“Wtf!” Makes Me Think WTF? (Review)

Written by: Renier Palland 

Wtf! is a raucous slasher flick directed by Peter Herro and starring Callie Ott (The Horror) as the death defying Rachel – a final girl with an odd group of friends. The film doesn’t take itself too seriously by brilliantly utilising the slasher flick tropes for maximum effect. A bunch of Spring Break friends go to a cabin in the woods… And then the plot falls apart like a sliced spinal cord.

The overt chauvinism blends efficiently with the post-feminist all-girls-naked-it’s-fine gimmick, but director Herro’s heavy handed approach makes for a slow, rumbling fart joke first act; a misnomer of a denouement; and an odd, predictable and extremely clichèd climax. It should work for all intents and purposes. And it does, but only to a very small extent. It’s a fun flick with enough guts and gore to satisfy a mindless audience member who has one hand on his girlfriend/boyfriend and another hand texting his bros about his possible score.

Does the mindlessness and vapidity make for a good film? Yes and no. It’s a double-edged sword this one. On the one end you have a fun flick with boobs and sub-textual homophobic remarks, while on the other end you have a slasher flick that tries to be satirical, important and quite possibly genre-bending.

Wtf! fails with the latter. The genre twists and turns, but eventually it snaps back to the original trope we’ve all been accustomed to: cardboard-munching teenagers die a violent death! Hooray? Yes. Throughout the stunted dialogue set-pieces and the unyielding desire to be “cool”, Wtf! does exactly the opposite. It becomes farcical – and not in a good way.
Hey, at least the deaths are fun, right? I wouldn’t write this film off. In fact, I’d tell you to go watch it – you’ll be surprised at how much fun it actually is. As for a slasher masterpiece? Well, Wes Craven is turning in his grave right about now.

Rating: 2/5