TOTAL SPOILERS
75 is a typical slasher film involving a mysterious axe-wielding murderer and a house
full of horny, partying students. It begins with the official genre cliché- a prologue "ten years earlier"
which pretty much identifies the killer, as such prefaces invariably do, but
this script keeps one ace in the hole. The guy who must be the killer (based
upon the prologue) can't be the killer because he is among the terrified victims
who see the hooded slasher in action.
As it turns out, there is a logical explanation for that. When the kid from the first
scene was in the loony bin, he enlisted a fellow nutcase to assist in his
current murder spree. The actual killer has no motive. He just likes killing.
The guy who does have the motive told him who to kill. They are the Martin and
Lewis of mass murder.
The duel killer scenario does lead to one good scene. Two of the students
manage to momentarily overpower the gigantic slasher, but are having trouble
holding him down, and they enlist their terrified colleague to grab the
slasher's axe and lend a hand. At this point the audience doesn't realize that
the kids have actually asked the killer's Svengali for assistance. The lad
raises the axe, ostensibly to save the day. The axe drops. Silence. Blackness.
Then the scene comes back up to reveal that he's driven the axe into one of the
kids, not into the hooded maniac. He then helps the gigantic madman to his feet,
like an athlete lending a hand to a fallen colleague. That was pretty much the
only moment which distinguished this from any other movie where the slasher
takes apart a bunch of horny youngsters with a bladed instrument.
Given that it most of the film takes place at a summer pool party filled with
drunken, fornicating university students, there could have and should have been
a lot more nudity. There must be close to a dozen scenes where people have sex
with their clothes on. Oh, those kids today. They are so modest! The only nudity
came from a "boo" moment, when two of the film's stars look for a friend.
Something scares the woman as she peeks into a room, and the sound effects warn
us of a scare - but it turns out to be a topless extra and her boyfriend. Big
fuckin' deal.
I really can't find any reason to recommend the film, but there is really
nothing wrong with it. The performances, photography and direction are
technically competent. It meets the genre gore requirements, and has a few
effective jump scares. The only problem is that it's the same old familiar
characters and situations we have seen in about a gazillion other films, except
that there is an unexpected tag team of killers.
