Reasonably well-made but tediously derivative and narratively meandering "tribute" to Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes, set in a desert ghost town instead of a Texas farm. Has a touch of The Wicker Man thrown in for good measure. Cool masks, I'll give it that, but that's just about all it's got. Although, one interesting point: it passes the Bechdel test, and in fact it has two named female BIPOC characters who have a conversation about something other than men, as both the last victim and the lead villain of this large ensemble cast are both women—they have a several-minute conversation about war and social issues, at the phantasmagorical climax of the film no less. So, I guess it's got that, too. I suppose that catapults it into "at least it's different" territory, despite how entirely derivative most of it is—albeit just barely.
I kinda feel like Rob Zombie had something to do with this, or one of his fans did. It's get that sorta "who cares if it's cool shit we've seen before, we liked it the first time so we're doing it again, and doing it well, even if it's not original" vibe to it, and the 1976 period vibe is convincing. But unfortunately, the story just isn't there, too much of it is just unoriginal, and the grand guignol shocks are all too familiar. It could have been an interesting failure, if not for that. You can get by with more style than substance, but not if the style is played already. So close and yet so far.
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