Slotherhouse (Film Review)

We all know the story of the creature, the monster, loose in the enclosed building. There’s no way to escape, despite there being many exits but those unlucky souls trapped inside are doomed no matter what they do. We are also familiar with slasher horror films. A mysterious person or entity kills a group of people one by one in violent and bloody ways. Mashing up horror genres with comedy isn’t something new. However, having one of the slowest animals on Earth become the creature of the feature, as well as the antagonist slasher, is one of the most bizarre twists on film.

Desperate for popularity points so that she can become her sorority’s president, senior Emily adopts a three-toed sloth, making it the house mascot. But as her popularity rises, so do the number of mysterious deaths and disappearances within the house. Realising too late the havoc and bloodshed the sloth can cause, Emily and her remaining Sigma Lambda Theta sisters must fight for their lives.

This is exactly what any horror fan could hope for; a murderous sloth who takes out a sorority one by one. The premise alone is hilarious to comprehend, and once you see the sloth named Alpha in action, you can settle into the film. It isn’t all kills and thrills. There are mentions of animal cruelty and criticizing those who do try to keep these wild animals as pets but our would-be heroine still keeps Alpha the sloth for the ‘cool’ points. It takes a few violence incidents to convince her that maybe she should have taken the animal to a shelter. These moments of sanity are needed and thankfully don’t steer away from the madness that happens throughout. But aside from the sloth kills, the rest of the plot is standard paint by numbers slasher horror fodder. The characters are pretty much stereotypes that fit their purpose, and the setting is an easy one to swallow. It is entertaining to see the cast know exactly what kind of film they’re in, with no one taking anything too seriously. Plus, there are some genuinely comedic moments, even when the sloth isn’t on screen.

As this is a slasher horror with a sloth, you would hope that the numerous, and there are so many, kills would be inventive. Yet each death just follows the same pattern and not much imagination has gone into these kills.  It is here where you start to feel that the premise is more entertaining than the entire film.

Still, this hammed up creature feature slasher horror is ridiculous enough to enjoy if you’re not looking for anything too engrossing. At least everyone involved seems to know it. Fully immersing themselves into their roles and the belief that one of the slowest animals on Earth is a killing machine.

Slotherhouse will be available on Digital Download from 12th February 2024