We are pleased to announced that our newest poster for “Don’t Go to the Reunion” is now available for purchase! A glossy 11 x 17 print, you decide whether or not you want it signed by the filmmakers or not. Show your gory support for 80’s slashers and pick up a poster today. Only $12 each with free shipping for a limited time only.
Words cannot begin to show my appreciation for all of the backers and supporters of Don’t Go To The Reunion. We had 60 days to reach our goal on Kickstarter and we did just that. For a little while, the outlook was bleak, but the true slasher fans came through when it counted and we ended up exceeding to goal on the very last day.
It was an unreal feeling to know that Slasher Studios had such a loyal following. We had met many of the backers at festivals and conventions during 2012 and we have kept in touch ever since. I can’t imagine fans of any other genre having such support and trust for what they love.
Once again, we must thank all of you that have supported the project and believe in Slasher Studios and its mission to create fun and high quality slasher films. We promise not to disappoint and we hope that all of you are just as excited to watch this film as we are to make it.
Two things I love in life: horror movies and theme parks. With that being said, as I head of the story behind Scream Park, I could not wait until my chance to view this film. The plot sounded fun, the running time was a solid 85 minutes and yes, I loved the title.
Scream Park takes place at Fright Land, the under performing theme park that is forced to close due to lack of attendance. The employees of Fright Land plan to throw one last party at the park after the gates close for the final time. The booze is flowing, the girls are putting out and oh yeah, the villains are killing!
The film had a nice look. The color tone is perfect for the film and the cinematography is decent, but the believable acting is what this film lacks. The acting isn’t atrocious, but some casting improvements could have been made. Perhaps a greater casting search could have benefited the film. Some of the roles are dull and boring and lines seem to flow a bit unnaturally. A few of the cast members did however do a great job, including the park owner (played by the outstanding Doug Bradley, otherwise known as Pinhead from the “Hellraiser” series).
The deaths and effects are well done and my personal favorite is the deep fryer death. I do wish the the story had a bit more going on at the beginning, but the last half was better paced as the killers began to pray on the employees and chase after our final girl. If you like horror movies and theme parks then this is a film to check out. It won’t “wow” you, but I feel the story is fun and unique enough and as we all know, indie horror can always use the support.
We are approaching an age in indie filmmaking in which many young filmmakers are creating slasher films based on the films they grew up with as a youth. Last year, Justin Russell created the suspenseful 80’s slasher homage The Sleeper which played tribute to such classics as Black Christmas and When A Stranger Calls, Lucas Masson created the devilishly clever Baby-Sitting which added a twist on the evil children movies of yesteryear, and now we have Mikel Ledesma playing tribute to his favorite 80’s and 90’s slashers with a supernatural twist in tonight’s Tinsel. With a Christmas theme, an urban legend backstory, and a madman in Santa costume, Does Tinsel deliver the bloody good or does it simply die trying?
Tinsel begins with a teenage girl running through a park at night while listening to music when she is attached and brutally stabbed to death by a disfigured man dressed as Santa Claus. We then move inside a random home as we find a couple sleeping only to be killed by the same mysterious Santa with an icicle in his hand. He moves down the hall to cut the throat opening of a sleeping young boy (after Silent Night & Baby-Sitting, I’m sort of loving this new trend of killing kids in horror films) only to find his way to a young girl’s room. As he is about the stab her, the girl wakes up. It has only been a nightmare…or, is a premonition of things to come?
The girl, Sarah (a game for anything Alisha Revel), has grown up into a beautiful adult with some serious emotional problems. She lives with her brother Matt (a very likable Kensley Grant) and they are getting ready for a Christmas party with friends. Sarah begins to fear Christmas as she sees visions of the murderous Santa wherever she goes. We learn the backstory of the Santa. A man murdered his wife for putting tinsel on the Christmas tree and attacked his son with icicle. The woman’s body was found a few days later but the boy was nowhere to be found. Is this the same boy now grown up who is after Sarah and her friends? Will they survive the night or be left as bloody ornaments for the Christmas tree?
There is a lot to like about Tinsel. Shot for just $1800, the film looks terrific. Lots of bright, bold colors and stylish cinematography give the film the look a polished, profession effort made for much, much more. The lighting and production credits are both solid and the film features an energetic and fun soundtrack. The performance are all around solid with special mention to Revel who is given a very difficult character to play who, in lesser hands, may have come off to be quite unlikable. The kills are nice and bloody as well. I’m not completely sold on the ending as it felt a bit tacked on. I would have preferred a more straight on slasher approach but that’s just me and there is definitely an audience out there that is going to love this ending. Stay tuned through the end credits for some additional surprises.
Make sure to like the official Facebook page for updates on the film:
https://www.facebook.com/TinselShortFilm
Not Quite Horror contains reviews of films not traditionally considered horror films. By analyzing them as horror films (identifying the monster, discussing the shared worry for the audience and the main characters, and understanding the depth of horror available to the viewer), who knows? There more than one way to watch a movie.
