Slaughter Studios (2002) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)
aka: The Haunting of Slaughter Studios

Slaughter Studios is a pretty sweet little low budget straight-to-vid made earlier this year. They managed to work within a genre which can be delivered on the cheap - the self-referential genre-mocking comedy/slasher film, ala Scream.

The plot:

The wrecking ball is about to claim Slaughter Studios, a place that once churned out low budget genre films en masse, until the day when somebody substituted a real gun for a prop and caused the death of a grade-b idol. Some people say that the dead star's ghost still haunts the place. We follow the fate of a cast and crew which intends to film one more really bad grade-b monster film in the studio on the night before it is torn down. Locked into the studio until daybreak, they are killed one by one.

The plot and characterizations are forgettable but unimportant. In fact, the film makes no bones about admitting that the solution to the murder is illogical and facile.

NUDITY REPORT
There is copious female nudity: five women show their breasts. Lorissa McComas, Serra Ellison, Eva Frajko, Tara Killian and Laura Otis. Ms Killian also does full body nudity, front and rear.

DVD info from Amazon.

  • no widescreen

  • there is a full-length director's commentary!

But the film is very watchable, for the following reasons:

(1) good, thorough storyboarding and creative use of lighting and camera angles to cover up a zero budget

(2) some creative deaths, a must in the slasher genre

(3) a few good laughs

(4) lots of good-looking naked chicks photographed clearly and colorfully.

As I see it, that's what grade-b filmmaking is all about: lurid, sleazy fun.

The Critics Vote

  • no reviews online

The People Vote ...

 
The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. (C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by genre fans, while C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie although genre addicts find it watchable). D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, C+. A throwback to the great grade-b T&A films of the 70s and 80s, basically a "hot babes" movie, packaged with a few scares and a few laughs.

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