Backwoods Bubba

I remember the summer of 1991 so well, wonderful times. Me and my friends Björn, André, Marcus, we would all go on our bicycles to a local trash yard. Björn have brought with him his father´s axe, so we would have some fun. You see, in this trash yard, they had thrown away some old manequin dolls. So we removed one of them, to a different location, and we tried using the axe on the manequin doll, wearing a Jason Vorhees mask. It was kind of like our way to show tribute to Friday The 13th, since we grew up with the franchise in the 80´s. An old man ( who worked there at the trash yard ) suddenly saw us, and started screaming. So we ran to our bikes, and got out of there. Looking back now, it may not sound very normal to hear a bunch of 13 year olds striking a manequin doll with an axe, but i suppose you can look at this from a different perspective. We did not do drugs, or alcohol at that time, so striking a manequin doll with an axe, does sound like a more normal option. Speaking of Friday The 13th and Jason Vorhees, this was a big part of my teenage years. I watched several of the films in this franchise. Unfortunately, if we rented the films on VHS on Swedish releases, they were cut ( back in those days, they cut out a lot of violence on VHS films here in Sweden, all the way to 1993, when they finally started to release uncut films ). Luckily, a friend of mine named Jonas, had connections to England, and managed to get a lot of violence films from his trips there, so we could see the Friday The 13th films uncut. You can imagine how happy we were to see the kills of Jason Voorhees, uncut and bloody. It was like the greatest Christmas ever, or perhaps even better than that. Since i am a big fan of slasher horror films, especially made on a low budget, i have been looking forward to see a slasher film called Backwoods Bubba with wonderful actors such as Dilynn Fawn Harvey ( Clownado ), Rebecca Rinehart ( The Embalmers ) and Crystal Cleveland ( well known from Gruesome Magazine horror movie reviews, who is also in the short horror film Backward Creep ). The plot sounded like my cup of tea, a lot of kills and blood as well, the perfect Hallmark Channel moment that we all have been waiting for. I got my hands on a signed Blu Ray copy, but the version i am reviewing of Backwoods Bubba, is actually a different cut of the film. So is this a future classic in this genre, or is this film just as bad as Jim Bakker´s Miracle Blanket ?

A group of people wake up in a cabin in the countryside, chained to the wall. No one knows where they are, or why they are here. But they are about to find out, that a killer named Bubba ( Sammie Cassell ) have kidnapped them all, for a special reason. 

If you thought that we would not get a film in 2021, that would show how Swedish Christmas should be celebrated, i can tell you right now, Backwoods Bubba nails every single point in this subject. It is like director James B. Thompsson knew, that the audience have been waiting for a film that would show you, how we wish Christmas should look like in Sweden, and for that i am very thankful. You see, here in Sweden we are a bit dull at Christmas, and director James B. Thompsson realised that he could be the first one, to capture that image, and give us a more honest portrait of how we wish things could be instead. I have no idea if he have known about this for a long time, but he clearly knew that the timing for Backwoods Bubba would be a perfect release in 2021. Backwoods Bubba feels like a throwback to the slasher genre of the 80´s, where you can sense that the film crew were definetely inspired by the Friday The 13th franchise. With that said, this film does not copy the style of iconic character Jason Vorhees, since the killer Bubba is a complete different kind of personality than Jason. One detail that i noticed in this film, is that the forest locations have been chosen with a lot of passion. The majestic trees, and the beautiful landscapes, everything is clearly chosen to make this film look good. And i seriously doubt you will find many films this year, with so many beautiful women as this film have in the cast. Not only do they all look fantastic, but they give acting performances that will touch a lot of hearts as well, and some good laughs. A perfect example of this is wonderful actress Dilynn Fawn Harvey as the character Jesse, a perfect match. The thing that makes Dilynn such a unique actor, is that it does not matter what character she takes on, she knows within seconds what the character should look like. To be able to do that, you have to be a professional actor, and she shines like a bright star on the big screen. I would love to see her do an action film in the future, since i have a feeling that she would be perfect in the lead role in an old school American action film, especially with grindhouse influences. Wonderful actress Rebecca Rinehart makes an entrance in Backwoods Bubba, in her own unique way as the character Shannon. I have noticed that Rebecca is not afraid to take on any challenge, and she clearly shows that in this film as well. I especially enjoy the cabin scenes with all the ladies chained up, we get some fun dialogue in here. The design of Bubba´s mask is definetely different than most masks i have seen in slasher films, so it´s nice to see that they tried something else with a serial killer mask. The slasher scenes are pretty much what i was expecting, pretty simple but still fun. Director James B. Thompsson deliver a slasher film that will most likely please fans of this genre, and perhaps inspire people to visit the countryside a bit more. Backwoods Bubba is a fun old school horror film, that does not take itself too seriously, and that´s the best way to go. Don´t know how to plan a perfect New Years Eve party? Just invite slasher killer Bubba to decorate your party, and i promise it will be the best party you always dreamed of.

Rating: DDD