The Hook of Woodland Heights

The Hook of Woodland Heights

VHS released by Donna Michelle Productions
Directed by Michael Savino
Produced by Mark Veau
Michael Savino
Written by Mark Veau
Michael Savino
Starring Robert W. Allen
Michael Elyanow
Christine McNamara
Music by Jeffrey Majeau
Cinematography Jeffrey Bagdasarian
C. Douglas Frauenholz
Edited by R. Collins Dickinson
Production
company
Media House Productions
Distributed by Donna Michelle Productions
Release dates
  • 1990 (1990) (United States)
Running time
 40 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $3,500

The Hook of Woodland Heights is a 1990 horror short film written and directed by Michael Savino, and co-written by Mark Veau.

Plot

Mason Crane, a one-handed man who went on a murderous rampage after committing familicide, is set to be moved from one section of a Woodland Heights psychiatric hospital to another. As soon as Mason's cell is opened, the deranged man crushes an orderly with the door, cuts another's skullcap off with a clipboard, and escapes. Mason makes his way to a wilderness-adjacent home, where he kills a dog, and replaces his missing hand with a bent two-pronged grilling fork. With his new weapon, Mason attacks a group of children playing in a cemetery, stabbing one to death, and scattering the rest.

Mason returns to the woods, where a young couple (Tommy and Katie) have set up at a cottage for some alone time. Nervous due to all the news reports about Mason's escape, Katie convinces Tommy to take her back into to town, but the car fails to start. Tommy goes off alone to seek help from a friend named Jimmy who lives nearby, and encounters Mason, who has disemboweled Jimmy. Tommy and Mason fight, with Mason coming out victorious when he stabs Tommy in the crotch. Next, Mason goes after Katie, chasing her through the forest, and into town. Just as Mason is about to kill Katie, he is shot in the head by a bystander.

The film is then revealed to just be a story being told to a group of Cub Scouts. When the storyteller asks the boys if they believe the ghost of Mason Crane still haunts the town, they answer with "No!" The man laughs, turns to the camera (revealing himself to be Mason) and screams, "I do!"

Cast

Release

The Hook of Woodland Heights was released on VHS in 1990, in a double feature with the fifteen-minute short Attack of the Killer Refrigerator. The tape also included a making-of featurette, cast and crew interviews, promotional footage, and footage of a theatrical screening.[1]

Reception

Critical Condition called the short "fun to watch" and "humorous, gory, and cheesy as hell".[1] eFilm Critic found the film "appealingly goofy" despite the many flaws, and gave it a score of two.[2] Cranked on Cinema wrote "this is a mildly entertaining film" and said that while it was not groundbreaking it was still "impressive as a micro-budget movie".[3] A four out of ten was awarded by Horrorphilia, which concluded "The short running time really saves it. If this was a full-length movie I doubt I could have even made it all the way through".[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Dominick, Mario. "Films on the Fringe". criticononline.com. Critical Condition. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  2. ↑ Sommersby, Jack (5 April 2010). "Hook of Woodland Heights, The". efilmcritic.com. eFilm Critic. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  3. ↑ Lisk, Jamie (26 March 2009). "The Hook of Woodland Heights". crankedoncinema.com. Cranked on Cinema. Retrieved 13 January 13. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  4. ↑ C, Jeff (11 June 2011). "The Hook of Woodland Heights (1988) Short Film Review". horrorphilia.com. Horrorphilia. Retrieved 13 January 13. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
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