The Ranger (2018) Horror Slasher

The Ranger (2018) This little gem was sitting in my queue for awhile and I am finally glad to get to it.  A reminder that this is really commentary on the film and I do not hold back on spoiling things. So SPOILER WARNING! When Chelsea (Chloë Levine) and her punk friends get caught up in some trouble in the city, they flee to Chelsea's cabin the woods to decide what to do next. They encounter a psychopathic Ranger (Jeremy Holm) looking to reconnect with Chelsea over her childhood trauma he witnessed. Unfortunately for the group he is not tolerant of people breaking the rules.
  I have learned over the years that I am not accepting of bad behavior in the wilderness. Having backpacked and camped all over the county I am a stickler for good ethics in camping and hiking. In fact I was a person who would not have a campfire, would carry out my own trash and often cleaned up after other people who were less considerate. Now sometimes people have to be punished for messing up the woods so I sort of at first came down on the side of "The Ranger" when watching the beginning of the film. I mean people disappear in the wilderness all the time, there bloodied beaten and hacked bodies never found in the cave where I hid them... oh, no, what I mean to say is education is the key to keeping the wilderness pristine. When watching movies I am always very critical of the decisions people make in the woods. So much so that I had to watch The Ritual (2017) twice just because in the first viewing I was so annoyed by the hiker's decisions that I could not enjoy the film. So when the punks get to the cabin I was particularly irritated, in a good way since I sort of knew all but Chelsea were fodder for the slasher theme.
  Film maker Jenn Wexler and writer Giaco Furino certainly get that punk attitude right. They are assholes, which having lived through the punk revolution as a teen in the late seventies early eighties that was generally the attitude. A disdain for authority, for societal rules of any kind and at least a surface disrespect for each other was on par with the portrayals in the film.  It was an interesting scene where Chelsea has allowed this group of friends into another part of her life. A place she came as a child and respects as part of her and her families past. When asking a simple thing like please smoke on the porch the response from her boyfriend Garth (Granit Lahu) is so disrespectful.  He is reacting like he does to all authority with obstinate refusal to let anyone make rules for him, even someone he cares about.  We see after some further idiocy by Abe (Bubba Weiler) and Jerk (Jeremy Pope) of spray painting trees and Garth and Amber (Amanda Grace Benitez)trying to start a fire where they shouldn't. Eliciting a dislike for these characters for me and making it so much more enjoyable when the killing started.
  Chelsea has a particular story arc that separates her from her friends.She accidentally shot and killed her uncle as a child our Ranger found her. For her it is a childhood trauma but for him it is so much more. In order for her to move through the film she needs to not be just one of the gang but apart from them. So the contrast at the cabin helps that happen. The shit hitting the fan is a well done scene, Chelsea trying to get her friends to think about the future and then BOOM! The radio is shot and explodes into pieces. Then as we get a closeup of a shocked look, we see Amber out of focus in the background and Boom! We are now in a different film. There is a threat and a crisis and everything changes. Chelsea, reserved and unsure flips and takes charge. So this is the slasher film coming into focus. A slasher film it is from here until the end with characters being snuffed out in creating ways and a killer who seems to appear where he needs to be, no different from Jason at Camp Crystal Lake.
  I liked that as we see more of the Ranger we learn that he has been one sick mother fucker for a long time. Early in the film he is a stickler for rules and easy for the group to disregard but as the punks see more of him we see his sadistic side. We see the left overs of his desire for respect of the wilderness, the punished. I am really identifying with him at this point. Still there is some creepiness too, taking the images of  Chelsea from her uncles's photo album for example. He literally ripped a photo in half to have her in the picture but not the uncle. Later we see more evidence of his insanity in the cages at his cabin. Then I have to say my allegiance flows towards Chelsea. His final scenes in the tower were great, at one point saying to Chelsea "I kept your secret!" hurt that she will not join him in his sick world. While she grew up and tried to forget, he a serial killer when he helped her that day thought there was a bond between them that could not be broken. He sees Chelsea as like him, a killer but of course in the final scenes she was having none of that. Still though her ability to defend herself at a certain point shows she is more like him then she may want to believe.
  This was a satisfying film for me. I thought the aesthetics worked well and there was a really nice depth to Chelsea. There is some great gore and a killer that gets bigger as the film goes on. Generally I don't comment on acting (What do I know?) but all the players never brought me out of the film so I take that as being good. So if you are looking for a good not your totally traditional slasher this is one I can recommend.