Director – MJ Dixon (Creepsville)
Starring – Eleanor James (Dead Cert), Adam Williams, and Wellington Grosvenor
Release Date – 2012
Rating – 3/5
Tagline – “Four killers. One girl”
The slasher film has always been a sub-genre that has always relied on the same storyline but with different killers. We rarely see someone step out of the ordinary and give us something a little different with the sub-genre. I am completely fine with that because I personally love the sub-genre the way it is but I am always open to see films that step off the beaten path.
A few months back, before my wife was hospitalized, Chemical Burn Entertainment sent me a few films for review and the film Slasher House was among them. I had heard of the film from a previous review written by Denver Johnson. I really wanted to see Monkey Boy, which was a huge let down, but Slasher House really sounded fun. Once I threw the film in I knew this would be a different kind of slasher.
**Spoiler Alert**The film begins as a young red-haired girl awakens nude in a cell block of sorts. She has no idea of who she is or how she got there but she searches her surroundings and finds some clothes. She looks around and discovers a helpless young man who is just as confused as she is. The two start looking around and discover other men locked in jail cells.
In a matter of minutes one of the cells opens as a clown wielding a cleaver gives chase. After dealing with him another homicidal maniac is released and is able to snag her and her nerdy friend. This maniac tries to do brain surgery on the man and is thwarted by the red-haired young girl before another killer is released. While dealing with him she remembers who she really is and why she is there among all the monsters. **Spoiler Alert**
When it comes to slashers we rarely get in depth with the characters unless it revolves around the killer. Lucky for us we have four slashers to look at and dive deep into their back stories. I love character pieces like Thirteen Ghosts and the video game series Twisted Metal. They give us so many back stories and with each character the film goes even deeper. If there is one thing I can say about this film is that it gives us a lot of character detail and that is killer. It is something we don’t get when it comes to slashers making this story stick out over the others.
The acting in this one is hit or miss. Eleanor James, who played Red, was great in her role and was great at portraying an innocent girl and then switching it up to being a bad ass that can kill baddies. However, her nerdy counterpart is hard to watch. He has a lot of charisma on camera but lacked experience. The remainder of the cast did a great job as well and really deserve stand alone films.
Finally, the film does have several deaths and kill scenes but they were kind of a let down considering the film’s premise. I was expecting a lot of gory deaths and insane kills but was given stock slasher kills that just did not hit the spot. Overall, Slasher House is a great character driven slasher flick that has a story that surpasses so many others. Check it out. You will not be disappointed.
