PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Destined to follow his father’s path, Slasher follows Julio (Sergio Alguacil: Serve and Protect, 2017) as he eagerly awaits the day to join the family business of slaughtering people. Unfortunately for those who cross Julio’s path, business is booming. Soon after receiving his own killing mask for his 18th birthday, Julio gets to practice honing his skills on a group of young people who’ve come to his town to party. Sometimes there are more fun things to cut than a cake!
In an attempt to rekindle their damaged romance, Ursula (Fabiola Muñoz: Contigo no, bicho 2018) and Lucas (Mario Gallardo: Vestidas de Azul 2023) are joined by their friends Lore (Anna Hastings: Mother 2019), Mario (Rafa Blanes: La Sombra 2021), and Shayla (Cristina Bravo: La Petite Mort 2017) on a weekend getaway. The characters don’t seem to mesh well because everyone seems to detest one another. This leads the viewer to ponder on the point as to why are they even going in the first place if they hate each other.
There’s less tension on a packed bus full of drunken sports fans rooting for opposing teams. Lore and Mario are the only truly enjoyable people in the group as they refrain from contributing to the toxicity that lingers amongst the “friends.” They appear to be the only ones there that want to have fun. When they cross paths with Julio, it soon becomes a moral tale that will have Julio questioning if he’s cut out to be a serial killer.
Director and writer Alberto Armas Díaz took a chance at creating a slasher film that bucks the trend of traditional horror cliches by focusing instead on the main antagonist as he goes about making a name for himself as “The Red Demon.” This works mostly as a baseline, but it does suffer heavily from a case of “been there, done that.”
The novel Brother by author Ania Ahlborn features the same premise of a teenager struggling to continue in his family’s long line of carnage and depravity when he falls for a girl who should be his next victim. Another unfortunate similarity to past media is the standout kill in Slasher is a tamer recreation of the infamous phone scene from 2006’s See No Evil. This isn’t something that harms the film or dampens the viewing experience, but it speaks to the idea that despite its attempt to be original, it falls in line with standard cliches.
While it initially appears to be a tad reductive, Slasher does have some fun and unique aspects to it that make it an enjoyable watch. For one, Julio is a great main character to follow as he delves deeper and deeper into madness each time he dons the “Red Demon” mask. Another really interesting story arc that Díaz introduced is the mythology behind why killers adorn their masks. This added a fun sense of world-building that reaches far beyond the cinematic universe of Díaz’s creation and could be applied to any slasher film.
With a small budget, Slasher does a great job at working within those monetary constraints. The acting is well done and the cinematography does help the film feel leaps and bounds above other low-budget slashers. The setting, while simple, is a fully realized locale and believable town that houses not only a dark looming secret but is believable enough to become a tourist getaway destination. There is a lot of creativity used to convey different senses and experiences that the characters go through. Be it small visual cues to enhance the idea of the group being under a hallucinogenic influence or Julio plotting individual scenarios to take them all out.
Unfortunately, there’s one negative that pops up now and again due to its limited budget, limited gore. Despite a great initial first kill, there is a serious lack of blood and guts for a film called Slasher. It appears now and then, but overall most of the kills are done either off-screen or angled in just a way to show nothing more than a slosh of blood.
Is blood really thicker than water? Should Julio continue his family’s legacy and shed the blood of the innocent? Will Julio choose to save the lives of his newly found friend? Will there be any survivors? Watch Slasher and find out for yourself.
