BAY OF BLOOD (1971)

On a grand estate on the shore of a bay, an elderly woman clings desperately to the land so that it will not be bought and turned into a resort. However, her murder sets off a chain reaction that brings all of the potential heirs to the estate out of the woodwork, and more disturbing, an unknown killer who begins to systematically murder each of these heirs. The situation takes another turn for the worse when a group of teenagers decide to trespass on the estate, and are quickly targeted by a killer who knows no remorse, sympathy, or limits to their cruel imagination for slaughtering their next victim.

In 1970s Italy the murder-mystery, also known as a giallo, was coming into its golden age soaking the screen in blood, filling it with red herrings and sleazy sexuality and generally confusing the hell out of the audiences with complicated plots. But when famed director and writer Mario Bava brought BAY OF BLOOD to the screen, it was like nothing anyone had seen before. Starting off from a generic storyline that could be found in any run-of-the-mill giallo, Bava quickly amps everything up from the almost insane weaving of all the characters' relationships, to the one-after-another murders that are each committed in a more horrific way, to the gratuitous and graphic sex and nudity.

This film has become known as the very first official slasher film, and is (or at least should be) the water mark to compare all other films that compete for the slasher subgenre label. In America, it can be debated whether BLACK CHRISTMAS or HALLOWEEN was really the first US slasher film, though both owe all their screen credit to Bava's masterpiece. The early FRIDAY THE 13TH films in particular also borrow heavily from this film, right down to the first-person POV and some of the signature murders in the series. For better or worse (and for most fans it is probably the better), due to BAY OF BLOOD, sex and violence will always be married in the slasher genre.

It is not just that the film is the very first slasher, it is a great slasher and can still to this day hold up against any would be film adversary. The groundbreaking murder sequences within the film alone make the film worth seeking out, even if you are passive fan of the genre. The make-up special effects, helmed by Carlo Rambaldi (who would later work on E.T. and ALIEN among others) can still hold up almost forty years later, which is testament to their realism. It is truly a crime that as the years passed this film has become more obscure, fallen off the "must see" lists of some horror stalwarts, and may even be unknown to younger and newer faces to the horror scene.

This was one of the last films that Mario Bava would make, and it is a culmination of a lifetime of work. Even though the movie's essence can be boiled down to a horror shocker, each of the film's individual parts are given the respect and professionalism that would be seen in a high art or dramatic picture. Bava has always been known as one who uses color to manipulate and enhance his films, and it is no exception here. The music plays a critical part in setting moods and building up suspense. Bava's camerawork pulls from the well established "unknown killer" motifs and makes them his own, which set the stage for future directors and cinematographers to mutate to their own needs.

Any horror fan owes it to themselves to give this film, and Mario Bava, the full credit and respect that it deserves, and that even if it doesn't become a permanent part of your home collection, that it is seen at least once for historical purposes. When watching this, try to keep in mind when it was made practically no one had done anything like this before. And guaranteed, no one will see the ending coming, nor has anyone had the balls since to make an ending quite like BAY OF BLOOD. The couple being double-impaled on the bed while having sex is just icing on the bloody cake.

Above you can see one of the first images of Ghostface in action in SCREAM 4, here stalking Courteney Cox as reporter Gale Weathers.

The new film sees the return of cast members Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, along with a group of new stars - Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Rory Culkin, Nico Tortorella, Anthony Anderson, and Marielle Jaffe - who can hopefully stay alive long enough to figure out the new rules to this one-of-a-kind horror franchise.

Director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson bring the latest entry in their slasher franchise to the big screen April 15th.

The slasher franchise that could from Norway, COLD PREY, is back with its third entry this time detailing the origin of the series' killer, Geir Brath. COLD PREY 3 is set to open in its native country October 15th. Above you'll find two teaser posters for the film, and below you'll find the most recent teaser trailer.

The original COLD PREY is currently available in the states and is well worth a watch. No better time than the Halloween season to invest in a new series, eh? Sadly the sequel still hasn't found domestic distribution.

