The Film (2/5)

     Ted Raimi plays Dennis Skinner, a serial killer that lives up to his name. He stalks prostitutes in the night, takes them back to an industrial building, and skins them alive, a lesson he learned from his Father. Dennis has recently moved to a new town, to start his killings over again, and moves into a room in the home of Kerry (Ricki Lake), at the same time a prior victim Heidi (Traci Lords), searches for Skinner to prevent him from killing again.

    Skinner is a 1993 film directed by Ivan Nagy, that feels like a blend of the then fading slasher genre, and a post-Silence of the Lambs serial killer thriller.  The film starts strong grounding us in the situations of both Skinner and Kerry, while teasing the background of Heidi, and her relation to Skinner and his murders.

    The film starts strong with its setup, and initial murders. Though Nagy, appears to steer away from depicting extreme violence to a degree, and uses a "skinning" short-hand shot to depict many of the murders. I'm not a gore-hound, but I do feel this sort of takes away from the film, as most of these moments feel abrupt and out of place. There are some moments like the skinning of a blonde prostitute that show more detail, but also give Raimi a chance to really dive into the role.

    The third act starts feeling like Nagy is throwing everything at the wall, things are resolved, and yet to get there the film starts to feel confused in its direction. There is one moment (no spoilers), that is a broad attempt at comedy, that ends up being one of the racist things I've seen in a film in recent memory, but at the same time ends up more disturbing because of it. While I got into the film early on, by the end the only thing that really kept me watching was the performance by Ted Raimi, which is an example, of why he should have been the lead in more films. However, Lords and Lake are not his equal in this department. The performance by Lords is at times both bizarre, and bad. Lake is solid in her role, but she appears to just be phoning it in.

Audio/Video (3.5/5)

    Severin films does a 4k scan of the original materials and presents Skinner in a 1080p transfer, that is likely the best this film has ever looked.  Detail is solid, and colors are well-reproduced. The film has a very natural look to it.

    Audio is handled with a HD English audio track with optional subtitles. This track sounds quite clear without any obvious issues.

Extra (3.5/5)

    Severin Films put together a solid extras package for Skinner including interviews with director Nagy, and star Raimi, alongside other interviews like the film's screenwriter and editor. We also get alternative shots and outtakes.

Overall

    Skinner is an interesting post-Silence of the Lamb horror film. It's not exactly great, but it is worth a watch, and Severin's restoration of the film is quite solid. They also offer a strong extras package for those who want to go deeper with Skinner.