Otis (Larry Wade Carrell) is the town drunk. He is not the likeable Otis from Mayberry, but one that abuses his overly dependent punching bag girlfriend and waitress Edith (Krystn Caldwell). Edith has two children. Sissy (Grace Powell) is the wiser and younger of the two. Jacob (Dylan Horne) is the mentally challenged Tor Johnson looking guy. He is not a very nice person either and he has a wonderful head twitch.

This all sets up for a darling of a slasher film. However 30 minutes into the film, there is a scene that makes you go "huh?" It is an interesting scene, one that has the potential to change the direction of the film and make it something you didn't expect. Unfortunately this aspect was never developed to its potential, as it appears writer/director Larry Wade Carrell did not know what to do with this "twist" once he introduced it, which is sad.

The acting was not top notch, along with some of the dialogue, it was a shade campy. This made the film lighter and more palatable than a straight slasher. There was plenty of blood, but the gore special effects were minimized as much of the blood fest takes place just out of the camera's eye.

Parental Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

Emotionally troubled hulking behemoth Jacob (an impressive and expressive mute portrayal by Dylan Horne) struggles to resist his more violent impulses. But after his despicable drunken stepfather Otis (well played to the hateful hilt by writer/director Larry Wade Carrell) beats up on his long suffering mother Edith (a solid and sympathetic performance by Krystn Caldwell) once too often, Jacob snaps and embarks on a murderous spree. Carrell offers a vivid and flavorsome evocation of the rural region, relates the riveting story at a brisk pace, does a bang-up job of crafting an intense brooding atmosphere of impending doom, delivers a handy helping of graphic gore, and maintains a grim dark tone throughout. The startling moments of ferocious violence pack a savage punch. Child actress Grace Powell excels as Jacob's sweet and protective little sister Sissy. Moreover, this movie further benefits from commendable work by Leo D. Wheeler as the hard-nosed Sheriff Andy, Parrish Randall as folksy bar owner Chuck, Michael Biehn as Jacob's deranged father Lawrence, Joe Grisaffi as concerned diner proprietor Max, and James Hampton as the feisty Old Man Jack. In addition, there's a tragic element to the plot which in turn gives this picture a substantial amount of poignancy and resonance. Stacy Davidson's sharp widescreen cinematography provides a striking autumnal look. Iain Kelso's moody score hits the harmonic spot. A real sleeper.

I witnessed this thing go from script to screen and I dreaded seeing it, only because half of the cast and all of the crew were from the local Houston film scene and a bunch of drama monkeys. But it took me several years to finally watch this 'bird that couldn't fly' and there was just so much 'junk' in the film that I was a little surprised I made it through to the end; it has it all, bad acting, bad lighting, bad sound, bad editing, bad this and that, and some terrible performances from actors that I know are far more talented than their performances in this awful, awful film. Somewhere it was boasted as almost being a "million dollar production" and I couldn't comprehend it then and certainly not now. I've had some slow Mondays and I am sure that I played it through several of them just to get through it. But if this is 'Houston's best', then Houston dashed it's dream on the wrong director/writer/editor...However, I will give kudos to the music, it was about the only thing that was original and paid for. There's no way they could have screwed that up.