By Simon Thompson
Travis Greene’s 8 Found Dead is a short, sharp, and concise slasher movie that does exactly what it says on the tin. The plot of 8 Found Dead follows two separate couples (named Sam & Dwayne, and Carrie & Ricky respectively) both driving to a holiday cottage in the middle of the desert.
Everything seems simple enough but when each couple arrives at a separate time, they discover that the cottage is occupied by Liz and Richard, a gruesome twosome/ the human embodiment of the ‘my wife saw you from across the bar and we really dig your vibe’ meme. What ensues is the typical slasher fair which I’m not going to go into because if you are a horror movie fan you know exactly what I’m talking about.
8 Found Dead is a beautifully shot movie, which utilizes its sparse desert setting to the fullest extent. The emptiness of the desert is the perfect backdrop for the acute uneasiness that Greene and writer Jonathon Buchanan wanted to instil into the audience.
Buchanan’s script does a nice job of balancing horror and comedy with the banter that Liz and Richard have with each couple managing to get more than two laughs out of me which is no small feat.
If I had to pick the best feature of 8 Found Dead, however, it would be the kills. 8 Found Dead pulls no punches with its violence, each kill is visceral, bloody, and well-choreographed, harkening back to a bygone era when directors making slasher movies realized that they had to actually put effort into making the kills genuinely gruesome and horrific. The acting is strong across the board as well, with special praise going to Tim Simek and Rosanne Limeres as Richard and Liz, with both Simek and Limeres doing an inspired job of bringing out their character’s underlying nastiness.
Overall, 8 Found Dead is a fun throwback to the golden age of slashers from the 1970s-1980s, with a tight script, capable acting, and strong atmosphere; this movie is a fun way to spend an hour or so.
8 Found Dead screens as part of Grimmfest 2023.
8 Found Dead gets a digital release on 23 October 2023 from High Fliers.
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