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Night of the Slasher

Do not adjust your set! No, this is not a sleazy film made by a webcam girl and if you get past the first 30 seconds, the film’s clever undressing of the slasher film will be more eye popping than Lily Berlina’s booty.

 

Night of the Slasher is a short film that sees Berlina nail some of the genre’s tropes to capture a killer and it just about works as she settles through a checklist of actions to attract a serial killer to her door.

 

From Scream and Cabin in the Woods to Scary Movie to Young Frankenstein, the horror genre has had its fair share of self referential favourites. It’s a known fact that there’s a set criteria for the slasher genre and nothing points this out more perfectly than Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s 2012 hit but when you think it’s all been done and dusted, comes another film to tickle the brain cells.

 

Quirky yet violent, there’s a tone to Shant Hamassian’s short that feels more akin to the ghostface of Scary Movie than that of Wes Craven’s own parody of the genre but rest assured, there’s room for more as the film teases a round two with a flick of the notepad revealing a new checklist. Everything from the checklist to the killers mask (a brilliant touch) perfectly captures the essence of a slasher film with as much thought given to delivering a tense thriller as much as a spoof of the genre Hamassian so evidently loves.

 

Beneath the layers of mindless violence and masked mayhem is a film that plays to an audience who really have seen it all from the slasher genre and so comes at a time when people want to see fresh ideas and self awareness which is missing in many remakes and attempts to capture a golden age of cinema.

Director: Shant Hamassian

Released: 2015

Running Time: 11 minutes

Age Rating: TBC

 

Reviewer: Martyn Wakefield

RATING


Plot: 5
Fear: 3
Gore: 3


R4/5​

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