Deon Taylor's CHAIN LETTER has been plagued with official release date delays since it started showing at film festivals at the beginning of the year. It is now scheduled to finally open October 1st, to help kick off the official 2010 Halloween season.

The film chronicles the plight of six friends who receive a mysterious chain letter via text messaging and in their email accounts from a maniac who's hunting down teenagers who fail to forward his online chain letter. The maniacal game pits friend against friend as they race to beat rules that seem impossible to escape, as the master behind the chain letter uses the teens' own digital technology to track their movement. Someone will break the chain. Its just a matter of who, and when.

The film includes Nikki Reed, Betsy Russell and Bai Ling, plus horror favorites Brad Dourif (the voice of Chucky; Sheriff Brackett in RZ's HALLOWEEN) and Keith David (THE THING, THEY LIVE). Check out the latest teaser trailer below.

Earlier this week we showed you the official HATCHET 2 movie poster. Now, feast your eyes on the official red band trailer for HATCHET 2, coming from Dark Sky Films October 1st.

Its a little self-serving to director Adam Green, with plenty of push for the HATCHET franchise to become bigger than it ever will be, but the clips from the actual movie to hint at making good on delivering the carnage that has been promised with this unrated feature.

Here's your first look at the official HATCHET 2 movie poster.

In HATCHET 2, Marybeth escapes the clutches of the deformed, swamp-dwelling iconic killer Victor Crowley. After learning the truth about her family's connection to the hatchet-wielding madman, Marybeth returns to the Louisiana swamps along with an army of hunters to recover the bodies of her family and exact the bloodu revenge against the bayou butcher.

HATCHET 2 opens October 1st.

In a world in which Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Freddy Krueger exist, a young man named Leslie Vernon is preparing to become the newest name in serial killers. Following him around as he sets up for the night on which he will strike is journalism grad student Taylor and her two-man film crew, who are fully documenting Leslie's preparation to become a horror legend, from his cardiovascular workouts, to his methodical choosing of his victims, to his complete rigging of the house where the murders will take place. He carefully plants the seeds of the back story and curse that will be associated with his name, and even introduces Taylor and company to his mentor, a serial killer who has since retired. But on the night of the murders as Leslie sets to work, Taylor feels something deep within her - Leslie Vernon must be stopped!

Move over SCREAM, there is a new kid on the self-aware horror block. Building from a base previously set up by the serial killer mockumentary MAN BITES DOG and employing the laundry list of well-known horror cliches and motifs, debut director and writer Scott Glosserman energetically takes on the horror genre with one of the most unique entries to the slasher world in quite some time.

The film starts off with Taylor discussing the world in which the film takes place, bringing realistic credence to the mythical kings of killers of the past thirty years and bringing them all into one universe. During this opening, film footage of the real Elm Street and the streets on which HALLOWEEN took place are briefly seen, plus a very quick cameo by a certain hockey mask wearing actor. It helps get the film right up to running speed, and instills in the back of our mind a collective set of rules that must be followed in this universe. Plus, it is an encouraging wink to the horror fans that this movie is for us.

Behind Leslie Vernon is relative newcomer Nathan Baesel, who makes his film debut here, and is very eager to please the viewers. His happy-go-lucky attitude, with just a hint of underlying sinisterism, is a biting contrast to what one would suspect to find behind the mask of a serial killer. Via Glosserman and co-writer David J. Stieve's script, Baesel is able to go into great detail about the preparation it takes to be a killer, gives concrete evidence to just how killers are able to always be in the right spot at the right time, thus giving a further nod to Ben, the serial killer of MAN BITES DOG. Baesel has great presence and chemistry, and when he dons his mask, outfit, and gets a hold of his scythe, he truly does transform into a variation on every masked killer to grace the silver screen.

The script also lets a little steam off during a conversation Leslie has with mentor, Eugene. In these discussions, as Eugene gives a history lesson to Taylor about the evolution of the serial killer, he is actually talking about the evolution of the slasher genre. He discusses in the late sixties, how killers would just travel from town to town, starting over each time, which is a thinly veiled recollection of a pre-sequel horrors. He then goes on to praise how Myers, Voorhees, and Krueger revolutionized how killers operate, and lambastes what he calls sloppy "one-hit wonders", in what is easily seen as both paying respect to the height of the slasher genre and condemning of those that were merely hopping on the bandwagon.

