I mostly hate the films of Ray Dennis Steckler. Especially the ones he made in the 60's, which has always been considered his hey day. Wacky, silly, somewhat fast-paced, yet uninteresting films like The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed Up Zombies, as well as the nearly unwatchable Rat Pfink A(nd) Boo Boo. Movies which were obviously made by someone who loved what he was doing and had a good time making them with people he liked. Which I totally respect. But I still think they were stupid. From what I've heard, life treated ol' Ray pretty well in the 60's, which reflected in his goofy bullshit. Not so much in the 70's. And this too could be seen in his 70's films. Something a little dismal and lifeless about his 70's stuff. Almost as if they were made by a different person. Plus, he made alot of porn around this time as well, but that's another story. This here story is about one of those dismal, lifeless films Steckler came up with in the 70's. In fact, this may be his worst film ever, quality wise. And ironically, it's the only one I don't hate. What can I say? There's just something about The Chooper.

Mainly a cinematographer, Ray Dennis Steckler fancied himself a silent filmmaker, at times. Personally, I don't know what anyone would see in such films, but he was a big fan of them. And because of this, he had a strong dislike for using live sound. Which becomes obvious as soon as The Chooper begins. Steckler's ex-wife and still regular cast member, Carolyn Brandt, is doing a voiceover, giving us the alleged details on the origin of the pointless story we're about to see unfold. An old shack sits out in the middle of a desolate desert ranch, supposedly cursed due to the accidental death of the son of a vengeful Indian Chief long ago. The curse of the Chooper. Carolyn goes on about this for a couple minutes, implying it has something to do with the story, although this is the very last we hear about it.

We cut to the always shirtless, scrawny ranch hand, Daniel, as he picks up rocks and rakes dirt and stuff. A couple of little girls are playing nearby, and you can already tell Daniel is about to get testy as he explains that they need to stay away from the nearby shack. Later on, in an awkwardly acted scene, some ornery chick shows up with a couple of dudes. They stand around and joke about spending the night in the haunted Blood Shack that everyone talks about. The chick suddenly gets serious about it, and turns into a confrontational twat when the dudes aren't into it. So, they take off and leave her there to spend the night. But the equally ornery Daniel ain't having it. He immediately starts screaming at her to stayout of there. "The Chooper'll gitcha". But hequickly gives up when she argues with him, claiming that if she's stupid enough to sleep in there, then she deserves to die. This won't be the last time Daniel will go from being frantic to indifferent.

Another Carolyn Brandt voiceover. Carolyn is playing the role of Carol. Somewhat of a fictional version of her real life self. Carol is a burnt out scream queen whose uncle just recently died and left her this awesome ranch. Carol is using the opportunity to get away from it all like she's been wanting to do. After Daniel buries the freshly killed corpse of the stupid twat who wouldn't listen, and helps himself to whatever money it had, he picks up Carol at the bus station and brings her to what seems is now her new home. The minute she gets there, a rude neighbor named Tim Foster makes her an offer on her ranch. And he's a little too demanding about it. As she is at first at a loss for words, Daniel quickly butts in and expresses his outrage at the mere thought of Tim buying the ranch, quickly giving reasons as to why it shouldn't happen. Daniel is flat out offended when Tim mentions plans of tearing down the old shack if he can pry the ranch away from Carol. Daniel replies by referring to the shack as a "historical monument".

As people come and go on the ranch, several of them end up in the shack for one reaosn or another. Or no reason at all, in some cases. And every time, Daniel freaks out on them, quickly accepts what's going to happen, and then gets this self righteous, "I told you so" attitude with the corpses whilst burying them. Always making sure to get their money. Carol is oblivious to all of this, as she's got her hands full with the abrasive Tim Foster and his constant offers which are starting to sound more like demands at this point. But there's just something up with Daniel. Or atleast that's what we're (unintentionally?) led to believe for most of the movie. He's just too wrapped up in this shack that's on a ranch that's not even his. He's not so much concerned about saving lives from the deadly Chooper, but rather protecting the chooper from itself. Daniel's undying devotion to this thing is completely random and serves no purpose to the story regardless of how much it seems like it is.

Alot about this movie is left to the imagination, and it does not seem intentional at all. The movie just moves along at a slow pace, seemingly on life support, at times. Much like Carolyn Brandt's acting. We go from voiceover narrarated arguements betwen Carol and Tim, to rodeo footage to Chooper killings, to rodeo footage to rodeo footage to rodeo footage. we're given ideas and hints as to who The Chooper may actually be, assuming it's not the Demon which is implied early on. Possibly Daniel, or even Tim. But no actual closure for the most part. We're left to draw our own conclusion. My conclusion? Chooper is Chooper!

Well, whatever the hell it is, it's really just a guy in a black body stocking, running around with a sword and roaring. The most primitive slasher villain of all time. The Chooper may not have proved to be Daniel, but I suspect it was played by the same actor, as the roars sound alot like Daniel's voice that we hear yelling at people throughout the movie. So many scenes involving Chooper killings are seemingly meant to build up tension, which fails miserably each time. And on to Carolyn Brandt. For whatever reason, 95% of her lines are done in voiceover. Even in the one or two scenes she uses live sound, this is still one of the most disconnected performances I've ever witnessed. It almost seems as though Carolyn is in an entirely different movie. Never reacting, never showing the least bit of emotion. She doesn't act so much as she just exists.

As a straight up Horor flick, This $500 budgeted disasterpiece is a epic failure on every level. As an odd, yet endearing Z-movie, however, it really is something worth checking out. The unsuitable score, the bleak desert atmosphere, the extremely grainy screen quality. It all works to Chooper's benefit. But I guess I should say something about Blood Shack, which is technically the same movie. Just a very different cut with a very different score. More menacing than the uplifting Chooper score. And even though it's the definitive version, Blood Shack is also about 15 minutes shorter, and includes less rodeo footage. That being the only positive. Blood Shack can be found on the Shriek Show DVD from Media Blasters. Where as The Chooper is hidden in the extras, but has a sweet Joe Bob Briggs commentary track where he makes sense out of it all in what is by far the most entertaining commentary I've ever heard. In closing. I'll just say that I get that it's a little strange to be such a big fan because The Chooper is nothing short of a mess. But a mess with a heart of gold. It kicks ass on a level it was never meant to. Highly recommended to bad movie lovers only... Well, atleast a few of you. 6/10