PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Dread Central Presents has been on fire with their recent releases, from Terrifier to Extremity to To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story. And now, there’s Lasso. Normally, rodeos aren’t my thing, nor are westerns or even horror westerns, but as for this movie, I dug it.
Lasso has everything you’d think it would, based on name alone. It’s chock full of cowboys, horses, bucking broncos and, you guessed it, lassos. What starts out as an innocent outing for a group of senior citizens looking for some fun is suddenly catapulted into a hellacious nightmare after a woman is lassoed to death in front of them. But this isn’t your run of the mill lasso.
This one has a large hook at the end to guarantee maximum evisceration. In the chaos to outrun the cowboy, the bus driver leaves behind one of their own, a young volunteer named Simon (Andrew Jacobs: Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones), who clearly did not even want to be there in the first place, and really didn’t want to be there once the deaths started. Simon teams up with a variety of characters, including the one-armed Ennis (Sean Patrick Flanery: The Boondock Saints franchise, The Damned Thing: Master of Horror episode), to stop the murderous rodeo crew and to save the lives of those already in their captivity.
While a lot of the movie is left unexplained, I likened what was happening to the unlucky victims to how the animals in a rodeo are treated. They’re poked, prodded, electrocuted, branded and, should one die, it’s dumped elsewhere and forgotten. I have to give the writer, Roberto Marinas, props because to me, the story is quite unique, and it kept my attention throughout the whole film. Sean Patrick Flanery gives a delightful and fun performance, and newcomer Andrew Jacobs is clearly on the rise. Karen Grassle, known for her role as Caroline Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie, sinks her teeth into the horror role of Lillian, a badass member of the senior club. The gore is excessive and the kills are entertaining. A big thanks to Dread Central Presents for continuing their streak.
