It’s that time of the year again when we get one really good gay slasher to hold us over until the next roll over period. This year, the title being added into the gay slasher hierarchy is Roger Conners’ MEAT. This movie was truly a labor of love that’s been painstakingly combed over until a shiny, cohesive homage to cult cinema was birthed via C-section into a world that’s demanding more queer storylines. From Rising Pulse Productions, in association with Butterfly Temples Studios & EAG Enterprises, MEAT starts off very much like Prom Night or I Know What You Did Last Summer – with a masked killer emerging from the shadows x-number of months after a tragedy. However, what sets MEAT apart from traditional slashers is its emotional depth, dedication to character building and its attempt to paint gay people as more than a sassy stereotype. Plus, it has Pandora Boxx from RuPaul’s Drag Race in it, so I was already on board from the jump because #legend.
While Pandora Boxx’s screen time only runs about 3 minutes, luckily MEAT has a great cast that can easily carry the 2-hour story on their shoulders. Main and supporting cast members include Cody Steele, Anthony Covatta, Matt Kane, Jason Eno, Margaret Harper Jenkins, Hussein Hassan, Katelynn E. Newberry, Angelia Green, Haley Lynn Rose and Roger Conners. George Tutie is also in this one, and I’d just like to highlight how much he’s grinding as an actor because I’m starting to recognize him by face instead of resume. I’d also like to highlight that Cody Steele was absolutely the right choice for Final Girl (er, Final Boy?) because he was able to flip that youthful innocence into surviving so many traumas back-to-back. In the same vein, the killer – who I will not mention – was also the perfect casting choice because that last performance was epic.
So much to mention with casting, which tells you that MEAT is a banger. Matt Kane is obviously built to be the stand-out despite not being the lead. He’s definitely the Tatum Riley to Sydney Prescott if you understand Scream fandom. Matt put a huge effort into this movie – huge abs, huge ass, huge hair and huge dick. His acting performance was great as well, but I’m a simple whore so I very much appreciated the constant eye candy. My favorite, though, has to be Hussein Hassan. He had the entire package, and I loved his performance during what I’ll call “the overpass” scene and he looks great in a speedo. Oh, and the extras! Let me be crystal clear. The number of extras you have in a club or bar scene absolutely makes or breaks the palpable realism. I want to thank all the extras who came out for MEAT because they single handled helped make those establishments feel like real businesses.
MEAT was written by Roger Conners and R. Zachary Shildwachter with Conners also taking a seat in the director’s chair. MEAT finds cinematography & editing by Mick Kunz and special effects by Ron George & Deryk Wehrley. This is not your typical slasher. This one is wholeheartedly for the LGBT community and their friends/family. MEAT is an acid trip gagged with blood, nudity and more rhine stones than a Dolly Parton concert. As a production, I already mentioned that this narrative lasts for two hours, and it presents itself in separate blocks. Character and/or story development followed by brutal death. The story telling is so encompassing that anyone of these blocks could be removed to suit a different audience and the progression would still make sense. Locations, gore, audio, cinematography, pacing, acting, props, score – everything about MEAT was set up to produce nothing short of pure success. This is how you transition from indie filmmaking to mainstream filmmaking, folks.
MEAT does come with some trigger warnings, though. Rape, club culture and illegal drugs are a major part of the plot. If anything, it reminds me why I was never into the club scene during my younger years. I think what’s depressing about MEAT – and I mean this in a good way, somehow – is that it turns a safe space for gay people into a slaughterhouse. Even in this decade, there are few places where gay people can feel safe safe without fear of consequences. Imagine your home away from home suddenly becomes a macabre playground for a leather suit wearing killer. Tragically, we’ve seen this kind of story play out in real life, so it’s chilling to see depicted on screen. MEAT becomes an emotional cornucopia and yet a love letter to the most depraved gays. Who knew there could be so much going in a gay slasher flick?
For whatever reason, I took a mathematically approach to MEAT. It’s two hours long. Pandora Boxx is in it for three minutes. But I also kept a tally of the most important elements – death and dick. It has seventeen on screen murders. Six scenes with full frontal male nudity. And eleven scenes featuring juicy man ass. I know MEAT is supposed to be a slasher flick, but it’s so much more. It’s the fruition of many years of writing/directing for Roger Conners, who is absolutely going to become a certified name in the horror scene after releasing this film. It’s his make-or-break moment and I’m so happy that he’s about to receive his flowers after years in the business. MEAT is showing that gay people can create intense cinema and depict real storylines that can touch a multi-generational audience. And it’s actually a really, really good slasher if you’re a fan of the pre 2000s titles like Slumber Party Massacre.
If I have one thing left to say it’s – SEE. THIS. FILM. MEAT is the Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan driving to the club moment of 2025. Britney is the heart. Paris is the filters and popping cinematography. And Lindsay Lohan is the horrific momentum that’s going to catapult this title into numerous “best of lists.” MEAT is an onslaught of gore, grief and groin, only reserved for the darkest gays and thrill-seeking horror fans who may think “why not, let’s give it a try.” Whoever gives it a stream or sees it in film festivals, I guarantee you’ll be left gagging and begging for more. Final Score: 9 out of 10.
MEAT was produced by Geoff Hoffman, Shannon Marullo Ahlstrand, Gustavo Folhadella, Alexander McIntosh, R. Zachary Shildwachter, Philip R Garrett, Bryan Dorton, Shamus Dickinson, Mick Kunz, and James-Michael Fleites of HorrorPress.