The final act of BEHIND THE MASK takes an interesting twist which may irk some viewers, but is the only logical way for the film to end. Instead of merely standing by and documenting the carnage, Taylor decides to stop Leslie before he can complete his masterpiece. Their cameras turn off, and suddenly the movie switches gears from mockumentary to an actual horror movie. If you can let yourself get wrapped up in it momentum, Glosserman pulls off the sudden style change surprisingly well, employing a slicker look and pulling out all the horror conventions that one would expect, down to the very... last... shot.

With MACHETE hitting theatres next weekend and the GRINDHOUSE double-feature about to hit Blu-Ray, the question once again rises as to which of the infamous faux-trailers will become the next real movie.

As the title will no doubt imply, it looks like Eli Roth is prepping to draft a full script for his faux-movie THANKSGIVING. While doing a press release for THE LAST EXORCISM Roth had this to say:

"I've been working on the script with my co-writer, Jeff Rendell, who plays the pilgrim in the trailer. But Jeff has been working. I said that his deal is he has to work on the script while I'm promoting THE LAST EXORCISM, and as soon as I'm done in mid-September he's going to fly to California, we're going to sit down, and bang out the script."

Roth has been talking about doing an official version of THANKSGIVING basically since GRINDHOUSE was released in 2007, so its nice to see him make good on his word.

There's currently no talk from Rob Zombie or Edgar Wright to respectively bring WEREWOLF WOMEN OF THE SS or DON'T to a cinema house near you.

Here's a look at three newly released images from Wes Craven's MY SOUL TO TAKE

In the sleepy town of Riverton, legend tells of a serial killer who swore he would return to murder the seven children born the night he died. Now, 16 years later, people are disappearing again. Has the psychopath been reincarnated as one of the seven teens, or did he survive the night he was left for dead? Only one of the kids knows the answer.

Adam "Bug" Heller (Max Thierot) was supposed to die on the bloody night his father went insane. Unaware of his dad’s terrifying crimes, he has been plagued by nightmares since he was a baby. But if Bug hopes to save his friends from the monster that’s returned, he must face an evil that won’t rest ... until it finishes the job it began the day he was born.

Wes Craven's MY SOUL TO TAKE is set to open in theatres October 29th 2010.

The legend of Victor Crowley has haunted the Louisiana bayou on the outskirts of New Orleans ever since the young and deformed Victor was accidentally murdered by his father, as he tried to save him during a fire. Now, they say that the ghost of Victor roams the area of his abandoned home, and murders anyone who gets too close. But Ben, along with his buddy Marcus, have no idea of this curse as they take a night time boat ride through the swamp via a voodoo shop tourist trap. Along with a loving married couple, a sleazy director and his two bimbo actresses who flash their breast on command, and a young woman who does not appear to be on the tour for fun, they are about to discover that there is truth behind every legend. And sometimes truth hurts. A lot.

From the very get go of writer and director Adam Green's horror project, it was hyped as a return to old school horror, and a return to championing the slasher antagonist. Green went so far as to get Robert Englund and Tony Todd in cameo performances, and the monstrously burly Kane Hodder to step into the shoes of Victor. Did he succeed? Well, if your idea of "old school" horror is ripping off the countless low-budget slasher clones that permeated drive-ins and video stores in the 80's that were already ripping off FRIDAY THE 13th, then yes, yes he did. Almost.


Green major problem with HATCHET is that he is purposely trying to make a film that creates shallow characters that you want to see die, setting up gratuitous nudity with a wink to the camera, and trying to create a new slasher anti-hero that will automatically be embraced by the fans. He is trying to create a film that you'd find on some dusty shelf in a mom-and-pop video store twenty years ago. But the films he is lovingly try to xerox never set out to be "bad" and never set out to obtain cult stats, it was only through the very nature of their limited budget, crew and cast and luck that they naturally became the schlock we so adore.

