There have been an awful lot of horror films flooding the independent film world lately. Unfortunately most are really bad. There is no excuse to be found in a short shooting schedule or shoestring budget. Many excellent films are made under similar restrictions. Those horror movies are bad mostly because the film makers take the easy way out. They throw a lot of fake blood and guts around and convince some nubile young women to disrobe for the camera. What is missing is the essence of horror. This is a certain something that is able to scare the audience not just visually but viscerally. Some of the best horror movies are those with little bloodshed actually shown on screen. The good news is there are still film makers out there taking on this once venerable genre who care about what they create. One film that offers a glimmer of hope for the legion of fans that love this type of film is too be found in ‘Spiker’ by Frank Zagarino. Admittedly he is not there yet but this movie represents an honest effort to rise above the mundane. There is enough blood and a modicum of nudity to be found here but it just doesn’t come across as the only focus of the film. With torture flicks like ‘Saw’ and ‘Hostel’ dominating the horror landscape it is reassuring to see a movie that tries to return to more traditional methods of scaring the audience. This may upset some of the fans of the genre since it does not live up to the current level of expectations. I have heard the film describe as boring. One possible reason for this is this movie does not offer an unending slaughter house that is considered the de facto standard for horror. An attempt is made to provide a framework of a plot to hold a story together. Indy films should represent a degree of experimentation. Often that doesn’t work out completely but you have to respect the try. This film is worth giving it a try. This is easier now thanks to the DVD release from MTI. They tend to find little lesser known films just like this one.

The script came from Richard Preston Jr. He has been around for about a dozen years now. Over that time he has tried his hand at numerous genres ranging from other horror flicks to thrillers and even a family movie thrown in for good measure. The script is a good try at bringing back the atmosphere of the old camp fire nights. You know the stories that campers tell each other to scary the more squeamish members of the camp. Where the story goes wrong is trying to pull in too many of these stories in one screenplay. You have a classic horror villain; the deranged psychotic killer who manages to escape from a nearby institution for the criminally insane. More typically they have a hook for a hand that they use with amazing skill too dispatch the kids partying in the woods. Here there is a little twist on the theme with the psycho using railroad spikes to gruesome results. Now that is old school. There is little doubt that most of the audience has never seen an actual railroad spike. Where it goes off track, so to speak, is the introduction of a female ghost. This has the affect of diffusing the menace. Instead of having one source of the scare present the emotional content is divided between the ghost and killer. Preston also falls back on one of the most hackney plot devices in the genre; teenaged kids alone in deserted woodland. I realize that this is a way to achieve the required isolation from help but please, horror writers, find another methodology to perform this task. The story tries to be more in the vein of the psychological thriller but is too diluted to be completely effective. It might have faired better to concentrate on the escaped killer allow for more character development of the potential victims.

Frank Zagarino directed this film and demonstrates some potential. He is not there yet but he has aptly avoided some of the more puerile traps that usually get a new director especially in horror. He has two other films as director, both action oriented. Most of his career has been spent as a consistently working actor in several genres with an emphasis on action. He goes right into the setup of the story by showing the killer in custody and the events leading to his escape. Zagarino then shifts the viewpoint to the teens out for a good time in an isolated house deep in the woods. Really, we have to find a better place to slaughter drug and sex obsessed teens. As mentioned this film may disappoint the die hard younger fans of the genre. The blood shed is not as overt as in most modern horror films. The nudity is perfunctory and kept to a minimum. Many will find this a turn off since the young women in the cast are very attractive. At least their agents found them a part that would help them hone their acting skills instead of just running around naked. Zagarino tries to pace the film both once again the ghost has the tendency to throw the timing off. One thing that was strange the preview screen from the distributor listed the title as ‘Spiker’ but the opening credits still had the original name from the movie’s 2007 festival releases, ‘Blood Rails’.

The opening shot is important to set the mood. Here we see a pair of railroad tracks heading off to the horizon. The scene shifts to what appears to be an affluent water front area. At the West Haven Institute there are a lot of armed guards at the ready. They are preparing to receive the most danger inmate possible, Adam Brandis (Frank Zagarino). He is an albino who makes up for his lack of pigmentation with an unquenchable thirst for bloodshed. He was one of the worse serial killers in history and got his nickname of the Spiker because of his preferred weapon. After twenty years in prison he is being shipped to the mental hospital for rehabilitation. Okay, he escapes in short order. Soon we get to see a couple of teens necking in the backseat of their car. Lisa (Giselle Rodriguez) playfully pushes off her boyfriend Mike (Matthew Jared) and the couple is called inside by Nikki (Ginger Kroll). Inside the ice cream parlor Nikki meets up with her boyfriend Charlie (Josh Folan). They are waiting for a third couple Erin (Linda Johnson) and Gary (Adam Shonkwiler) before they head out on their big night. Erin is a strange one because she dresses in Goth style; well Goth cheerleader to be more precise. The get to the deserted house and prepare for a night of fun when the ghost appears. It doesn’t take too long before the Spiker comes calling and what was to be a night of sex becomes a nightmare.

The film is interesting if for no other reason than the potential it shows for the cast and crew. Hopefully Zagarino and Preston will stay on track with the less juvenile approach they we have become accustomed to and hone their skills for the next outing. The film is worth a look on a dark and stormy night with some friends over.