SLASHERS. (2001) WRITTEN, PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY MAURICE DEVEREAUX. STARRING CLAUDINE SHIRAISHI, SARAH JOSLYN CROWDER, TONY CURTIS BLONDELL, KIERAN KELLER, JERRY SPRIO, CAROLINE PLA, SOFIA DE MEDEIROS, NEIL NAPIER AND CHRISTOPHER PIGGINS. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
I bloody hate TV gameshows. I think they're the lowest form of life on the box. I hate them almost as much as I hate the bloody commercials. That's why it's so strange that I love this wacky, off-the-wall Canadian-made horror film, in which a Japanese blood-sport TV gameshow takes centre stage. You know how the Japanese love their gameshows and, apparently, the more sadistic the better. Remember when THE SIMPSONS go to Japan and they end up on a gameshow that nearly costs them their lives, or at least appears to? Exactly...
The game in this instance is called SLASHERS and it does exactly what it says on the tin. Contestants are murdered one-by-one by killers in recognisable serial-killer costumes. Unless, of course, the contestants manage to bump off the killers themselves first. That's allowed too, see, and any slayings committed on this, the most watched TV show on the planet, are nice and legal. No matter how gory, disgusting, bloody or just plain nasty.
In the particular episode of SLASHERS that forms the basis for this film, all six contestants will be American, because the Japanese hosts clearly think that an all-American episode will bring in the ratings. They'll be chased around a specially-constructed set by three terrifying serial killers: a redneck hillbilly with a chainsaw, a demented doctor waving a giant pair of secateurs and a crazy 'Preacher Man' who likes to stab folks with his crucifix. Aw, bless him.
The hostess Miho is a beautiful young Japanese woman who, like her audience, clearly takes huge pleasure in the contestants' fear and the fact that most or even all of them will be dead by the time the credits roll. There's a sadism about the whole business that you can't not notice, it's so obvious.
The show is most definitely saying: 'Look what stupid people will do for fame and a big cash prize!!!' Yes, there's a big cash prize. That might go some way to explaining why the contestants are willing to risk their lives to go on the show...
The spooky sets are terrific and furnished with the kind of stuff you might see in a cheaply- constructed Chamber Of Horrors. Wax dummies in Freddie Krueger outfits and Jason Voorhees-style hockey masks and suchlike. I love stuff like that. It's horror at its cheapest, maybe, but also in its purest form.
I love that someone who may not have had a big fancy Hollywood budget (I'm only surmising here!) wanted to make a good entertaining horror film so much that he just went ahead and did it anyway with the (possibly limited) resources available to him. Or the dude- Maurice Devereaux- might be flippin' loaded for all I know. He formed his own production company after all, the rather wittily named Maurice Devereaux Productions.
The contestants at first seem uniformly awful, but as the show progresses and we get to know them, they're actually a whole lot worse, haha. Megan is a whingy law student and political activist and Devon has the body of a god. A particularly muscular god with magnificent arms I just wanted to lick, heh-heh-heh. Rebecca has a sad secret and Michael has a nasty secret. Brenda likes to get her tits out for the lads and Rick is a lad who likes to look at tits. They'd make a good pair. No pun intended.
Will any of these horrible people make it out alive? Will the serial killers triumph? Who will win the big cash prize? And will mad medic Doctor Ripper ever succeed in getting Moan-y Megan to flash her tits for the audience? Yes, that's kind of an ongoing thing they have, um, going on between them.
The only tits I was personally interested in were the gigantic man-boobs on Devon, pronounced De-Vonne. What I wouldn't give to have unlimited access to those beauties and a can of whipped cream. Yes, I know. I'm an animal. I can't help it. So sue me...!
After watching this film, purchased for a mere 50 cents from a Game Exchange Shop, I couldn't
help feeling that I'd accidentally stumbled onto the greatest horror movie of all time. Sweeping statement, perhaps? Well, it embodies everything that's admirable about low-budget, lovingly-made horror. It's got the genius plot idea for starters, masses and masses of enthusiasm and respect for the genre and everyone's having a whale of a time, actors and viewers alike. What more do you need? Or (pardon my zinger!) maybe I should say:'Are you game...?'
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO
You can contact Sandra at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
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