However, in Green's defense, there can be no denying the energy the man has for the genre, or his determination to see his vision come to the screen, however flawed it may be. This comes through the most in his dedication to using purely prosthetic and in-camera effects to achieve his visceral and brutal kills. Sadly, it takes almost fifty minutes of the roughly eight-minute running time to get there. First, the audience must wade through a knowingly corny script and annoying characters that you quickly realize are just lambs literally being driven to the slaughter. Most of the characters purposely grate against the skin, while the rest are just dull.


Once the carnage begins, Green lets loose what is obviously his key reason for making HATCHET, and that is setting up one gore-tastic murder sequence after another. Knowing beforehand there would be no MPAA to get in the way, Green goes for absolute broke as he gives each of his characters a caro syrup drenched demise that will put a smile on just about ever gorehound's face. Heads are popped off, limbed are torn asunder, and a belt-sander is put to good use on one victim's face just for starters. Victor Crowley's make-up, which looks very close to Jason Vorhees circa FRIDAY THE 13th PART 2, looks great, and his tattered clothes leave plenty of room for his deformed body to poke through. Kane Hodder, of course, dominates the screen every time he pops up. The man is in the business of being a killing machine, and business is good!

Green tries to stick to the "rules" he knows so well, and never for a second contemplates adding something or trying to put his own mark on the genre, which quickly devolves into a series of connected skits you can guess the ending of pretty early on. And with no characters to even route for, let alone care about, the whole thing becomes little more than a special effects resume reel to shop around. While it makes for an enjoyable but rather forgettable viewing (again, almost succeeding in the "old school horror" department), HATCHET should never have received the hype or praise that it did, nor does it achieve its self proclaimed moniker. It is the ultimate fan film made with professional equipment, from the story an eight-year old who has just been exposed to horror make up. No more and no less.

In anticipation of Devil's Due Publishing mini-series HALLOWEEN: THE FIRST DEATH OF LAURIE STRODE and the release anniversary of the original film, a 48-page anthology special has been put together entitled HALLOWEEN: 30 YEARS OF TERROR. This special includes five short stories written by HALLOWEEN fanatic and director of the documentary HALLOWEEN: 25 YEARS OF TERROR Stefan Hutchinson.

Within these five stories you'll discover how the lives of Laurie Strode, Tommy Doyle and Dr. Sam Loomis all had their lives changed by those fateful events that unfolded on October 31st, 1978.

In "Trick Or Treat", you'll find out what happens when Tommy Doyle and Lindsay Wallace scream at the top of their lungs all the way to the McKenzie's house. "Visiting Hours" reveals the fate of poor Laurie. Michael Myer's first person view in the opening scene of the original film remains a horror touchstone, and in "P.O.V." artist Jim Daly lets one of Michael's victims share that perspective. Learn what Tommy Doyle is up to as an adult in "Tommy's Web", with a surprising departure that becomes the best story in the book. Finally, in "Repetition Compulsion" it is 1989 and Dr. Sam Loomis waits patiently for the inevitable return of The Shape in a story that most perfectly captures the heartbeat of the film series' motifs.

Hutchinson's love for the source material is undeniable as he envisions what has happened "off screen" to the characters that have been touched by the soulless evil that is Michael Myers. After reading this special, as well as his previous mini-series NIGHTDANCE and the upcoming FIRST DEATH..., it is pretty clear that Hutchinson should have been given reign over at least one of the sequels or even blessed with the HALLOWEEN remake. Whether your a supporter or detractor of Rob Zombie's vision, it is clear that had Hutchinson been in command, there would have been a lot less bickering amongst horror fans.

Yet the book is not without its faults. The rapid pace of each story, coupled with the short length of each gives the book a jerky start-stop-start rhythm which is made worse by the fact that there is no bumper to alert the reader when a new story is starting. In addition, the scratchy and amateur looking art of Brett Weldele on "Visiting Hours" almost completely ruins what should be a highlight of the book given its call for repeating iconic image motifs and its focus on Laurie.

