Captain Cutler, why?
Killer Waves is a 2016 Slasher Movie directed by James Balsamo.
A surfing competition in Venice Beach called "Killer Waves" is menaced by The Unholy Diver, a Serial Killer dressed in an old diving outfit, who's killing off contestants, judges, and beach-goers alike.
This film provides examples of:
- Animal Assassin: While The Diver makes use of all the classic slasher movie weapons, they kill one girl with an electric eel, and another with crabs.
- Anyone Can Die: In addition to killing off a bunch of no-names, The Diver also ends up killing everyone in the group of semi-protagonists.
- Asshole Victim: Many of the Diver's victims are scummy male judges who used their position to extort sex from female contestants.
- Ax-Crazy: The Unholy Diver, full stop. They kill a ton of people all to: make a surfboard out of flesh, in order to give to their crush. Bonus points for actually using an axe.
- The Bad Guy Wins: The movie ends with the cops arresting the wrong person, while The Diver admires her surfboard, which Becca is now apart of.
- Big Bad: The Unholy Diver.
- Blood-Splattered Innocents: A group of beach-goers run into The Diver who then kills two of them, which leaves the other two covered in blood.
- Bond One-Liner: The Diver delivers a pun after every kill.
- Boom, Headshot!: A judge becomes victim to this, after attempting to pull a shotgun on The Diver.
- Cool Mask: A skull mask worn under an old deep-sea diving helmet.
- Creepy Old-Fashioned Diving Suit: The Unholy Diver wears the classic suit that looks like a cyclops.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Quite a few.
- The judge who gets a chainsaw to his groin.
- The woman who gets killed by crabs.
- The guy who gets an axe in his crotch.
- Jenni who gets reduced to a skeleton by sulfuric acid.
- Luca gets a broken bottle shoved into her face and out the back of her skull.
- Nick gets stabbed in the head with a shop-vac hose and has his brains and innards sucked out.
- Deadly Bath: While Jenni is taking a shower, The Diver pours acid into her waterline and traps her inside.
- Bludgeoned to Death: A judge is smashed in the head with a hammer.
- External Combustion: One of the contestants is killed when The Diver puts a remote-detonated bomb in her car.
- Facial Horror: One of the unnamed women is killed by crabs. The kill isn't shown on-screen, but the aftermath is quite gruesome.
- Flipping the Bird: Upon seeing Becca kissing Will, The Diver gives them both the finger before stabbing them with a harpoon.
- Full-Body Disguise: The Unholy Diver wears an old deep-sea diving suit that completely covers their body.
- Giggling Villain: The Diver is constantly breaking out into laughter.
- Green-Eyed Monster: The Diver kills Will after seeing him kissing Becca.
- Grievous Bottley Harm: Luca is killed by a broken bottle being stabbed through her skull.
- Groin Attack: Two male victims, a judge and a random beach-goer get one, courtesy of a chainsaw and an axe.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The Diver's harpoon and bayonet have a habit of going all the way through people's bodies.
- Insane Troll Logic: Paige thinks that giving Becca a surfboard made out of human flesh, will make her love her.
- Karma Houdini: The Diver is never captured, and goes on to kill again.
- Meaningful Name: The Unholy Diver is dressed like a deep sea diver, and is an Ax-Crazy Serial Killer.
- No Name Given: Many of the victims' names are never mentioned.
- Off with His Head!: Two victims are decapitated by The Diver, and one's head is removed post-mortem and stuck on a pike.
- Police Are Useless: While there are two officers actually investigating, they end up arresting the wrong person. Also, when the murders begin, the rest of the station isn't really interested, due to believing it's either a shark attack or aliens.
- Psycho Electric Eel: For the opening kill, The Diver drops one in a woman's jacuzzi.
- Psycho Lesbian: The Diver is revealed to be a crazy woman killing people to make a surfboard out of their remains to give to a woman they have a crush on.
- Rape as Backstory: In a brief flashback, Paige was revealed to have been molested by her grandpa.
- Sand Necktie: The Diver buries a girl in the sand, leaving only her head sticking out to be attacked by crabs.
- Secret Identity Vocal Shift: The Diver uses a voice modifier, making them sound high-pitched and distorted.
- Shoot the Builder: Paige hires a guy to make a base surfboard for the flesh cover she's been sewing. After the board is complete, Paige slashes his throat.
- Slashed Throat: One of the judges and a surfboard crafter become victims of this.
- Slasher Smile: Paige flashes one after killing the surfboard crafter.
- Stripped to the Bone: The acid melts Jenni's skin and reduces her to a skeleton.
- Stronger Than They Look: The Unholy Diver is a petite woman, yet she still has no trouble wielding heavy weaponry or impaling people with the most improbable of weapons.
- The Reveal: The Unholy Diver is revealed to be Paige, who was in love with Becca and thought that killing off her competition and making her a surfboard from the victims, would make her love her.
- Vicious Vac: Nick is stabbed in the back of the head with a Shop-Vac hose, which then sucks up his blood and innards.
- White Mask of Doom: The Diver's skull mask is white.
