According to IMDB, St Patrick's Day Massacre isn't due for release until next year, making for the first 2025 film I have reviewed on this blog. This was written and directed by Steve Lawson (Wrath of Dracula, Ripper's Revenge), someone whose style of filmmaking I am very familiar with for better or for worse. This doesn't deviate from his usual format, but wasn't terrible for what it is.
In a small tavern in Dublin in 1825 on St Patrick's Day, an angry farmer - Darragh (Ben Manning - Ship of the Damned) arrives, looking for his wife who he suspects of being unfaithful. Finding her upstairs in the arms of another man, Darragh sees red and butchers the man with his scythe. Heading downstairs looking for his wife who had fled, he is confronted by the angry tavern folk who are forced to gun him down when he refuses to put down his scythe.
In present day Dublin, four friends have travelled there to celebrate St Patrick's Day. These include American historian Leena (Marta Svetek - Wrath of Dracula), cleanliness freak Kendra (Ayvianna Snow - Ripper's Revenge), sex crazed Daisy (Jasmine Sumner - Wrath of Dracula), and nerdy Sian (Annabella Rich - I Curse This Land). Disappointed with the commercialised pubs, they seek something more authentic, and find it when they meet a stranger - O'Reilly (Ciaron Davies - Infinite Summer). The man tells them that he owns an old tavern nearby and that they are welcome to go there with him if they really want to see somewhere authentic. Arriving at the tavern they are pleased with the look, even though it is quite dilapidated and O'Reilly is quite weird. With a storm raging outside, he offers them rooms upstairs to stay the night, before telling them a ghost story about an angry spirit that returns on St Patrick's Day each year to claim more victims. We know from the prologue that there may be some truth in his tale, but the four friends unfortunately think it is made up and so unwisely decide to stay the night...
I fully knew what to expect with a Lawson film and in that respect this doesn't surprise. His film are set in dimly lit interior locations, often featuring period piece set design, the only exterior shots are either stock footage or CG, and the films feature a lot of talking over action. This takes a good while to get going, ignoring the prologue, it is forty five minutes before the horror finally appears. With an eighty minute run time there is only around half an hour of horror before the lengthy end credits roll. Characters were generic but I did enjoy my time around them. O'Reilly made for an over the top antagonist, his wild and exaggerated way of speaking made me think of a Scooby-Doo villain, I was expecting him to start talking about 'meddling kids' at any point. Still, this cartoon bad-guy was entertaining. I liked each of the four main characters enough that I didn't begrudge it taking a long time to get to the action.
I loved the look of the supernaturally cursed Darragh, it is just a shame that he took so long to appear fully on screen. I get that sometimes showing less is more, but this slasher had such a cool look to him that I found it a shame he doesn't show up on camera until six minutes before the film finishes! While it is a small cast, there was a moderate body count, mainly involving a close up shot of the scythe weapon impaling the victim. This always looked decent enough, and there was a bit of blood on show for these kills. There was a decent enough attempt at giving an explanation for him (he was buried under the tavern with a botched attempt to consecrate his burial site), and when it comes to facing him he was swiftly dealt with, making me wonder why he had survived for so long. The plot had some holes in it and some strange moments. I did wonder why Kendra decided to go have a shower when there are no towels to be seen, and the excuse that the characters couldn't phone for help due to being in a building with thick walls was flaky when they are in central Dublin and the door to the tavern remained unlocked. Any one of them could have popped outside for a second to make that call!
As soon as I saw this was Lawson film I knew what to expect. This indie horror is far from perfect, but at the same time it was enjoyable. There is something comforting about his familiar style of filmmaking, so it was easy to see past the flaws and just enjoy this dumb slasher. This won't be for everyone, but I didn't mind St Patrick's Day Massacre, was fun enough for what it was.
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