“The Ranger” initially came to my attention because I was blown away by the debut feature film appearance in the superb 2017 horror film “The Transfiguration” of the exciting and extremely talented young actress Chloe Levine playing her very first lead role, and then following that I saw her in a small but standout role in the Netflix series “The OA“. From that moment on I was eagerly anticipating what she would do next. To say I was excited to hear she was to headline a new horror film that was also written, directed and produced by women is an understatement.
“The Ranger” is the debut feature film directed by Jenn Wexler who co-wrote it with Giaco Furino. She has previously written and directed two short films and also produced numerous other films. Her co-producer on “The Ranger” is Heather Buckley who similarly has quite a few credits to her name. Starring alongside Chloe Levine in the title role of “The Ranger” is Jeremy Holm, star of “House of Cards” and “Mr. Robot” and genre legend Larry Fessenden. The film is described excitingly as a punk rock slasher film and is garnering rave reviews and awards from festival screenings, Jeremy Holm’s performance as the unique villain in particular is getting great reviews, and also winning awards too.
The premise of the film is that of a group of punks crossing paths with “The Ranger“. The fact that there seems to be some ambiguity as to who is actually the villain makes it sound like a very intriguing film that it is genuinely going to bring something different to a well worn genre.
The trailer gives the impression without it seeming to give too many spoilers away that the film is a throwback to the slasher films of a 1980s, but with some twists. The trailer starts with the opening of a travelogue advert that feels as if it is straight out of the 1980s, the golden era of the slasher film.
From this trailer and the festival screenings praise it seems as if “The Ranger” is a must see for horror fans, and especially slasher film fans.
Karl Franks