Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Simon Says is a very bad horror movie that might also be considered a dark comedy. It stars Crispin Glover as a psychopathic redneck who sets various traps for pretty young people and kills them in exceptionally gory ways. Think Slingblade meets Friday the 13th. Unfortunately, it fails as both a horror movie and a comedy because it is neither scary nor funny.

I have always liked actor Crispin Glover ever since he played George McFly in Back to the Future. He's had a varied career since then, and has a reputation in Hollywood for being as eccentric as the characters he often plays. I've also heard that he's very nice in real life, and is cordial to his fans. It's obvious that he had some fun playing this silly role, but it's a shame that someone as good as he is would bother making such a dumb movie. I guess we all have to pay the bills somehow.

The story behind this movie is about twin boys who turn into killers. One is mentally disabled and the other appears to be a psychopath, and together they grow up to be played by Crispin Glover. When a bunch of young people show up to go camping nearby, the crazy brother goes out after them and starts setting his traps to murder them all. That's pretty much the whole story. Before it all happens, the young people get drunk/high and remove some clothing, but that's par for the course in these type slasher movies.

Perhaps the best thing about this movie is the unique ways in which Simon (Glover's character) kills his victims. He rigs up a series of complicated traps and contraptions using pulley systems and spring loaded devices to send pickaxes flying at victims. Some of them are kind of interesting, though not very realistic. The very idea of this guy going out in the woods to rig all this stuff up in a way that it catches the victims at just the right time is as preposterous as the plot in most slasher movies.

Would you believe this is from the same guy who directed Harry and the Hendersons? I guess he was trying to branch out from his usual family-friendly genre, but dang! The problem was that he made Glover's role too creepy to be funny, so the intended jokes just didn't work the way they were intended, and the general lack of good scares really takes away a lot of the fun to be had from watching these type movies. If you want a good example of blending horror and comedy, check out the Evil Dead movies.

Simon Says is the kind of dumb low budget horror movie meant for teenagers to watch with friends and laugh at the gore. It won't scare you, though you might get a laugh or two out the many really stupid parts. Not ever Glover could save this one, but he sure tries.

Recommended: No

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age