Horror Movie Review: Slasher House (2012)

Red (Eleanor James) wakes up naked in a cell. How she got there is anyone’s guess but a series of notes point her in the direction of some clothes, a weapon and then…someone else.

It’s a strong start from Slasher House where the colours really stand out. Bathed in green light, Red’s hair and lipstick is bright and colourful making her appear larger than life. Her image and the mystery surrounding where she is and how she got there creates an intriguing start.

It’s a shame that the early promise shown doesn’t continue into the bulk of the film. It quickly begins to fall apart when Red meets another prisoner and things get…awkward. The film slows down to a crawl and it becomes a struggle to stay engaged. Red and this nerdy character just have zero chemistry and the actors really struggle to make their conversations seem natural.

Things slightly improve as Red meets more of the prison’s inmates who turn out to be psychotic killers. Each has their own reason for being there and it will later be revealed that they are all linked, including Red.

Will our titular heroine be able to survive the Slasher House and find out why she was put in it? Will anyone care by time the credits roll?

Let’s talk about the biggest negative surrounding Slasher House first, the sparse offering of gore. For a movie that is called Slasher House, violent and bloody moments are way too few and far between. Instead we get cat and mouse games and way too much dialogue that offers nothing worth watching and even less worth remembering.

Then there is what was initially attention grabbing… the green lighting. Which stops being so as the entire movie is coated in it. It’s distracting as hell and with little else to hold onto it just makes Slasher House a chore to get through.

It feels like it wanted to be a sort of ‘art-house’ project but the low budget just isn’t capable of realising it.