Pelotero (2011)
The Monster: The System. In day-to-day life, people often find themselves at the mercy of larger, more powerful groups of people. Aspiring baseball players in the Dominican Republic are no exception.
Able to sign contracts with Major League Baseball when they turn sixteen, potential ballplayers (“pelotero†means “ballplayerâ€) can make millions of dollars for them and their families. Because of this, many players lie about their age to increase the amount of money they make. Baseball has to identify and punish these offenders.
The Horror: What do you do when The System insists you aren’t who you say you are? In the documentary Pelotero, Miguel Sano is told they can’t confirm his age is 16, like he claims it is. He’s told he’s actually much older. He’s told he used the birth certificate from a child of his mother’s that did not survive. He’s called into meeting after meeting. A meeting with his agent is secretly videotaped so the family can prove to others what they’re being told in private. Pelotero may be a documentary, but it feels like a novel by Kafka.
The Shared Fate: As anyone who’s ever had problems with the law, a bank, or an insurance company can attest problems with The System can warp a person’s entire reality.
Watching Sano and his family have their identities redefined by The System, any member of contemporary society has to feel some solidarity. Whether a person’s gotten junk mail to a misspelling of their name to unscrambled miscommunications between insurance companies, most of us have been told by The System that our reality is simply wrong.
After the process drags on and Sano’s career in Major League Baseball is jeopardized by the investigation, the horror is not conveyed with violence or screaming. The horror lives in the frustrated, broken look eyes of Sano and his family.
Isn’t there a point, for all of us, when we fear losing the will to fight and simply become whatever The System says we are?
Additional information for this article was accessed at The American Society for International Law. For more information on where the real life Miguel Sano is now, check out friend of the author Seth Stoh’s Twins’ Prospect Guide!
— I am indebted to Noel Carroll’s The Philosophy of Horror for his ideas on defining horror, as well as John Skipp and Craig Spector’s article “Death’s Rich Pageantry, or Skipp & Spector’s Handy-Dandy Splatterpunk Guide to the Horrors of Non-horror Film†in Cut! Horror Writers on Horror Film for a similar idea.–
–Axel Kohagen
Kevin: Sorority Girls and the Creature from Hell is one of the strangest horror movies I’ve seen in a while. It seems as if the producers behind this film decided to take all of the cliches of the horror genre, action genre, comedy genre, and the worst soft core pornos you have seen and mixed it up in a cinematic blender. It really is that strange but it is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.
Steve: Calling this film strange is going easy on it. The story can be described as odd, at best. From the boobs, to the talking rock (inspiration for Legends of the Hidden Temple perhaps?), to the dubbed audio, to even more boobs, this film will at least keep you guessing and will NO make for a boring watch.
Kevin: The “plot” surrounds a group of sorority girls who decide to take a trip up to a cabin in the woods accompanied by some boys. To their dismay, there is an escaped convict on the loose as well as the uncle of one of the girls. It’s too bad that Uncle Ray is possessed by an Indian spirit turning him into a monster with a need for human blood.
Steve: The plot/mess is the best part of this film. There is a lot going on and all the, “What is happening?” thoughts in your head will make for some unexpected joy. For all you Seinfeld fans out there, you especially will get a fun treat as the one and only Uncle Leo makes a surprise appearance. It’s interesting to see him as this outdoorsy character.
Kevin: Sound a bit convoluted? It sure is but it is also one of the most entertaining horror movies that I’ve seen in quite a while. This film isn’t for everyone and horror fans looking for less cheese and more thrills should look elsewhere. That said, the lovely Debra Dutch (star of underrated cheese classic Hard to Die) steals the show as our resourceful final girl and the film never takes itself too seriously. That’s more than can be said for most films today.
Steve: You cant really go wrong with this movie if you are just looking for cheesy film with bad acting and laughable audio. So, if you are in the mood for a unique cabin adventure, check out this film in all of its full screen gory. Take in the grainy views and bad foley as the sorority girls and their boy toys try to survive the night and escape the wrath of the creature from hell.
Not knowing much about Gut before going into this film, I went in hoping for a hidden gem. Unfortunately, I found no such thing. Even at 90 minutes, this film ran too long as the characters seemed to have the same conversations, in the same locations, over and over again. I felt like I was watching a really bad Seinfeld episode as they spent every other scene at the diner. A wider location search would have been beneficial.
Gut revolves around Tom and Dan. Best buds since high school who ended up working at the same job with neighboring cubicles. Dan invites Tom over to watch a new DVD that he just ordered. As the two watch on, the DVD is of a man slicing open a naked girl who is strapped to a table. Both are more into the film then they let on, and the images keep popping into Tom’s head in tortuous, yet oddly erotic ways.
