Terreur à Alcatraz

Slaughterhouse Rock is pretty bad. Not bad in a good way, just bad. A college student has nightmares about Alcatraz, a spirit is trying to communicate with him, a rock band (led by Toni Basil) is slaughtered, and a "dream analyst" somehow knows what's going on...with a killer soundtrack by Devo. Sounds like a plot I came up with in 4th grade. None of this stuff fits together. The writer can try all he wants to, it's just not happening. It's a lame and incoherent set-up for a lame and incoherent horror movie. But then again what more do you expect from a title like Slaughterhouse Rock?

Just watched "Slaughterhouse Rock" and it´s really one hell of a strange horror film! A bit of "Nightmare on Elm Street" here, a bit of "Evil Dead" there and lots of other obscurities that leave you behind with the question what you have seen now during the last 90 minutes: construct the puzzle from particles such as a totally twisted plot, grotesque humor, a pesky hard rock soundtrack by 1980s synthie-poppers Devo, campy acting by a bunch of stereotype US-teeny actors and some guys who look like a horde of new wave zombies. Unfortunately, I saw a heavily cut version, so I can only guess about the gore. However, the violence must have been explicit enough, otherwise "Slaughterhouse Rock" wouldn´t have reached the status of a video nasty in Germany. A film that´s neither suspense-packed nor boring, neither good nor bad. A really strange work indeed! I´d give 5 out of 10...

Making the film as dark and visually fuzzy as possible in order to cover up the budget deficiencies is an often-used strategy in low-budget horror films, but this one takes it too far. It is SO poorly lit and murky (and it takes place almost entirely at night, to boot) that you often end up virtually looking at a black screen (although perhaps the bad video transfer may also have had something to do with that). Alas, "murky" is also the best word to describe the movie's plot. The filmmakers throw in diverse (and unoriginal) horror ideas without any semblance of logic, and halfway through you get the feeling that they just about abandoned the effort to make a good horror film; you know it when you see characters who are supposed to be in mortal danger (or, in some occasions, even dead) making small talk....(*1/2)

I recently watched Slaughterhouse Rock (1987) on Shudder. The storyline follows a man who experiences strange dreams about people who died at Alcatraz. He decides to visit the prison with his friend and becomes possessed by a demon. The spirit of a deceased female rock singer invades the man's dreams and tries to help him fight the demon in his head.

Directed by Dimitri Logothetis (Pretty Smart), the film stars Toni Basil (Five Easy Pieces), Nicholas Celozzi (Marked for Death), Donna Denton (Nashville), and Al Fleming (The Getaway).

This movie is a classic '80s horror flick with characters, circumstances, and a storyline typical of the era. The settings are well-chosen and help capture the imagination. The jail scenes are actually pretty good; unfortunately, the horror elements themselves are lacking, and the kills are very mediocre. The acting is adequate, and there's definitely some '80s horror hotties and nudity. The soundtrack is fantastic and maybe my favorite part of the movie.

In conclusion, Slaughterhouse Rock is a below-average addition to the horror genre that I would only recommend to '80s horror enthusiasts. I would score this film a 4/10 and recommend it with the appropriate expectations.

Slaughterhouse Rock (1988)

** (out of 4)

Alex Gardner (Nicholas Celozzi) is suffering from non-stop nightmares where he sees himself being ripped apart by demons. He and five friends end up visiting Alcatraz and sure enough he begins to see things that make him think his dreams were warning him of something.

SLAUGHTERHOUSE ROCK is a rather strange film to say the least. If you take it too literal then you're head will probably pop off. If you don't take it too serious then you're going to be basically watching something that seems to have been influenced by Lamberto Bava's DEMONS but without any sort of logic. I'm really not sure what the producers were trying to do with this picture but it's certainly one of the craziest out there and did I mention the soundtrack was done by DEVO?

As far as the film goes, it really doesn't make any sense. I've read countless reviews where people talk about the plot but who knows what's really going on. I say that because the first thirty-minutes are full of scenes that turn out to be dream sequences and even when the kids get to the island there's really not much of a clue as to what's going on. Before you know it the dreams turn into a reality and we get some blood and gore.

This here was released after the genre was pretty much on life support but I give the filmmakers credit for delivering not only the nudity but also the gore. There are some pretty gory scenes to be had here including several where people are either ripped open or have their throats torn open. The practical effects actually look very good as does the make-up design on the demons. Is all of these stuff and the rock music as good as DEMONS? No way.

Again, if you're wanting logic and brains in your horror movies then it's best that you stay far away from this one. There's no question that this here is a highly flawed movie but at the same time it has an approach that at least shows the filmmakers were wanting to deliver something horror fans would like.