'Jack the Reaper' is a Brewing New Flavour.

There is fright whenever you see a drive down killer smiling while torturing you making you run for your life.

'Jack the Reaper' presents a different way of generating that 'fear' frenzy through creating a villain that seemed to be passionate about being a villain. In this case where a legendary ghoul-killer is on the loose, without explicable and scientific reason, it is passionate well, to kill.

A group of high school students set off contained by a school bus to go to a school-related event headed by their professor. Halfway the trip, they witness a fidgeting employee of a museum talking 'all things Death' and specifically about some urban legend. They will finally get to know about 'Railroad Jack' and his legend. They set off to the trail again and out of the blue crashed. Stranded in a remote carnival, the students are set off face-to-face with the urban legend that might just be true.

There was a shade of the 'Final Destination' series in this film. Apparently the appearance of Tony Todd, which I wished that was longer, in this film that of certainty sets that FD mood as he talks about death. Sally Kirkland was also a 'should've stayed longer' type as she plays Nana to one of the high school students.

Although director Kimberly Seilhamer tries to lean the characters on a solid foundation, only a few of them were concretely introduced. For almost 10 characters, we only care for half of them. A slacker fathering a child to his girlfriend but is not ready to father yet; an abused daughter; an overweight guy; a deaf person; and an achingly cloying bitch that seemed to care for her reputation than her life.

While the effects are cheap and editing, choppy, 'Reaper' is a well-narrated story except for the ending that if not understood would rather decide confusing. AND I wouldn't forget that annoying voice over that sometimes pop out in random intervals.

Douglas Tait plays Railroad Jack--the killer.

How his performance worked decides to show two possible reasons. [1] The movie used a two-pronged approach by amalgamating the physical paranoia and the supernatural. The tasty blend of attempting to transcend the physical abilities of the villain and the fear of the mystique works well in this chiller. [2] The expression on his face, smiling, as he either stab or slit using a mining tool (resembling 'My Bloody Valentine').

Jack the Reaper is a solid evidence. Low-key horrors may be a bit of a train wreck at times, however if skillful narration and direction were added to the mix, then it comes a different story.