A modern take on the classic ‘killer on the loose’ slasher, ‘AMP House Massacre’ follows a group of social media influencers who share the titular AMP house in the Hollywood Hills. Following the death of the group leader Mario (Dallas Hart), the collective opt to invite new member Amanda (Ana Osorio) to reside with them, to fill the void left by Mario and boost their media presence.
Following a montage introduction of all the AMP house residents, the film quickly establishes each member as a contributing factor to promoting a luxury lifestyle whilst maintaining an intricate and ever-changing dynamic amongst its members. Quickly devolving into petty squabbles and unnecessary drama, the group host a 1 year anniversary at the AMP house, resulting in Mario’s death, from an apparent overdose.
A year on, the remaining members and new group leader Hunter (Pedro Correa) decide to reinvigorate the groups social media following by inviting wholesome and relatable Amanda to live with them. That same evening, the group is locked down in the house, with the members being picked off one by one, by a masked murderer. Forcing the members to turn on each other, the group shrinks rapidly until a final showdown uncovers the masked killer.
What starts out as an exercise in adapting a familiar horror device for the modern audience quickly devolves into a regurgitation of the slasher trope, providing little else to draw in the viewer besides the glitzy sheen of a social media influencer’s bling. Aiming to familiarize the viewers with the vapid and shallow nature of the influencer lifestyle, the story revolves around each group member’s shortcomings. Uncovering that each of them have committed misdeeds in their personal or professional pursuits, ‘AMP House Massacre’ commits character assassinations on all of its inhabitants, so as to try and maintain an air of mystery about who the masked assailant may be.
What the film does not achieve in terms of a suspenseful atmosphere and a foreboding mood may be attributed to the poor character development of the main players. Largely forgettable, each member exhibits no unique likable of dislikeable qualities, reducing the group to an interchangeable and entirely dispensable unit of nobodies. Exacerbating that shortcoming, the final reveal of the film falls flat once the killer is revealed as their motivation amounts to little in terms of surprise, as the initial set-up for it was vague and very brief.
Mimicking the empty nature of the life of a social media influencer, ‘AMP House Massacre’ establishes the potential for an exciting and suspenseful slasher, yet ultimately resolves into a disappointment, as it does not deliver substantial character development, does little by creating a scary atmosphere and even fails to create gory or memorable kills, as would be par for the course of a small budget horror film.
A moot examination of modern youth culture via the lens of a horror slasher, the film fails to deliver on all counts of the aforementioned that make horror slashers memorable. With the final product falling flat on all counts, ‘AMP House Massacre’ does not warrant a following.
Score: 0/4
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