For HALLOWEEN die-hards and even those that consider themselves more than casual fans, HALLOWEEN: 30 YEARS OF TERROR is definitely worth picking up and marks another success for Hutchinson as he continues nightmare of Michael Myer's saga. Just be sure to have the soundtrack playing quietly in the background to get the theme just right.

...to a comic book store near you. Earlier this year, Halloween: Nightdance brought the exploits of The Shape to the funny books, and now writer Stefan Hutchinson is at it again with the soon to be published Halloween: The First Death of Laurie Strode, with Fright Rags artist Jeff Zornow set to illustrate.

The story will take place in 1979, following the events of HALLOWEEN and HALLOWEEN II, and chronicle what happens to Laurie after that fateful night. Hutchinson has noted that the story "also fills in a lot of back-story for fans of the films."

Looks promising!

When professional ice skater Samantha’s wedding plans are splashed across the newspaper, a grizzled-looking man sees the announcement and makes a trek to from northern England down into London. Once there, he begins to torment Samantha, starting with the placement of a bloody knife at her wedding reception. He continues his psychological games with phone calls and even places an old photo of Samantha’s mother in her house where she will see it. Samantha tries to explain to her new husband that she is being followed, but hesitates to give him any real details.

Worried for her safety, Samantha finally turns to her friend Leonard for advise. She admits to him that she knows the man, who went to jail for murdering her mother and now Samantha thinks he is after her. Leonard is skeptical, and brushes it off as purely an over-active imagination. But when people close to Samantha start showing up murdered in a most gruesome fashion, she knows that it is only a matter of time before she will again have to come face-to-face with her past, and that this time she may not survive.

Read my full review at The DVD Lounge!

Eight high school friends have a game that they like to play, which is a modified game of hide and seek, where a secret killer tries to murder all the other players before being discovered. When they aren't allowed to play in their houses anymore, they sneak into a self-storage facility before it closes, with the intention of playing all night once they are locked in.

At first, the new environment provides some extras chills and thrills for the group, but when someone in the building starts playing the game for real, the group begins to pick sides and point fingers at whose to blame. Is it the homeless man they find living in one of the storage units? Collin, the troubled goth that has just joined the group? Or someone else that has yet to emerge from the shadows? The clock is ticking until the doors unlock again, but will anyone be left alive to try and escape?

Find out if this "game" is worth playing at Gorezone.net!

While playing a diabolical game of hide and seek in an abandon building, four friends are joined by another pre-teen. When the four decide to gang up on the poor girl to scare her, she accidentally falls to her death. The four make a pact never to tell anyone about the accident. Now six years later, on the anniversary of Robin's death which happens to coincide with the high school prom night, these four friends are marked for death. As the light in the gym fade and the disco beats start pumping, am axe-wielding masked killer is stalking the halls looking to finally give Robin her justice. But just who is behind the mask? An escaped mental patient that was blamed for Robin's death? Robin's father and principal of the school? Robin's older sister Kim? Or even the school bully? When the spotlight is put on Kim to receive her crown as prom queen, everyone is going to find out!

As one of the earliest movies to take advantage of the slasher craze that make its mark on the early eighties, PROM NIGHT definitely has plenty going for it, and unfortunately against it. The plotline seems somewhat original, or at the very least not absolutely derivative. Jamie Lee Curtis stars as Kim, who looks like she just stepped off of the set for HALLOWEEN, and you half expect her to break into a monologue about the boogeyman at any moment. It also stars Leslie Nielson as the principal, in one of his final "serious roles" before transforming into the comedic genius most of us know him as.

Screenwriter William Gray takes cues from the Italian giallo style as multiple frankly unnecessary subplots are injected to make everyone seem like the potential killer. He takes so much time pushing one suspect that you instantly discount him as the real killer. Between this subplot, and his attempting to build the current relationships of the four teenagers through standard high school bickering and rivalry, there is no time for anything even scary to work its way in until almost an hour into the movie. Even the eerie phone calls and heavy breathing don't seem to bring any threat to the four.

