Slasher House

SLASHER HOUSE
Writer/Director MJ Dixon
Starring:Eleanor James, Adam Williams, Wellington Grosvenor
Availability: only available in the UK at the moment...If you have a region free player, you can pick it up at www.amazon.uk
Rating:

   Sometimes you watch a movie.  You know it's not good for you.  You know it's going to make you hate yourself in the morning.  Then you realize...We don't always need steak.  Sometimes a little midnight snack is all it takes to satisfy the palette.  That being said, disposable entertainment doesn't come much more satisfying than MJ Dixon's Slasher House.

    This is a movie that almost feels like it was lifted from the pages of a graphic novel.  The character designs are generally very over the top.  The dialogue has a stilted, comic book quality.  It has incredibly creative camera angles, and a strong red and green color scheme that feels almost surreal.  Plus, the film seems to embrace so many cliches and predictable plot devices, it almost feels like a bit of grand pulp.

    Eleanor James gives a fine performance as Red, a girl who wakes up nude with amnesia in a prison cell.  It's here where the film makes its first none-too-subtle clues that the film is a riff on Alice In Wonderland as well, with hidden clues like "Drink Me" and "Wear Me" scattered throughout the room.     She finds a mysterious man in the cell next to her, who seems to be in the exact same predicament as our lovely heroine.  Eventually, they realize that whenever an alarm goes off in the jail, it releases a serial killer.  Therefore, in order to survive their ordeal, they have to fight off several oddball serial characters.  In a way, you could say it's like a fucked up version of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

    The various serial killers they encounter are delightfully strange.  Probably the most memorable one was Cleaver, a clown who loves murdering children.  There are some decent kills as well.  It's no gorehound's dream by any means, but it certainly doesn't skimp on the blood either.  Most of the actors give pretty decent performances for a microbudget film (reportedly only costing 5,000 pounds=a little over 8 grand here in the states).  Dixon has such a strong visual sense, that any budgetary limitations refuse to shine through.  The man is certainly no hack, that's for sure.

    Now, at first, I alluded to the fact that the movie was more of a guilty pleasure.  I don't know if that's truly fair, but any movie that embraces this many cliches with this much high style, I can't think of any other way to describe it.  I had a great time with this one, though.  I absolutely fell in love with the visual look it.  Dixon has a sharp eye behind the camera, and I'm definitely interested in what he comes up with next.

    The British have been putting out some oddball horror cinema lately.  Just last month, I finally saw Gingerclown, which almost felt like a classic Full Moon movie.  It was just an incredibly odd movie that I enjoyed because of its weirdness.  Slasher House is another example of how cool the British horror scene is becoming.  The American scene is obsessed with sadism and seeing how far they can push the envelope.  While I do admire that sort of thing from time to time, there needs to be more people embracing how fun horror cinema can be.  Dustin Mills is a modern example of this, which is why I consider him the best indie director working right now.  I just love weird movies.  What can I say?  That all being said, I would highly recommend Slasher House.

    Until next time, my fellow freaks and weirdos...