31 Days of Horror Day 17 The Ranger

TITLE-The Ranger
SOURCE-Shudder Streaming Service

Earlier this year on the great Rock Shock Pop forum I had a fellow movie nut tell me I had to see The Ranger. I added it to my watchlist on VRV and figure "OK I will watch it in  a month or so." A month turned into 2 months and all of the sudden it is way later and I am looking for something new to watch. Remembered The Ranger and started it up.

2 couples are at a punk rock show in a big city. The boyfriend of one of the couples has gotten a huge amount of some new drug. Their plans are sell this drug and use the money to move to a better place. But during the middle of the show the cops stage a raid.

The girlfriend of the guy with the drugs gets cornered in a deadend alley by the cops. Thankfully her boyfriend shows up in time to stab the cop to death. The 2 couples steal a girl's van and head off into the woods. Seems the girlfriend grew up in the woods and still has a cabin out in the middle of nowhere.

On their trip to the cabin they find out the girl that owns the van was asleep in the back. By the time they get to the cabin we now know all the 5 leads fairly well. You got the guy with the drugs and his girlfriend. A gay couple and the other girl.

Seems besides the girlfriend none of the others have been outside the big city ever. So they have no clue how to behave and all when out in the country. After the others did a bunch of stupid shit the girlfriend  has had enough and blows up.

And this is when the shit hits the fan. The girl who's van was stolen gets shot. The kids run off to the van to find it missing. So they split up into two groups.

This is when the crazy park ranger attacks. Seems he is connected to the girlfriend's past. But that connection is kept a secret until near the end of the film.

Yep it's another teens out in the woods being stalked slasher. But this is an oddity. Set in the 80s,but made in the last year or so. It manages to avoid lots of the tropes that 80s slashers had.

The 6 leads are all pretty decent. The FX work is really good. Some of it looks to be CGI,but most of it appears to be practical effects. I was surprised at how well this film was made. Went in expecting a low budget film barely above the level of a SYFY original.

The Ranger gets a B.