Director Paul Lynch, who has gone on to be a prolific director of sci-fi and horror television shows, cuts his teeth here one of his first movies. For the first two-thirds of the movie, Lynch plays it mostly like a cop show or teen soap drama, and the two dueling storylines almost feel like your flipping back and forth between two movies. Once the prom starts, and the horror begins though, Lynch gets a little more creative with camera usage to build up a bit of tension and sticks to the shadows with some FRIDAY THE 13th inspired POV shots. Nothing ever gets the heart racing too much, but the effort is there.

However, as one of the first films to really go for the newly born slasher target audience, Lynch doesn't know just what to fully exploit to the fullest extent. There is only a brief flash of nudity from one of the victims, though Jamie Lee Curtis does go through a scene with her low-cut bra exposed. The gore level, as well as the body count, are at a minimum, with the only great effect being a decapitation that does deliver the goods at the height of the massacre. The attacks though even have to take a back seat to a dance sequence with Curtis, which goes on for several minutes. Disco horror? Now that will put chills down your spine!

PROM NIGHT retains a strong cult following among slasher enthusiasts, mostly due to its starring of Curtis and its assistance in molding and following the "rules" of horror. Though it has fallen off the radar for most horror lists, definitely check it out at some point. There is plenty of 80's low budget cheese to be had, and it makes for a good history lesson in the evolution of horror over the past thirty years. Plus any movie that has the balls to throw a twelve-year-old out a window into a pane of broken glass has got count for something.

Ten-year-old Michael Myers, the product of a dysfunctional and broken family, has slowly been building up a terrible darkness inside him. Barraded by his stepfather, ignored by his older sister, and picked on at school, Michael finds solace behind a clown's mask and the killing of small animals. On Halloween night, after yet another run-in with bullies, Michael finally takes the next step in becoming a monster as he systemically murders everyone in his house. He is placed in Smith's Grove Sanitarium, under the watchful eye of Dr. Loomis, who try as he may, is unable to tap into Michael.

Almost seventeen years later, Michael has grown into an impossibly strong brute of a man, and has not spoken a word since he was eleven. He has grown fascinated with masks and makes countless paper mache ones in his cell. During a transfer, Michael makes his escape, and after massacring everyone in the sanitarium, escapes. Dr. Loomis, who had recently given up on Michael, knows exactly where he is going, back home to Haddonfield, Illinois. Michael's arrival quickly paints the town in dirty blood red, and he soon focuses his attention on Laurie Strode, his re-christened and adopted baby sister. Dr. Loomis knows that this is his target, but what he'll do once he catches up to her is anyone's guess. [Read My Full Review at Geeks Of Doom]

A brilliant pianist in his mid-thirties and at the peak of his career is diagnosed with a disease that is quickly eroding his mind and degenerating his body at a rapid rate. Spurned by this disease, the ever maddening Robert lashes out at those who know his secret and are too close to his heart. His murders attract the attention of Inspector Datti, who become obsessed with catching a man whose appearance changes every week. Robert, who knows deep within that he must be stopped, but can not bring himself to merely surrender, eggs Datti on in an cat and mouse in which both the lives of Datti's daughter and Robert's pregnant lover at stake.

To many, the name Ruggero Deodato means only two words - CANNIBAL and HOLOCAUST, with a few less knowing his JUNGLE HOLOCAUST and THE HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK. But the director has marched on through the eighties and into the millennium churning out lesser quality works as he distanced himself from his landmark pictures. This is one of those flicks, as Deodato works from a trio of screen writers whose work had been previously brought to the screen by Deodato and Lucio Fulci among others.

This psychological slasher is a bit uneven, as the first half hour starts out in strong giallo fashion with two brutally graphic and impressive murder sequences and what appears to be camera tricks to not only keep the killer's identity a secret, but gives several side characters that will serve as false leads for the audience. This is all disposed of though as Robert is revealed to be the killer, and the film switches gears into a tragedy that watches Robert deteriorate, with some quite convincing make up effects. Robert gets several chances to turn back to his killing stylings, and after several false starts and some hammy silloquies about death and savoring life, the film switches gears back into a thriller, as Robert closes in on his final victim.

