The Slaughter

Caught this at the "Another Hole in the Head" festival in San Francisco. The director and cast appeared after the show talked about the film. Jay Lee, the director, stated that he wanted to create a horror/comedy to separate his film from all the other cheap horror films being made. Well, he almost did it.

Unfortunately, much of the humor is poorly timed or is over the top, and for every moment that works there's two or three that fall flat as the director does everything short of standing on screen shouting, "Look! Isn't this funny?" In spite of this I think the film does have potential, and Jay Lee can use this film as lessons learned for his next project. The main weakness was in the writing, but I liked the concept and the camera-work was good. Next time Jay Lee needs to let his script go through another draft review before he shoots.

Don't buy this movie. Don't rent this movie. Don't borrow this movie. Don't watch this movie for free on television. Just don't watch this movie at all. Period. (But if you did buy it, mark it up and sell it to someone you don't like.)

What's so bad about "The Slaughter"? (1) The "acting". Is it possible to act without moving your lips?...No. But that doesn't stop the "actors". (2) The "horror". (See number 5.) (3) The "comedy". (Clowns are funnier...and clowns really aren't that funny.) (4) The "effects". It is amazing what $2.33 and silicone can't do. (5) The demon/witch women who had silicone boobs in the "ancient times".

You have been warned....

Dana (Jessica Ellis) and her boyfriend Tyler (Terry Erioski) own a cleaning company and they travel with his stepbrother Iggy (Zak Kilberg) to clean up an old house for the arrogant real state agent Carl (Brad Milne). They invite the promiscuous Heather (Laura Stein); her boyfriend Brandon (Travis Wood) and the pothead Razz (Billy Beck) that are their friends, to help them. They meet Carl and his secretary Alexandra (Jen Alex Gonzalez) in the house and when they clean the basement, there is a bad smell and they find a book made of flesh. Iggy translates the text and discovers that the place is a portal to an evil female demon that was summoned one hundred years ago. He also discovers that a sin would be capable to awake the She Demon (Adriana Esquivel) and the group decides to have no sex in the house. But it is too late since Heather and Brandon are alone in a bedroom. Now the She Demon is unleashed and they find that they are trapped in the house.

"The Slaughter" is a low-budget movie with flawed characters (Carl and Alexandra are unbearable; Brandon and Razz are douchebags); poor locations and special effects; and a screenplay that should be improved. The makeup and the camera work are good and in the end, considering the budget, this Z-movie is enjoyable and entertains. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "O Massacre" ("The Slaughter")

This movie was exactly what I thought it would be. Another run of the mill B-Horror movie (and saying that it B is being quite polite). The movie had nothing to offer, I can't say there was anything good to be said for it. The effects were worse than some horror movies I saw in the eighties, which begs me to ask what the budget was. It was terrible at being comical, terrible at being horrific, although it was horrifically comical for being so poorly done, does that make it worth watching? No. Simply put, do NOT waste your time watching this. If you enjoy the occasional B movie like I do, I recommend not watching this one. It is that terrible.

Practise makes perfect, or so they say.

Two years before combining tits and zombies for his enjoyably silly comedy/horror Zombie Strippers, director Jay Lee practised his technique on straight-to-DVD splatter-fest The Slaughter. With basic plot elements borrowed from The Evil Dead and Night of the Demons, Lee's first attempt at trashy T&A terror isn't exactly original, and suffers badly from budgetary limitations that result in iffy CGI, terrible sound (on my DVD, at least), cheap editing effects and generally poor production values. Fortunately, the graphic gore and gratuitous nudity go a long way to help matters, making this a fairly entertaining ride despite its technical flaws.

The film starts with a trashy credits sequence featuring several topless hotties getting drenched with blood as they perform a ceremony to summon a she-demon, which they intend to control for their own nefarious uses. Of course their plans go tits-up, they wind up dead, and the demon, trapped between dimensions, opts to lay dormant until she is able to put into motion the wheels that will enable her to break free and finally rule our world (or something like that!).

This opportunity arises 60 years later, when a house is built upon the land where the demon lurks: the evil being is able to commence the ritual that will release her from her inter-dimensional prison by killing a child. However, this action results in the house being unoccupied for decades, and the creature is unable to continue—at least, that is, until a money-hungry businessman purchases the property for redevelopment. He hires a team of students to clean up the place before putting it back on the market, and once again provides the monster with everything she needs to complete her plan...ie., good-looking victims with high sex-drives!

After the impressively sleazy opening, I found The Slaughter to be incredibly dull for at least half an hour, and even contemplated switching the film off; I am, however, made of sterner stuff than that, and soldiered on to the end. And I'm glad I did, for things eventually get a lot better: the gore gets gorier, the nudity gets more 'nudie', and there's even a good jump-scare or two to keep viewers on their toes.

Fans of splatter, in particular, are advised to continue watching (either that, or fast-forward!): eventually, we are treated to some great (and some not-so-great) effects, including a nasty broken leg, some gut-puking, face removal via flying brick, a squished head, throat slashing, decapitation, and dismemberment. Some of these moments are admittedly achieved through the use of some pretty dire digital trickery, but on the whole, it's impressive stuff.

The film's fun finalé sees the demon's victims rising from the dead to try and kill the remaining two survivors, a set-up which allows for some amusing banter about how to despatch a zombie, and even more mindless violence.

Not quite as good as Zombie Strippers, but an admirable effort nonetheless, The Slaughter is recommended to those who like their movies cheap, bloody and loaded with—yes, you guessed it—tits and zombies!