When a film is based on true events you know that filmmakers decided to take the liberty to enhance the story and give it a more entertaining twist. In some cases it works and in others not quite so much. In the case of SLAUGHTER its a toss up while the film does have some promising values to it’s story, it lacks in certain elements in the filmmaking.
After escaping from an abusive relationship, and now once again single and looking to take her life in a new direction; Faith decides that it’s a good idea to go out to some clubs with her friends and have a good time. While at one, she sees a young girl whom is being harassed by some guy and decides to intervene and save the girl. She does so and soon becomes friends with Lola who can’t thank her enough. Once Faith lets Lola know about her past the two form a close bond and Lola asks Faith to move in with her. Lola live on a farm with her family, but lives in a separate home on the property that used to be a barn converted into home for her. Faith soon learns that Lola and her father don’t get along, and rarely speak to one another. Her father and two brothers spend most of the day doing farm work and slaughtering live stock to keep the farm going. But Faith is about to find out that her new friend has many things going on in her life, and when Lola’s one night stands start to disappear; Faith will find out the truth behinds Lola’s past and what’s happening to these men that Lola keeps bringing home.
The script for SLAUGHTER is very slow paced and the timing is all over the place. I really wanted to try and get into the script but it was dull and boring and I felt like the story was being thrown down my throat rather than being told to me. There really is not that great of character development either. Sure we get to know the characters of Faith and Lola a bit, but there are holes in their characters development and some things we don’t really get the full answers too. The dialogue did get better as the movie moved along but in the first few scene it was obvious that the actors struggled with their lines which resulted in a poor start off to their performances. Towards the end of the movie however the dialogue and the story do become more entertaining, but the plot is still all over the place and it’s result is one drawn out ending that does not seem to end.
The acting is alright in the movie and it does progress as the movie movies along. I’ll give credit to the cast for doing their best with what they had to work with, and I especially admire both Amy Shiels whom played Faith and Lucy Holt who played Lola. They both did their best to become these characters and work with what they had and try to improve on it. However I think the best performance came from the films youngest star Maxim Knight who’s character I seemed to like the best. He was probably the best thing about this film. The rest of the cast was alright, although none of them had the right amount of screen time for us to get to know them better.
The movie did have alright production value. I’m not going to say it was great, but it held it’s own. The set design and some of the visual effects were pretty good. As far as camera angles and editing goes I think that this movie needed better pre-production to set up it’s shots better. What I found from watching the film is that the way it was edited really dragged the story out. This film could of had a good ten minutes or so cut out of it, especially at the end of the film which seemed to go on forever. I’m not saying that the editing was so bad, it’s hard to watch, It just that I felt things could of been trimmed, and the shots could of been put together tighter. But as the old saying goes, and editor only has to work with what he’s given, and I think that’s the case here.
Overall, SLAUGHTER is by no means a good movie. It does have some good moments and I do admire that the filmmakers did try to add an element that I think most people missed in this film. That being the social issues that were integrated into the script that are revealed at the end of the film. The film brings to light the difficulties of abusive relationships and child abuse. I liked that it was bought to light in the script, but felt it failed in getting the point across. The movie is all over the place and while it does have it’s moments; it fails in other areas.
The DVD includes more Miss Horrorfest Webisodes, The Making of SLAUGHTER featurette and Deleted Scenes.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