Deodato unfortunately blows the gore load pretty early on. The first is an jugular gushing sucker punch as a woman's throat is gashed open by a sword. Another woman is then impaled before being shoved through a pane of glass. The two shocking kills should promise of even greater grue to splash across the screen later in the film, but unfortunately never does, despite Robert's menacing threats to kill the young because they have the lives ahead of them and the elderly for having lived a full life.

Five years after the cool clique of Doddsville High graduates, they return to the high school for what they assume to be their class reunion. What they find though is the school shut down and scheduled for demolition. But these kids won't let a little trespassing get in the way, and break into the school. But what they find awaiting them is a banquet of booze and snacks. As the dopey jocks, sex maniacs and class clowns party down, they remember uber-nerd Marty, who they mercilessly picked on as seniors. And when the group begins to drop dead one by one, they fear that perhaps Marty is the one who set all this up, and is now hunting them down as his ultimate revenge. But a little murder won't stop the drinking, the sex, and one dumb decision after another!

Producers Stephen Minasian and Dick Randall reunite after previously producing PIECES and DON'T OPEN 'TIL CHRISTMAS for one last blood bath. By 1986, the slasher genre was wearing out its welcome, and had become a tired cliche with little more to offer its audiences than some retreads of already seen murder set-ups and some gratuitous nudity of a young starlet hoping to break into the movie business. SLAUGHTER HIGH is certainly one of these movies, and if you did not see it back during its release, or are unfamiliar with its Megadeth inspired VHS cover, you probably don't even know this exists.



A trio of first time writers and directors, George Dugdale, Mark Ezra, and Peter Mackenzie Litten essentially cobble together every high school cardboard stereotype, switch up a few kill scenes just enough to call them their own (okay, there is no mistaking the ALIEN rip-off), and let a shadowed killer that they don't even to hide the identity of roam the halls. They give the audience exactly what they've come for - a high body count, and ludicrous plotline, and boobs. The acting is atrocious, but there are few good effects shots - the best being the stop-motion melting of skin off a skull.

SLAUGHTER HIGH gets not one, but two connections to FRIDAY THE 13th. The first being way-too-obvious joke regarding a hockey mask. This brings in just a few questions of rational for someone looking way too hard at this low-budget time-killer. If the characters are familiar with Jason, his killing ways, and assumedly the conventions of horror, why do they continually split up, voluntarily get left alone, and sneak off for a quick lay? The second connection is composer Harry Manfredini, who gave the world the classic chi-chi-chi-ha-ha-ha. His music here is basically a retread of every music cue from his most famous score except for the aforementioned breathy number, but at least you know you've got at least one competent name attached to the credits.



Horror completists will need to track this down for at least one watch, if for nothing else than to wallow in cinematic cheese at some of its absolute worst. The film offers no scares and little suspense, a few threadbare jokes, and for at the time what must have been to thought of as a clever ending. If you felt burned by APRIL FOOL'S DAY, be prepared for another slap in the face.

Left to rot and essentially be forgotten on the shelves of disappearing video stores, this movie is now available on DVD from Bloodwave. Presented uncut, but unfortunately in full-screen, you'll finally be able to have a digital back up of that nearly worn through VHS tape copy you've been desperately clutching to. And with the original artwork ported over as well, you'll be ready to pop open a Lite and relive a trip to the video store all over again!

Produced for the Starz cable channel, and based in part on the book, Going Tp Pieces: The Rise and Fall Of The Slasher Genre, 1978-1986 by Adam Rockoff, this is part Slasher 101 for those who have not waded very deep into these waters, and part Greatest Kills compilation for those who have been swimming here for a while.

The documentary kicks off with a look at the seminal proto-slasher, PSYCHO, and all the lavish praise it fully deserves. From there, it jumps forward to a dissection of HALLOWEEN and the template for modern horror that the film inadvertently created - teens in peril, a masked killer, POV shots, low-budget, creepy music. It flows smoothly into the release of FRIDAY THE 13th, and the stakes that film played on the 80's, from graphic gore (Tom Savini and his effects get some great screen time) to the "holiday" setting.

