What truly makes an ultimate killer and when I say “ultimate” I mean a killer with great power and will stop at nothing to get a prey? Jason Voorhees is an ultimate killer as he’s able to resurrect over and over and over again in order to slaughter mischievous camp goers. Michael Myers is an ultimate killer as he’s able to pick a victim up by the victim’s head and gouge his eyes while crushing his skull at the same time. Both Voorhees and Myers contain a certain kind of ruthful, limitless evil that makes Ted Bundy and Ed Gacy seem like cut and cuddly kittens. These ultimate killers are the very definition of the moniker. We can now add one more name to that list: Thorn.

Jess and three other survivors look to save their town and see revenge after a night of hell four years ago, February 29th – leap year. Every leap year, Thorn, a vicious, supernatural, and unstoppable killer, roams the town of Avondale to reek chaos and death until he locates his sacrifice. Four years later, Jess and her friends are able to capture Thorn and when their decision to kill Thorn backfires, another night of hell ensues and this time nothing will stop Thorn from taking what Thorn seeks.

The character that is Thorn is a mixture of Jason Voorhees and the DC Universe and Batman villain Bane in a sense that while Thorn has an immense amount of strength and rejuvenation, Thorn is dependent. Bane relies on Venom to induce superhuman strength. The same goes for Thorn but with his mask giving Thorn also superhuman strength and while Voorhees has his machete, Thorn has two machetes for double the decapitations but he wasn’t limited to just his machetes as crushed multiple skulls with his bare hand and tore a woman half also with his bare hands – best scene ever. This will be Richard Daniel Thomas Holloran (whew) second time playing the Thorn character and he has the slow stalking walk down and the menacing posture that resembles the posture of the iconic horror legend Kane Hodder!

Director-writer MJ Dixon captures the essence of an ultimate killer combining brutal deaths and a silent hatred while giving Thorn his own murderous theme soundtrack that is a necessity amongst all ultimate killers. Dixon’s editing techniques are top-notch and can rival many of today’s A-list directors; he has talented eye for editing and from “Legacy of Thorn” and “Slasher House” (a semi-sequel to “Legacy of Thorn” – read my review here), I’d trust the director with my low-budget screenplay and precious backing money. I’m certainly thought fond of the linear progression of current time and the reverse chronological order of four years ago when the group of friends were attacked. This editing choice resulted in more dramatic character developed. I actually give a shit about these people who are being hunted. The writing could use a bit of work especially in the first act as the pace slowly builds. There was also a scene where the hero characters – Jess (Jade Wallis), Eric (Paris Rivers), Alice (Jane Haslehurst), and Clark (Craig Canning) – kept debating why they should or should not kill Thorn. Another little annoyance was the blue tint. Much like in Slasher House with the yellowish green tint, Dixon’s heavy hand on blue tint made the film nearly too dark; however, the Duke blue tint did bring an ominous feel. The special effects involved with Thorn’s kills were subtle and the use of slight of hand came off a bit obvious, but overall the deaths were well executed, if I may use that pun.

Thorn will never die like the ultimate killer he is and will need more stories in the future. His Legacy will live on and I hope to see him again in another rampage involving another group of shaken and distressed teens. There definitely needs to be more background on the character as we don’t know much about Thorn but the facts that returns to Avondale on every leap year and the majority of the town has conspired to keep Thorn pleased with their assistance. Lets establish more of that and make it more coherent in Legacy of Thorn: Chapter 3! “Legacy of Thorn” is now available for DVD pre-order in the UK and the US from MyCho Entertainment Group and Red:Fuse Releasing and looking to hit retail shelves on Tuesday October 27th – just in time for Halloween.