Wanting to have a killer year, sorority sister Emily Young realizes she might just be the best option for her sorority. While beginning her campaign, she finds an adorable sloth that steals her hea...
The instant I saw the trailer and poster for “Slotherhouse”, I felt my inner child jumping up and down with glee at the prospect of seeing a possible ‘So good, it’s bad’ frontrunner for 2023 who’s name isn’t Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey. A film with this dumb title normally wouldn’t put me off but it kinda bothers me here because as ridiculous as this film ended up being…..
…..it feels almost competent.
Somehow, Matthew Goodhue’s handle on the entire project plays like a hybrid freak of a B-film and a mockumentary that merely avoided botching up the fusion dance. He boasts an above average presentation coupled with an admittedly dull execution that feels fairly hearty and pedestrian at the same time.
And to be honest, despite the stupidly thin premise, there is a LOT more effort placed into this package than your standard low-budget exploitative Syfy package. Nothing truly special is made evidently clear from the cinematography alone but the camerawork and editing is slick and up to quality enough to get the job done. The mere look and visual aesthetic of this film hides any of the typical fraying edges that come with a low budget feature, they thankfully used practical effects here instead of CGI, it sets its tone pretty well just from the opening sequence alone and there are a few decent set-pieces that come out of the scarcely limited production design.
Not to mention, the musical score was…...surprisingly solid. Guess Sam Ewing’s tips from Bear McCreary paid off in their way.
I was pleasantly taken aback by how competently crafted the story itself managed to be outside the bonkers shenanigans; while still a retread of countless collegiate horror slashers, similar to M3GAN, it dives headfirst into the gleefully grimy and mucky depths of its ludicrous premise and deranged concept, knowing exactly from the forefront what it wants to be and how to go about it. But conversely, just like Cocaine Bear, the premise runs out of steam quickly and can barely trudge to the forty minute mark before it has to start recycling its tricks. It’s another film essentially built around a pun and has no real sense of humor outside the sloth doing stupid tricks and the brazen self-awareness that comes with it. It’s easy to tell that this was made by people who have a lot of affection for the genre its spoofing but it also struggles to walk a line between playing it straight with the drama and acknowledging how stupid and predictable it is.
It’s somehow a fitting concoction that matches up to its lack of convictions.
Regardless, so many things about this story don’t make sense, between characters constantly making dumb choices, gaping plotholes galore, so many questions that never get answered but what’s the point in trying to make sense of any of that, especially since the movie doesn’t set up much in terms of themes or morals? Outside the predictable, done-to-death messaging of prioritizing social media status over real relationships, the only things the film sets up as possibly captivating parables are the dangers of plucking animals away from their natural habitat to essentially use them as props, animal rights and the shallowness of popularity and it goes about as well as you expect.
Dialogue is frankly embarrassing, only a few of the characters have some inkling of a personality beyond the stereotypical storm we’re subjected to, and the kills are VASTLY underwhelming, with the camera constantly cutting away from the action leading to many missed opportunities for creative kills. Just like M3GAN, the PG-13 rating severely cripples any more fun that it could’ve been had here.
I expected ‘So bad it’s good’ and they gave it to me with no hesitation; the end result might be every bit as dumb as I expected but the fact I got some legitimate chuckles out of this means the film achieved its goals. So if you want to see for yourself, be my guest.
