Slash (2003)

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Eradicating its South African origins, pretending that the open plains of the country are those of America's Midwest, this is an imitation of an American slasher movie with ageing character actor Steve Railsback imported to lend minor star power. His image and performance are eerily similar to that of Anthony Perkins in the latter Psycho sequels.Slasher formula dictates that we have a killer, a group of youths and an isolated location in which to kill them one by one. The killer is a combination of both the Creeper, first seen in Jeepers Creepers (2001), in his scarecrow-like clothes, and Leatherface, wearing a crudely constructed mask. His weapon of choice is a scythe, giving him an additional reaper quality.The youths themselves, here twenty-somethings, are members of a band called Slash whose lead vocalist is the protagonist. He's a typically sculpted, Whalberg-esque type whose aesthetic potential is exploited in one especially gratuitous woodcutting scene.His uncharacteristically feisty girlfriend is the bass player, played by British Zuleikha Robinson, familiar from the short-lived "Lone Gunmen" series (2002). The group is rounded out with a guitarist, drummer, keyboardist (!), groupie and manager. Circumstance brings all these characters together to play 'unravel the mysterious past and discover the identity of the killer' on a farm, eliminating requirements for extras and exploitation of a selection of buildings and cornfields.It is clear that this is not some cheap wannabe, but a genuine attempt to create a respectable genre entry. This is a straight but tongue-in-cheek movie, there's even a farm owner called MacDonald and the characters joke about this just as we would. Sex and gore are present but in keeping with the more subdued nature of the recent American films, as evidenced by its 15 certificate, which it shares with the likes of Jason X (2001) and Halloween Resurrection (2001). While the content may be cliché, it is in the striking cinematography that the film truly shines. Cinematographer Mark Lennard shoots the rural locations with the same eye as Daniel Pearl, including a striking use of low angle shots and a sharp focus on the clouds in the sky.The patented mix of postmodern slasher conventions, including pop culture dialogue, unfolds over just under 90 minutes. The hero returns home, uncovers his family's dark past and puts a stop to the dastardly "Harvest of Blood." Setting the tone with a stylishly shot 'couple get killed' scene, director Neal Sunderstrom delivers everything we want from a film like this and caps it off with chase through a corn field by a threshing machine and typical twist ending.At times Sunderstrom seems to be blatantly breaking the rules of the genre, with the only two sexually active members of the group surviving the carnage, but this is nowhere near the standards of the best in the genre. There is an attempt to take emphasis from gore and lean toward performance, but unfortunately the cast are unable to compliment the standard set by Railsback and the film disappoints as a result. While the idea of making the protagonists a band is an interesting one it ultimately weakens the clichéd narrative; the beginning and ending of the film are drawn out with insufferably dire ballads.

This really could have been a bit more interesting. There was a lot of farm boy humor in the first hour, but not much of anything else. Nick Boraine (The Breed) was really good.It was almost an hour into the movie before it started getting good. But, it never got bloody, except for the harvester.Nick Boraine, Steve Railsback (Rest Stop: Don't Look Back, The Stunt Man) and Zuleikha Robinson (Hidalgo) all did very good jobs, and the music was really good. The only thing that really detracted was the lack of blood. How can you have a slasher movie without it?

A young boy, playing in his papa's barn, witnesses his grandfather Jethro's secret operation..extracting human blood from victims he wheels in on a gurney to supply that special ingredient which is said to help the crops multiply(..a form of voodoo adopted by superstitious farmers desperate for successful crops). When grandpa wishes to *scold* the child, a lantern turns over setting fire to the hay within the barn. The boy escapes but Jethro is not so lucky..engulfed in flames, we figure his fate is sealed. We later find that a couple driving to a costume party, nearly hitting a cow in the road, bursting through a fence into a field, fall prey to a psycho, donning the disguise of a scarecrow, wielding a scythe. Later, we discover that the child has fully grown into the lead singer of a rock band called, appropriately enough, Slash. Mac(James O'Shea), after performing a gig, receives word from "paw" that his aunt had passed from farmhand, Billy Bob(Nick Boraine). Taken from his father's farm by his mother, Mac decides to attend his aunt's funeral, and thus reawakening the painful memory he had buried regarding Jethro and that traumatic day in the barn. Mac's father, Jeremiah(Steve Railsback), is proud to have his son home, despite the ordeal that prompted his return. Mac's band come with him, their tour bus pulling into Jeremiah's farm presenting quite a contrast, to say the least. But, Mac finds that he enjoys spending time here despite his band's reservations towards such a rural setting. Particularly token black character, Jesse(Jocelyn Broderick), who certainly feels out of place, representing your typical thuggish stereotype, even carrying a gun on his person. When the *scarecrow killer* targets his posse, Mac will have to decide which is his true family, pops or the band. In a major development, the tour bus has been tampered with the injector pump damaged by someone, obviously the killer. It seems that Jeremiah's harvest just might bring forth plentiful crops..I'm such a fan of Steve Railsback that I'll just about watch any type of dire entertainment he participates in. Slash is a very tame slasher movie with typically obnoxious characters, the geeky band members & their roadies. Railsback has a little fun with his redneck farmer role, another stereotype very similar to his ED Gein portrayal. As he's entering old age, Railsback sounds a lot like Walter Brennan. I enjoyed how the director shoots him and Railsback understands just how to deliver his corny hick dialogue with just the right amount of aplomb. Nick Boraine amazingly injects a nice amount of innocence and amiability to his stereotypical role of dirty-teethed, filthy farmhand Billy Bob, often the object of Jesse's ridicule. The film really plays off the theme of clashing worlds..the "fish out of water" division between the urban and rural. The killer mostly commits his murderous deeds off-screen with director Neal Sundström pulling his camera back probably due to lack of funds. An ax is also used on victims. My favorite kill-scene would be when the killer chases after the remaining members of the band, not yet murdered, with a crop machine "threshing" one victim, with the remains "fertilizing" the field! No nudity although a female groupie, who travels with the band, does have sex with the guitarist(..it, just like the murders, is filmed in a rather tame manner). I suggest watching this slasher for Railsback, who really provides most of the entertainment. The film presents three likely possibilities of who the killer might be..Billy Bob, Mac, and, of course, Jeremiah. Although you might be minorly surprised at who it is, you won't be blown to smithereens when his identity is uncovered.

It was made on the cheap in South Africa, what does everyone expect? Yeah, the scarecrow was not unmasked... so what? I am sure you have seen burned people in movies before. The mystery was subtle, the characters were fine. I really enjoyed the music. The story was somewhat unoriginal, but it was worth my time and I did find it acceptable.I liked the music... I have head of some of them, like Zen Arcade. It was not heavy metal, which, quite honestly, I expected given the title. I find it irritating how people like to give bad reviews, claiming they are unoriginal, boring, lack of gore, etc. The cow was a CGI? Give me a break.... who cares if it was. It is my opinion that there can never be the perfect movie, slasher, horror, etc... I am a horror buff. There will always be a problem with the amount of gore, violence, the perfect star, acting, etc.... Just take it for what it was and enjoy the attempt.