Scott LeBrun Jack Ketchum's novel, itself inspired by a true story, provides the basis for this chilling look at the actions of a young sociopath, not giving a damn about anybody or anything, and capable of chilling acts of violence. One day, he murders two young women, and his two friends, despite their misgivings about his character, cover up for him. Cut to four years later, and he's still walking around free. Detectives know he's guilty, but can't prove it. It's only a matter of time until the unhinged young man will explode again, and when he believes the people in his life, including his new girlfriend, are all betraying him or letting him down, the stage is set for a bloody revenge.This works more like a series of episodes for a while, rather than an ongoing story, and is deliberately paced and character driven. Writer / co-producer / director Chris Sivertson sometimes goes for stylistic flourishes, but more often than not handles the material in a straightforward manner. It manages to be subtly spooky and only towards the end does it really get intense; this final act is shocking in its brutality. There's a bit of titillation (breast shots and full fledged nudity) and a respectable amount of gore at the end. As the movie goes on, one feels more and more uncomfortable in the presence of such a smarmy psycho. Actor Marc Senter is compelling in the lead role of Ray Pye, playing him with an effective mixture of uneasy charm and genuine creepiness. His co-stars Shay Astar, Alex Frost, Megan Henning, and Robin Sydney are also good in their own way, and some excellent veterans - Michael Bowen, Ed Lauter, and Dee Wallace - provide some wonderful support. Lauter has one of his best roles in a while, but it's disappointing to see Wallace's participation basically limited to one big scene. Ruby Larocca and always delectable Misty Mundae play the murder victims in the opening sequence.One may wish that the ending weren't as abrupt as it is (there's no epilogue of any kind), but all in all "The Lost" is fairly potent stuff that doesn't leave the viewer unaffected. Ketchum really is a master at telling these grim and gut wrenching horror stories.Seven out of 10.

trashgang This is a weird movie to review. It is filed under a serial killer horror. But it is so-called based on a true event, well, it isn't. It clocks in at almost 2 hours and for the horror geeks, nothing really happens until the end. But the movie is saved by the excellent acting.This flick tells the story of Ray Pye but I am also in the lives of serial killers and let me say, Ray never existed. The only thing that came close was the Charles Schmid case. Just like Ray here Schmid was a short man who wore cowboy boots stuffed with newspapers and flattened cans to make him appear taller. He used lip balm, pancake makeup and created an artificial mole on his cheek. Schmid was sentenced to 50 years in prison but was stabbed 47 times by two fellow prisoners on March 10, 1975. He lost an eye and a kidney and died 20 days later. Schmid strangled Gretchen Fritz and her sister Wendy, earlier he killed Alleen Rowe.Nothing of that is shown in this flick were we have a lot of talking. But I said it before it is really the excellent acting that saves this slow builder. Towards the end we really got into some messy shots when Ray goes berserk. I would mention Marc Senter (Ray Pye) and Robin Sydney (Katherine Wallace) who really did an excellent job. Marc we knew from Cabin Fever 2, Robin from Wicked Lake. But there is more to see, Ed Lauter is in it as is Michael Bowen both know for years in too many flicks to mention. Dee Wallace has a small role (ET, The Howling, Hill Have Eyes)and for the perverted Misty Mundae is also in this flick doing what she can do best, walking naked full frontal. Here she's in her pseudonym Erin Brown. Still funny that she's not shaved or trimmed at all and still is popular by so many. Nevertheless, the movie goes on and it is over before you know it but it do has some slow parts in it. Maybe if they could have cut it to 90 minutes it would have been more interesting. If you like a good suspense then this is for you, it contains a lot of nudity, and the last scene is maybe a bit offending for some. Gore 1/5 Nudity 2/5 Effects 3/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

