Slasher House

This is a pretty wild ride of a scare flick.

For one thing,Why isn't Eleanor James in more or bigger flicks…Look up the titles : Backslasher,Bordello Death Tales,Was that her in CAM GIRL? ! Four serial killers and a babe: Well-We have CLEAVER the clown,CORBEN(Richard?),NATHAN(goblin) and THORN-The doom bringer ? CLEAVER,Like the others has a back story and it reeks in crimson and CORBEN reminds me of THE LACKEY,But bloodier and NATHAN has a GOBLIN/TROLL 2 alter ego that is amazing to watch take him over for the kills and THORN ….we found out is a franchise character who has a prequel in his future or something similar.

The set is wonderful and obviously was Used at one time,make-up and effects RAWKED and the sound bothered me—Kept adjusting and then a kill will scare us and sound went down,Back and forth with the remote.

"Slasher House" is an Independent film from Mycho Entertainment. Directed by MJ Dixon and produced on a budget of only 5,000 dollars the film is a very creative and stylized film that focuses on strong psychotic personalities that collide. A young woman awakens in a dilapidated institutional facility with a bizarre cast of characters and limited understanding of the tense orchestrated construct of her ordeal. The cast for this film that has been in the works since 2010 and final completion arriving in 2012 are Eleanor James, Adam Williams, Andrew M Greenwood, Wellington Grosvenor, Alex Grimshaw and featuring the voice of Blaze Bayley. I was given the opportunity to screen this film which quite frankly is a project that I have been keeping tabs on over the past couple of years mostly because of the vibrant promo artwork and curious story line.

In this film which begins in an almost abstract art-house meets cinema verite style the first thing that drew me in was the use of a singular color shown in almost Argento celebratory fashion against a monochromatic harshness of fluorescent lighting. The visual approach of this creates a cold desolate atmosphere that seems to dance with near graphic novel vibrancy. It held my attention with it's shear uniqueness in artist prominence even as the slow emotionless beginning of the film gave me concern. That is not really a complaint against the film because I have learned when watching films that have a definite almost avant- garde technique that there is a process unfolding. A steady and strong build to some fevered pitch that will climax proudly before a brisk and dead stop. It is something that is both beautiful and beloved in genre film making that mirrors playhouse and expressionist artistry around the world. Almost symphonic, okay before I sound like a psychotic let me get to the point of that long descriptive. "Slasher House" at times holds this ability beautifully and at other times tends to loose control during the crescendo to the climactic end. The parts that caused my mind to loosen the grip the film had where mostly during the steady dramatic interaction of the characters at the beginning of the film which seemed a bit cold but however harsh that may sound the part that works about this film is the fine dance between graphic action and character backstory sequences that are revealed in near grindhouse tribulation. If my comments seemed confusing I do apologize but I try to stay open and spoiler free in talking about movies and always approach my opinion based on the artist's intend and direction and not on some preconceived notion that a set standard of expectations govern what makes a film work based on genre.

Here is the cut and dry truth of "Slasher House" and it's blended genre styles. It has moments that make you want to turn off and if your looking for some major gore rich action packed spectacle then the film will disappoint you. If however you are a patient fan of Indie horror then you will be pleasantly surprised by cast of characters thrown into this creative story and the true character study perspective that calls your attention in anticipation of the final moments of the character interactions. Yes it is artistic and very experimental in vision playing with elements of gore, exploitation and grindhouse against atmospheric industrial art-house moments which when it works it works well and when it doesn't, you feel it. There is blood and gore and action and all those things at play in the film when required which satisfies the core of the story which is horror. The ending left me with a bit more questioning as to the continuity of story's major objective but I enjoyed the strange and steady storytelling that unfolds in "Slasher House" and I appreciated that the main focus was not specifically set on the blood gore or torture of lives here. The film won't be for everyone where horror fans are concerned but as a Indie film fan that likes the elements of avant-garde I enjoyed this movie.

I watched this flick only for one reason, Eleanor James. Seen her in a few flicks somehow I liked her performances. And here in Slasher House she's doing the best she can give. But acting doesn't make a movie, the script has to be good too and I must say that this was a strange flick. Can't say it's really a horror although it do has 4 killers but nothing is really explained.

I can understand that a lot of geeks will turn this off because the way it was shot do gave it a cartoonish look. The red and green (Argento anyone) are the main colors here. It's only at the end that it has it natural colors. And even I had my doubts to turn it off sometimes but I didn't because it's so weird. Just watch the opening sequence were Eleanor is butt naked and still nothing is revealed. Her naughty bits are always covered by something, a balloon for example. She do walks around naked for 5 or more minutes. From then on the movie starts going but the first 20 minutes are the most boring ones with a lot of talking. But after a while the first killers do enter. And they are not normal looking guys, it's here that the cartoon characters do come in. Just look at the end, the Russia part.

The problem that I had with this flick was with the sound, the conversations weren't always good to hear. But the score used did remind you of the old slashers.

Strange flick, weird story.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

I caught this film at an indie foreign horror fest in Baton Rouge. It sounded to be honest like something that I may not enjoy but in the end I was pleasantly surprised. The two leads are strong and the fast pace really kept me on the edge of my seat.

I had fun with 'Slasher House'. By no means a perfect film, it's an enjoyable British mashup of various slasher tropes and homages. The budget is clearly low, but you can tell the director's passionate and is determined to make the best with what he has. The film looks really good for what it is. The green and red lighting and colour pallette seen in other slasher flicks like 'Saw' and 'The Collector' adds a really visceral feel to the dilapidated blood-soaked walls. They succeeded in building an unsettling atmosphere with their cinematography and setting. I love the look of our leading lady too. Her bright red hair, lipstick and dress really help to distinguish her from other female slasher protagonists and give her a memorable look.

The gore and make-up effects prove well-done and there's enough camera trickery and skill to hide any low budget flaws without resorting to shaky-cam.

The overall idea of the film is very fun: a amnesiac girl trapped in a place full of violent serial killers. Right there, is how you build immediate tension and all our killers did a fantastic job of bringing a real sense of peril to the situation.

The film falls a little short for me around the third act, becoming too focused on flashback sequences used for exposition. They lasted too long and somewhat hurt the pace of the film. I feel like the better option would have been to use the flashback sequences sparingly over the course of the entire film rather than squeezing them all in towards the end.

There's also some romance that feels rather out-of-place. You could argue it becomes necessary in the third act, but I don't think it was - the same thing could have happened without romance needing to be involved.

Overall, if you're a slasher fan or like shoe-string budget films, I'd recommend you check this one out. Again, it's not perfect, but it is a fun nod to the genre and I think you'll appreciate it - just keep in mind that it's very low budget and the cameras used and special effects are not million-dollar-movie style. However, if you're not a slasher fan, this one will probably not be for you - it's clearly made by fans, for fans.