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30%
Overall Rating
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Ranked #10,686
...out of 20,688 movies
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Bud's a good ole' boy brought up on Bluegrass and Moonshine. While supplying the surrounding counties with its Marijuana supply, Bud has a hefty growing operation. However, this is not Bud's only secret. He has a much darker one. One that lies trapped under his cabin in the rural hills of Eastern Kentucky. What will happen when two people stand in the way of everything Bud has worked for? How much blood will have to spill?
--IMDb
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Review by Chad
Added: February 1, 2009
After scanning the cover and reading the outline on the back of the DVD case, I wasn't quite sure what to think about Stash when it landed on my desk last night. On the one hand, it's an indie slasher flick that deals with heartless rednecks, and it's also a film that promises plenty of sleaze along with a nice cameo by one Debbie Rochon. On the other hand, it seemed to be primarily focused on marijuana and the surrounding drug culture, a little slice of life that I personally have no interest in. Look, I'm not one of those straight-edge sissies and I don't have anything against those who choose to partake in those particular pleasures, but it's just not something that I'm interested in; therefore, movies that exist primarily to promote this lifestyle while appealing to those who live it just aren't for me unless they're particularly well done (Half Baked comes to mind). Still, I'm not one to say "no" to a good slasher flick, and thus, I popped it in and crossed my fingers. Thankfully, the drug aspect was but a minor plot device and the movie certainly didn't use it as a crutch.
The storyline for this one begins with a look at CJ (Nathan Day) and Stan (Stacey T. Gillespie), two lovable scamps from the trailer park who have found themselves in a bit of a predicament. It turns out that they were fiending for some weed a couple of nights ago, so instead of selling one of their beloved possessions to pay the dealer for a little bit of that "sticky icky", they decided to just go rob the man instead. They entered Bud's (Kevin Taylor) backwoods shack of a house, found his secret stash, and were all set to walk away with twenty pounds of homegrown goodness... and then they turned around and realized that they were looking down the barrel of Bud's twelve-gauge shotgun. However, Bud is willing to make them a deal: they can walk out of this house with their heads intact if they kidnap three women and bring them back to him so that he can have his way with them. Any young, attractive ladies will do, but if these gents decide to double-cross him, why, he'll hunt them down and slaughter them.
A few days later, young Sarah Conrad (Karen Boles) is driving through the Kentucky wilderness en route to join her parents in a family reunion of some sort when her car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately for her, two handsome lads show up to give her a ride to the local mechanic, and... wait, aren't those the same two guys that just made a deal with ol' Bud? I think they are, and I also think that most of you can tell that they have no intentions of taking her anywhere but to Bud's meaty, waiting arms. What follows for our unfortunate heroine is an introduction to Bud's dingy little basement as well as a meet-and-greet session with his penis, his drugs, and his cutting instruments (not necessarily in that order).
Meanwhile, Sarah's parents are worried sick about their little girl, so her father Jack (Chris Begley) calls the local sheriff (Billy W. Blackwell) for assistance. The two work together to figure out where Sarah is, and with the help of the mother of another missing girl (Debbie Rochon), they may indeed be able to find the little lady - but will they find her in one piece if at all?
As I mentioned above, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this film did not cater to the drug market beyond using the green as a way to set the story into motion. I know, it's a bit hard to believe with a title like Stash and a cover blurb that reads like Cheech & Chong's first foray into the world of torture porn, but it's true. The other thing that shocked me is that unlike most films of this nature, this one wasn't content to merely keep us in that basement for ninety minutes while watching Bud go to work on the little lady in true "sadistic horror" fashion. That does take up a chunk of the running time, obviously, but a large portion of the film is devoted to her family and the cops working together to track her down while also giving us a look at the lives of her two abductors and how they fit into this picture. It's not exactly Pulp Fiction with three distinct storylines going on at once, but it was definitely a breath of fresh air to see somebody try something different with the genre instead of relying on the same formulas that have been done to death already.
Now, I realize that nobody is going to pick this up based on that cover and the plot outline in search of a tear-jerking drama or a tense thriller (though it does introduce a dash of both): what you want is horror, so how did it hold up in that department? Surprisingly, it did fairly nicely. I wasn't a huge fan of the way that Bud was constantly laughing that obnoxious laugh of his (moderation is key here) and I can't say that Kevin Taylor was a perfect actor (but then, neither is Kane Hodder and Gunnar Hansen), but he did make for a damned fine villain nonetheless. On the sleaze side of things, you're going to get everything that you'd expect from a film like this: rape, full-frontal nudity, humiliation, torture, and yes, a fair amount of the red stuff. It's nothing that is going to redefine the genre, but if you enjoyed it in other movies, you'll certainly enjoy it here as it's all on par with other films in said genre.
My one true complaint about the movie comes courtesy of the ending. I'm going to tread lightly to avoid spoilers, but basically, the film borrows a page from the "eighties horror" rulebook by leaving room for a sequel which may or may not ever happen. I don't mind when a filmmaker goes that route, but the way that it was done here was downright silly and made me walk away from an otherwise good movie with a horrible taste in my mouth. I can't say much more without ruining it for you viewers, but you'll know exactly what I mean the instant you see it.
Aside from this small blemish, I really enjoyed the movie. It's a great little piece of slasher sleaze that gives us a great villain and some disturbing moments while wrapping the entire affair up with a surprisingly solid storyline. Is it a perfect movie? No, not really, but if you enjoy slashers as much as I do, you'll find a lot to love in this Stash. 8/10.
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#1:
John Holmes
- added March 8, 2009 at 11:51pm
I already pre-ordered my copy.This is definitely
down my ally.
Should be an amazing
experience.
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#2:
John Holmes
- added March 28, 2009 at 2:36am
Not the best acting but still worth a view.
Whats up with those 2 idiots from deadpit at the
end.
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#3:
Crispy
- added January 7, 2011 at 11:18pm
Acting and the closing seconds both blew, but a
fine 90 minutes here. I have to say though, I had
to shake my head at rape scenes involving a girl
wearing panties.
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