The Zero Boys

"The Zero Boys" is a low-budget 1986 horror B-movie, written and directed by Nico Mastorakis. It was played frequently in the 1990's on the USA Network.

Plot Summary

Steve (Daniel Hirsch), Larry (Tom Shell), and Rip (Jared Moses) are part of a paintball team known as "The Zero Boys". After winning a paintball tournament, they decide to celebrate. Along for the ride are Larry's girlfriend Trish (Crystal Carson), Rip's girlfriend Sue (Nicole Rio), and Jamie (Kelli Maroney). Steve "won" a date with Jamie after he and Casey, the opposing team's ringleader and Jamie's boyfriend, used Jamie as a wager. Jamie, naturally, is not thrilled with this revelation but decides to go along with Steve and his friends.

En route to their destination, Jamie spots what she believes to be a woman running through the woods. The group happens upon a house in the middle of the forest. While it's obviously been lived in, the owners are not at home. While Jared Moses as Rip provides some welcome comic relief, a storm develops and the gang decides to take shelter in the house until it passes.

As the night progresses, strange events begin to happen. There is a menacing, unintelligible voice on the phone. Trish sees someone watching her from a hole in the ceiling. A scream is heard from a barn. The men go to the barn and discover a makeshift torture chamber. A woman's corpse is discovered in a trunk inside the house.

Soon it becomes apparent that the six are being stalked and hunted by strangers who are hiding in the woods.

Trivia

Both Kelli Maroney and Nicole Rio had careers as minor scream queens during this time period. Maroney was also the heroine in "Chopping Mall" (1986) and "Night of the Comet" (1984). Rio was featured in "Sorority House Massacre" (1985).

The film has a very low on-screen body count. Only one of the six main characters is killed.

Joe Estevez, brother of Martin Sheen, plays one of the unnamed killers. In fact, the identity of the killers and motives behind why they kill is never revealed.

Jared Moses appeared in several other low budget films, including "Thin Ice," "On The Edge," and "The Toxic Avenger." Since 1994 he has been a prosecutor for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. In June 2008, he was elected to the position of Judge of The Los Angeles Superior Court.

The ending is left open for a sequel.

Crystal Carson, brunette in this movie, went on to play the very blonde Julia Barrett on ABC's soap opera "General Hospital" from 1991 to 1993.

External links

*imdb title|0092288