films. Time's Up is certainly low budget, it is obvious from first to last frame. That's where any and all similarities to the classics listed above end. This movie is less than 90 minutes long but seems to last an eternity. A promising premise quickly falls apart due to a lousy script. That script lends perfectly to the amateur direction and mostly wooden performances by a cast of unknowns that will almost certainly stay that way. Not worth a watch.