The director, who just goes by Elias, has a story here that could be worth telling. But, after trudging through the amateur acting and the repetitiveness of it all, audience members of Gut will be twiddling their fingers waiting for the conclusion. The production value was not bad, it’s just the running time and the lack of excitement throughout the film that creates some thoughts of what could have been. I’m always up to watch some low budget films, so I must applaud this “Elias” for his diligence in completing this project. If you are in the mood for a slow and steady pace and some torture porn DVDs, then by all means, go with your gut.
Not Quite Horror contains reviews of films not traditionally considered horror films. By analyzing them as horror films (identifying the monster, discussing the shared worry for the audience and the main characters, and understanding the depth of horror available to the viewer), who knows? There more than one way to watch a movie.
“Dinner Party†The Office (2008)
The Monster: A nearly-mandatory dinner party at boss Michael Scott’s (Steve Carell) turns his condo into a labyrinth and his live-in girlfriend Jan Levinson (Melora Hardin) into a beast.
Long past her days as a successful business professional, Jan Levinson has become a symbol for unashamed, unbridled sensuality. She dances seductively to music, tries to get investors in her candle company, insists dinner be prepared perfectly, and harasses Pam (Jenna Fischer) because she considers her a sexual rival. When the evening spirals out of control, Levinson breaks Scott’s prized TV by throwing a trophy through it.
The Horror: The Office, as a location, cannot abide sensuality. Levinson’s behavior is too much for her dinner companions to tolerate. New couple Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam tiptoe past serious displays of affection with humor. Andy and Angela are polite and reserve to the point of being repressed. Michael Scott can’t handle any talk of sensuality without resorting to adolescent humor and giggling.
With her prominently displayed cleavage and her lack of subtlety, Jan Levinson destroys the boundaries these characters have spent years developing. Each moment trapped in her presence threaten to expose hidden desires none of them can bear facing.
The Shared Fate: For anyone horrified about sharing their sensual sides, being trapped with an out-of-control Jan Levinson is a very realistic threat indeed.
The hero of this episode may be found in an unlikely person. The only person impervious to Levinson’s reign of terror is the ever-awkward Dwight K. Schrute (Rainn Wilson). He may be saddled with legions of his own personal problems, but he is not afraid of sensuality. He leers at his former lover Angela, dresses comfortably, and brings his own food so he doesn’t have to wait for dinner.
For this one dinner party, Dwight K. Schrute is a role model. He embraces his own sensual side and cannot be held hostage by the Jan Levinsons of the world.
— I am indebted to Noel Carroll’s The Philosophy of Horror for his ideas on defining horror, as well as John Skipp and Craig Spector’s article “Death’s Rich Pageantry, or Skipp & Spector’s Handy-Dandy Splatterpunk Guide to the Horrors of Non-horror Film†in Cut! Horror Writers on Horror Film for a similar idea.–
–Axel Kohagen
Kevin: From Maniac Films, we have a gory treat for you slasher fans in the form of Sloppy the Psychotic. Sloppy the Psychotic is the sort of deliberately offensive horror movie that most horror filmmakers are too afraid to make any more. The story centers around Sloppy, a part time clown who is living with his abusive parents. Things take a turn for the worse when, after a misunderstanding with a child, Sloppy is fired. Sloppy decided to get revenge killing all of those in his life that have teased or tormented him.
Steve: Sloppy brutally gets his revenge on his old boss, the woman who got him fired and even a random homeless man. The homeless man was actually the highlight of this film for me. He actually had great line delivery and from the look of him, he may have actually been homeless! And after drowning in a puddle of his own piss, this guy had a death just as disgusting as himself.
Kevin: Like a throwback to the best Grindhouse films of the 1970’s and the Troma films of the 1980’s, Sloppy the Psychotic isn’t meant to be taken seriously but mainly meant to have a good time with. I’d say the film succeeds in that accept. This isn’t the most polished indie film you’ll see (the cinematography and sound could both use some fine tuning) but the movie has its gory heart in the right place.
Steve: I think these filmmakers did in fact succeed at making the film they wanted to make. And of that, I must applaud them. 100 people could have read this script and I’m sure a big percentage would have had issues with at least a few aspects. It’s raunchy, disturbing and gross; everything they these guys wanted in there film. Good for them to make the film they wanted!
Kevin: If you want to see a movie in which a drunken frat boy gets a pole shoved up his ass or a dozen birthday kids overdose on “birthday cake” while vomiting up blood, you found the right movie for you. Also, I must mention the cut off penises…I’ll have nightmares for weeks. Thanks Sloppy!
Steve: The gore effects were not bad at all. Going into low budget films, one is never sure what to expect, but they at least did their homework on the blood effects. The cooking scene was über gross as blood and guts were covering the counters. And, like Kevin said, the penis scene…well, just watch.