Scarecrow-88 Ray Pyke(Marc Senter) is a narcissistic developing psychopath, whose volatile nature is sure to eventually meet a crescendo of violence as his drug habit and infantile fits of rage represent a volcano on it's way to eruption. Ray's friend Tim(Alex Frost)and girlfriend Jen(Shay Astar)bare witness to his gunning down two girls camping out, and must carry such a burden out of fear for their safety(..that, and Ray has a control over them). This depraved act of violence works as a reminder to us that Ray is a ticking timebomb, as we watch his life slowly spiral out of control as Detective Charlie Schilling(Michael Bowen)hounds him over the murders, knowing that he's the one responsible, just without proof. Ray is the kind of dirtbag who dresses like a country stud, with boots(..with crushed bear cans to make him look taller), black jeans and shirt(..with additional slight touches of eyeliner )& hair slicked back right in place. Sparta, as we soon realize, is a small blot in Texas where dreams are elsewhere and the pretty girls who live in this place have few options in regards to male suitors so Ray is one they flock to. He's merely an assistant manager of his mom's "Bates Motel", but carries himself as if he ruled the world. Just charismatic enough to attract the local female, but it's merely an endless parade of humping and dumping, with the girls returning because there's nobody else it seems. Three particular female characters which have the misfortune to have ever found themselves locked into Ray's radar are Sally Richmond(Alice Hirson), a young woman, temporarily working as a maid for his hotel, who wants nothing at all to do with him, recognizing the kind of sleazoid he really is(..that, and she is involved with a 60 year old retired detective portrayed by screen vet Ed Lauter), Kat Wallace(Robin Sydney), a wealthy babe, her mom a schizophrenic, whose obviously attracted to the danger and mystery he presents(..that, and she's bored and craving excitement), not knowing how obsessive and juvenile he really is, and, of course, Jen who would do anything to please him, always on the receiving end of neglect, ridicule., and abuse. Somewhat holding himself together, while abusing drugs and liquor, it's only an amount of time before Ray snaps.The fuse is lit by Katherine who Ray longs for in every possible way, as she backs away from a possible relationship..it's realized that Ray was a fling for her, and she wishes to move on with her life. Also adding to this is the discovery that Tim and Jen have slept together(..and that Tim has been taking hash from him). We have come to the understanding that Ray's sanity is hanging by a thread and it won't require much for him to crack.Sivertson's disturbing portrait of decaying youth bent on destruction, given commanding treatment thanks to how developed the story is, and how it will end. Ray is the kind of character just looking for an excuse to terrorize somebody, and Senter does a good job of displaying the many facets of his troubled character..someone attracted to the spotlight, addicted to a neverending stream of girls and drugs, also carrying serious homicidal tendencies, whose anger fits and outbursts serve as a warning of things to come. Robin Sydney is quite a find, a stunning bombshell whose quite photogenic and seductive(..the camera loves her)..you can see how such a gal would cause Ray(..or many a man)to get all out of sorts. Astar is appropriately pathetic, and sympathetic as Ray's much maligned squeeze, deeply in love with him no matter how emotionally he abuses her..Ray doesn't even hide his sexual excess from her, yet Jen remains loyal to him. Frost is the buddy who probably wishes to be Ray, to have the girls at his feet, the charisma to approach people the way he does. This setting is rather depressing in that we see a cast of characters with little to do but embrace the drug and sex culture available. Ray's fury at the end is rather unsettling and shocking, once he decides to go on a shooting rampage, killing anyone he so chooses(..this has been on the horizon for some time, and Kat's rejection of him finally sends him over the edge), gathering up the girls who infuriated him the most. We also follow Schilling's dogged determination and on-going interrogation to bring Ray to justice, getting what he has so longed for with the unfortunate price of lives. Sivertson's skills as a visual filmmaker are proved here(..and in I KNOW WHO KILLED ME, although that one is ridiculously convoluted and silly)with how he captures the events and characters, building them to the eventual climax. Carefully, Sivertson details what will bring Ray to the breaking point, and those characters who are effected by his rage. The climax takes place in the cabin where Ray discovered the guns used on innocent people, and is appropriately chilling, as he collects the girls who caused his psychological trauma together..completely unglued, Ray has become lost to madness(even besieging a couple there to clean up the place;his violence towards them is truly unpleasant, to say the least)as Schilling grills Tim for his whereabouts.

MrGKB ...that Tobe Hooper is a DVD quote whore, and writer/director/producer Chris Sivertson undoubtedly deserved his Razzie for "I Know Who Killed Me." Gotta say I'm glad I picked this one up cheap, and most surely will be selling it off again asap. "The Lost" is a prime example of a film that should be. Based on a novel by one of the better known (or so I'm told) "splatter punk" writers, "The Lost" fails to translate into anything exciting, despite a plenitude of sex and violence. It's certainly not a horror movie, although it's gruesome enough. It's not a thriller because there's no tension, no dramatic build. Syd Field would be aghast. With brand-name actors and a smarter, tenser, terser script, it might have come to something, but alas, that was not to be. It's a character study that only intermittently focuses on its alleged subject, one Ray Pye, a Norman Bates wanna-be who "pops" a few young campers as a teenager just to see what it feels like, and then proceeds to go postal four years later when the unwitting accomplices to his crime finally break under the pressure of their guilt. Mostly well shot, but poorly edited, "The Lost" abruptly jerks and fades its way along its threadbare storyline, pausing along the way for target audience demographic enhancement in the plentiful form of gratuitous nudity, vulgarity, and stupidity. Beyond that, it offers nothing new to any genre. What "style" it may or may not have is all over the place, at times reminding me of lo-fi exploitation with a higher-fi budget--like what a multi-million dollar Jim Van Bebber film might look like--and other times betraying a film school eagerness to impress. It all plays out a jumbled mess, with little pace and no tension, shallow characters and banal dialogue. Surely the novel is better. Surely.Desperation, time-killing viewing only. Appearances by Dee "The Howling" Wallace-Stone and Ed "Cujo" Lauter provided them nice paychecks, I trust. It gets a "4" from me strictly for reasonably decent production values and random titillation; otherwise, this baby could only be loved by its parents. You want something that will unnerve you, go watch "Repulsion," or maybe "Funny Games."