Slasher House (2012)

Slasher House (2012)
Directed by: Mj Dixon

Starring: Adam Williams, Alex Grimshaw, Andrew M. Greenwood, Eleanor James, Wellington Grosvenor

Slasher House (2012)

(TBC) Running time: 75 minutes

Director: Mj Dixon

Starring: Eleanor James, Adam Williams, Wellington Grosvenor, Alex Grimshaw, Andrew M. Greenwood

Welcome to Slasher House, one of the most colourful and intriguingly crafted horror films I have seen of late. Director Mj Dixon clearly has been influenced in places by the likes of Giallo God’s like Dario Argento, for the use of colour in this film is astonishing. Bright, almost glowing greens are used for the basis of the majority of the movie, but every now and then blues, reds and yellows come into play, usually when a new character is introduced, and this I found to be very clever, smart and attentive to detail. Slasher House is certainly different from what most horror fans are used to, but the ideas and creative construction of the film is something everyone will enjoy.

Kind if reminding me of Vincenzo Natali’s mesmerizing sci-fi thriller Cube, Slasher House first see’s the super sexy Red (Eleanor James) waking up in a jail cell naked, the bright green colouring making her gorgeous body almost glow, and the colouring really enhances her stunning looks. Her harsh red hair and lips give an almost blinding contrast to the green, and you cannot help but take notice. Not knowing who, or where she is, she follows clues in the cell which first lead her to some clothes (boo!), and then to a weapon and finally a fridge with beer in it (?). The spooky, haunting music gives a sense of otherworldliness, but overall it gives a sense of menace and panic. This hypnotic like soundtrack, pulling the viewer in to this bizarre world is suddenly broken by a quick but chaotic almost industrial assault of noise as the film’s title comes up on screen. This quick jolt of noise and fearsome aggression is something you will have to get used to as the film moves forward, and Red attempts to find out just what is going on.

She is let out of her cell and begins to explore the prison, eventually meeting another ‘inmate’, and upon finding him, a striking blue colour appears on the railings of the prison walkways. The colouring doesn’t actually mean anything, but it is a very neat and impressively cool idea. This man has not been freed yet, so Red runs off in search of keys, and we enter the man’s cell to share his thoughts, and a dirty yellow colour takes over. Time for another jolt of terror as the man hears noises, and a hideous black coloured claw appears at his cell door. If you are smart, you will pick up on the meaning of this come the end.

The tension mounts, conversation is not flowing well, and neither know what they are doing here, and so we follow as they wonder the prison looking for answers. Dixon keeps the tone creepy with his brilliant use of sounds (including a nerve shattering buzzer) and music, and thankfully the style wins out over the, at times, questionable acting skills. However, the intrigue is what kept me hooked, I wanted answers, and there is a clear sense of something about to go down, but what? Well, the answers do arrive as a violent, hideous man dressed as a clown appears and begins to chase our two protagonists. Screaming “did you put me here?!!!”, the clown is a fearsome presence. He is then introduced as “Cleaver”, and we are shown a brief back-story to just who he is, and he is not a nice person. Now all is becoming clear: violent killers have been locked in this prison, and one by one they are going to hunt Red and her new accomplice and try and kill them. This is pretty much what Slasher House is all about after a brooding, haunting and chilling build up, it then moves on to an all out game of survival as new killers are introduced one by one, each more fearsome than the next. Each killer is given his own back-story, and the game of survival plays out nicely, with a cool twist at the end.

Slasher House is a clever, smart little horror that both plays by the rules and bends them. The design is stunning, but sadly not everything here can live up to the exceptional creation of this strange little world. As I have already said, some of the acting struggles, and the choreography with many of the fights is a little too staged. However, seeing what the director was attempting to deliver, you cannot fault his determination and ideas, and on the evidence of Slasher House, there is a lot more to come from Dixon who would appear to just be finding his feet.

There is often a neat little effect or addition to the films collection of ideas to give it that jolt of brilliance. Like when you are watching a Tarantino film, and all of a sudden Uma Thurman will draw a box on screen (Pulp Fiction), or like in Inglorious Basterds, a three way conversation will see the camera suddenly follow each man as he speaks. Moments like this show a director who isn’t lazy, and is focused and inventive in what they want to present on screen, and Dixon achieves that with Slasher House. Whether it be the inclusion of a new colour, or one of the killers brilliantly smashing out of his cell and causing the building to shake, Dixon never gets lazy and comfortable here, and is willing to go that extra mile to keep you on your toes. Simply put, you think you know where Slasher House will go next, but the way it is directed means you are never quite sure. Subsequently this results in a film that is both intriguing and exciting, and always willing to deliver something totally unexpected. A damn find first effort!

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