Slaughtered (2010)

Left Films was kind enough to send me a screener of Kate Glover's "Slaughtered", and for that I thank them, and her. Unfortunately, it will probably be the last screener I receive from said studio, as I can't in good conscience give this film a good mark. "Slaughtered" follows a group of friends that work at a local pub in Australia. Soon, someone starts picking them, and the pub's regulars off one by one. That's honestly as deep as the plot goes.

When I read a press release that describes a film as a "gory slasher", I expect them to make good with their promise. Yes, this was technically a slasher. In fact, it's so by the numbers, this advertised fact becomes it's downfall. Every genre set piece known to man is on display here, from the masked killer in a duster, wielding some odd choice of weapon, to the "Scooby Doo" scare scene, of survivors stepping over the killer's "dead" body. It's as if they had a slasher marathon, and made a checklist to guide them. Midway through, I felt "I know why you screamed last halloween" would have been a more descriptive title for the film.

Was there gore? I suppose. Technically there are some bloody kills, but the editing was done in such a strange way, that I don't think I ever actually saw anything. There are some after shots of brutal murders, and one odd scene that involves swallowing glass that I'm not sure is physically possible. Overall though, for something that promised to be gory, it was pretty underwhelming.

The acting was ok, I suppose. The main 2 girls played their roles well, and were fairly easy on the eyes. Some of the extras though, I have no clue what they were doing. Every now and then someone would walk into the frame, and just stare into space like "Snowball" from "Clerks". There were several odd scenes, where our main characters are running around, covered in blood, being chased by a masked killer, and the pub regulars are all taking a nap in unison? It appeared that way, whether or not this was the intended effect, I cannot say.

There was some severe problems with the audio, at least in the version that I saw. If they have this corrected in the retail version of the disc, then I apologize, but it was very distracting for me. Every time something loud happened, it went from fairly clear quality, to sounding like it was recorded using a 90s cellular phone.

I can see that director Kate Glover has sincere love for this genre of film, but unfortunately, that doesn't always translate into a good movie. I'll watch for future projects from her, and hope that she's given more support in order to bring her vision to light, but I can't recommend this film to anyone, as there's not really anything to enjoy.

3/10