When FRIDAY THE 13th started to rake in the cash, it was a mere matter of months before a slew of knock-offs, cash-in's and sequels began to take hold in the early 80's. Films noted here include PROM NIGHT, SLEEPAWAY CAMP, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME and MY BLOODY VALENTINE among countless others.

It is here that the documentary begins to take a look at the effect the slasher/horror genre had on society at the time, the misconceptions of what the genre meant and brought to the screen, and how the genre became another cog in the money-making machine that was go-go greedy 80's. Archival footage of Siskel & Ebert are shown as the two discuss the demerits of the genre, particularly in the way they believed the genre viewed women. They completely fail to notice how it is only women who seem capable of dispatching the antagonist, or that men seem to meet their maker much more often than women.

Much like music had to bow to the power of "Explicit Lyrics" by the power of uninformed moms, so too did the slasher film factory. When SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT began its marketing campaign, the killer, who is dressed as Santa Claus, is prominently promoted. Mothers took the streets picketing theatres and making calls demanding that the film be pulled, because of the harm it could do to the Santa Claus mythos. The marketing was quickly pulled, and the film was basically buried. It was a move that already marked the beginning of the end for the splatter and chaos that was flying across the screen.

By 1984, audiences were looking for something different. Enter Wes Craven, and his almost universally rejected and almost un-produced NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. Before this, films were set in familiar places to the viewer, be it camps, dorms or suburbia, but now it was your dreams that were not safe. The film was an smash, and kept the genre going for a few more great years.

All things must come to a close though, and as the 80 crept into its last years, so too did the slasher genre. The 80's was a decade of greed, and these low-budget features were the perfect product to churn out again and again. Sequels became retreads of previous material, the great icons were become tired and watered down, and merchandise was flooding the market. By 1991, when SILENCE OF THE LAMBS became a huge success and swept the Oscars, no one dared to label it a horror film, due to the stigma attached to the term. Instead, it was a psychological thriller. Nevermind the fact that the boiled down premise is a serial killer is murdering and skinning women, and eventually comes in contact with the film's heroine who stops him.

GOING TO PIECES finishes off with a look at SCREAM and its undeniable influence and revitalization on the horror genre. Again, imitators and cash-in films such as I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER and URBAN LEGEND are looked at, as well as stars that are attached to the film. Before, horror was where new talent broke in to the industry and quickly shaked free of the genre, TV stars were now advancing into horror. The documentary finishes off with a glimpse into today's horror fans, the films that are flooding the market, and speculation as to where the genre is going next.

GOING TO PIECES is a slick, face-paced documentary that tries to cram too much into its 90 minute running time. Most diehard fans that may come across this will probably say in their head after each segment "What about...?" and they are right to do so. Had this been a multi-part mini-series that could take the time to really concentrate and flesh out each segment, it would have been more successful in its approach. The talent attached to this though, is what will really draw in the horror crowd here. John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Sean S. Cunningham, Tom Savini, Betsy Palmer, Felissa Rose (the "girl" from SLEEPAWAY CAMP), Rob Zombie and many others all make poignant commentary on the genre.

As mentioned before, GOING TO PIECES does not skimp on the clips. Half of this documentary is basically a highlights reel of incredible set-ups and kill scenes from all your favorite franchises and a few not-so-well known flicks. Starz is to be commended for not pulling any punches here, and showing some really graphic carnage. The only downside to this is that none of the clips are marked as to what movie they are from, so for instance if you happen to be intrigued by the girl being chainsawed in half and have not already seen PIECES, you would have no idea where it is from.

The final product here is a worthy rental for the entertaining interviews and to maybe catch a few film names that you may have either missed or dismissed, and may need to finally see for archival purposes. If you are a little unfamiliar with the genre, this is a good cheat-sheet to take notes from, so the next time your friends are talking about the double impaling in FRIDAY THE 13th Part 2, you can chime in about how it was stolen from BAY OF BLOOD. However, like many of the films it documents here, GOING TO PIECES is good for about one watch to fill some time on a Saturday night.