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Cast: Shalaina Fotheringham, Brandon Pearson, Clare Niederpruem, Kyle Paul, Tye Nelson, Luke Drake, Richard Dutcher, Sarah Kent, Adam Johnson, Marty Steinberg
Five friends break into a corn maze in the middle of the night and decide to play a harmless game of tag. Little do they know that a psychopathic killer has decided to play along. As they wander aimlessly through the maze, the murderer follows closely behind—taunting them and watching every move. The game turns deadly when the kids decide to separate and weaken their chances of survival. When the mutilated body of the owner is found, they realize that something is terribly wrong. As they race to the entrance of the maze, the psycho cleverly forces them to follow the path that he wants. Manipulating everyone to his vicious will, the slasher taunts his victims and leads them further into the depths of the maze. After enduring hours of torture, will anyone make it out of the maze... alive?
The Maze is just another slasher film on the outside but it manages to bring of it's own ideas along for the ride. The story is simple enough, a group of friends are lost on a road trip they are making so they decide to have a little fun and play a game of tag in a corn field, now this all sounds like it could be a lot of fun but they just happened to have picked one that a psycho is already set up in complete with a table and chairs and his very own guillotine. It doesn't take long before this mad man starts taking the group out one at a time and the only thing the remaining friends can do is to try and escape the corn alive. It's been awhile since we entered the corn field last but The Maze does a good job of bringing back some of the creepiness it has about it. I liked the way the filmmakers used long camera shots at times aimed down the paths of the field in order to create the feel on being alone and no idea where you are. The psycho isn't really scary, he is a normal looking wearing a red hoodie plus the film really doesn't contain much in the way of gore but it does manage to build up some good suspense and action. At this point the killer manages to take out the group expect one, he even manages to kill the land owner who is in the field preparing to chase out the young teenagers that must use the field as a playground. In a fight for her life, Jordan manages to cut the killer and escape from the field while police and locals watch the field burn after she set it on fire. The film then switches to the police station but you know it is too early for it to over just yet. To go any any more details would ruin the entire film for those waiting to see it so I am not going to spoil it here. The characters are not what I would call developed but the actors all do a fine job with what they have to work with.
There has been better horror films made and The Maze can't match up to the most popular corn field film ever but it is still pretty entertaining on it's own and certainly is worth your time if your a fan of the genre. I enjoyed the ride and in the end I would have to say that The Maze was an exciting time and it had a nice little twist towards the end. Going into a corn field late at night hasn't been this much fun in a long. This is Director, Steve Shimek's second gig behind the camera, his first being "Dragon Hunter", his second outing is much better. I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next. The DVD doesn't come out till October 19th but you can Pre-order it now HERE.
Released by Monarch Home Video
*** 1/2 Out Of *****