New Horror Releases: Slasher.com (2017) - Reviewed




The current trend in the horror genre is taking cliché' concepts and twisting them while ensuring the film can obtain a PG-13 rating to ensure box office returns.  Chip Gubera's grindhouse splatter fest, Slasher.com thankfully ignores this convention and delivers a primal, sexually charged fever dream that turns the serial killer genre on its head. 

Gubera and Chelsea Andes's script is a blood soaked bait and switch. The film structures itself as a cautionary warning about online dating and then innocuously abandons the premise, presenting an awkward, but undeniably sexy coupling that predictably goes off the rails.  The first act is packed full of the uncomfortable hallmarks of southern Gothic shockers such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and double downs on the grotesque ambiance as the narrative develops. Fair Warning:  You will never, ever look at a spoon the same way again.

Newcomers Ben Kaplan and Morgan Carter channel adroit chemistry that transcends genre pastiches to present two uncertain lovers trapped in a quagmire of the perverse.  They are supported by horror icons Jewel Shepard (Return of the Living Dead) and R. A. Mihailoff (Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III) who portray a pair of homicidal lovebirds that rivals the Manson family.  This is an absolutely bizarre film that is anchored by the ensemble.  The ground rules established in the prologue are blissfully forgotten until the last possible second when the narrative stitches together to elicit a tapestry of bodily fluids and slasher flick send offs.  

Brian Maurer's cinematography combines with Gubera's kinetic editing to create a forest of blood, filled with endless throwbacks to the renegade forefathers of its inception.  Gubera's synth score at first appears out of place, contrasting the natural locales with the cosmetic sounds of the city, but this is part of the con.This film isn't about subverting preconceived ideas, it’s about obliterating them in a putrid concoction of sweat and blood.  There are twists within twists that are both hilarious and sickening, the best of which is how the viewer's expectations are preyed upon, corrupting every possible B Movie cop out with gratuitous sequences of sexual mayhem. 


My beard! Worship it. This ain't no hipster beard, damn you!

Coming soon to DVD and digital, Slasher.com is a rusty nail to the genitals. Featuring wonderfully disgusting kill scenes, a deviously profane ensemble, and refreshingly puerile antics, this is one of the year's most disquieting shockers.   Basement level John Waters trash, Slasher.com is a remarkable exploitation orgy of viscera.  If you're strong of stomach and open to outlandish ideas, this is essential viewing.

Slasher.com is out on March 7th!!!

Score

-Kyle Jonathan