In 1975, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws became an instant pop culture phenomenon and ushered in the Hollywood blockbuster. Over the years, the film influenced numerous filmmakers and spawned several spoofs and knock-offs trying to capitalize on its success. One person inspired by the Spielberg classic was up-and-coming producer John Finegan, who was looking into making low-budget horror films. The son of a pro golfer, he spent much of his childhood on a golf course with a giant lawnmower. Seeing this gave Finegan the idea to make a spoof of the Spielberg classic with a lawnmower replacing the shark. During a presentation at NYU, Finegan recruited aspiring filmmakers Thomas Rondinella and Bill Pace to work on Girl School Screamers. Once they wrapped filming, Finegan assigned them to work on the Jaws parody film. In 1989, Troma Entertainment distributed the killer lawnmower movie Blades.
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Synopsis
At the Tall Grass Country Club, owner Norman Osgood (William Towner) is preparing for the annual golf tournament. He hires former golfer Roy Kent (Robert North) to organize the event, much to Kelly Lange’s (Victoria Scott) chagrin. Unfortunately, things take a turn for the worst when several people are found dead all over the golf course. Kelly wants to cancel the tournament until they find the killer, but Norman insists the event will stay on. Norman organizes a local search party to search for whoever is responsible as the killings continue. They accuse local groundskeeper Deke Slade (Jeremy Whelan), but he insists that a rogue lawnmower is running amok. After proving to Norman what’s going on, Roy and Kelly team up with Deke to destroy the lawnmower. Just when you thought it was safe to putt, you’ll wish you stayed at the country club.
Review
Blades isn’t quite as good as Joe Dante’s Piranha as a Jaws parody, but it’s still enjoyable. People who have practically studied the 1975 film top to bottom will recognize all the scenes copied here. What helps this film stand out is that, instead of an animal attacking people, it’s a machine this time around. The idea of an ordinary lawnmower becoming sentient and killing people is a darkly comedic spin on something so familiar. Like the killer shark movie, this one uses plenty of POV shots before revealing the lawnmower in the climax. When we finally see the lawnmower, it has a monstrous yet straightforward design that’s appropriately ridiculous and threatening. There are some reasonably gruesome death scenes, though most of them consist of people getting their legs chewed off. Even still, this is arguably the best movie about a killer lawnmower for what it’s worth.
For a low-budget horror-comedy, the cast does a primarily above-average job delivering their lines, though there aren’t many stand-outs. Perhaps the only real stand-out is Jeremy Whelan, who gives a performance that’s almost too good for this type of movie. He plays the part as if he were Robert Shaw rather than just an imitation of his Quint character. While he’s no Roy Schieder, Robert North makes a decent lead and has some interesting character flaws. In addition to filling in the Richard Dreyfuss role, Victoria Scott has some good back-and-forths with North. William Towner fills in for the Amity Island mayor, but he doesn’t have the charisma Murray Hamilton had. At slightly over 90 minutes, the film does take a while to get going, but it goes by quickly. Overall, Blades is a decent parody with above-average acting and a unique concept that B-movie fans can enjoy.
Buy Blades from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3zMKNsQ.
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