I’ve always thought that the best genre satires are created by filmmakers who are, at the end of the day, fans of the material they poke fun at. Horror satires prove no different. 2012’s Cabin in the Woods is a lovely homage to horror cliches and goofs, but no matter how spiteful or pointed the satire, a filmmaker still needs to care. Or else, why bother?
In Martin Owen’s horror satire L.A. Slasher, the title character kills in the fashion of reality TV stars and utilizes hashtags and tweets to convey his maniacal messages to America. There’s not much more to say about the plot here, other than how much of a missed opportunity this film is.
For the most part, Owen plays with meta-narrative and meshes the horror genre with the L.A. of someone like Bret Easton Ellis, but Owen’s result is much less effective and thought provoking. The characters are often stripped of their names and simply given titles, such as Mischa Barton as, “the Actress,” Eric Roberts as, “the Mayor,” etc. As someone who is not only into horror but also the worsening but highly addictive headache of tweet culture, I wanted to love L.A. Slasher with all my heart.
As someone who is not only into horror but also the worsening but highly addictive headache of tweet culture, I wanted to love L.A. Slasher with all my heart.
The first big problem for Owen’s slashfest is a man named Wes Craven. Scream is a franchise that is already well developed in the horror canon, and handles slasher satire with mastery. Owen’s piece doesn’t even come close to being as effective, and feels pointless in this regard. Funny enough, MTV is remaking Craven’s masterpiece into a TV series, which I can guarantee will end up as ultimately shallow as Slasher.
Slasher makes the mistake of focusing a bit too much on the meta elements of its own narrative, and at this point in modern society, the play on celebrity culture and hashtags at this basic of a level just seems stale and painfully conventional. Technology moves fast, while trends move faster. This film might’ve been more ripe a few years back, but only slightly so. This film simply feels outdated and out of style, in the most bizarre way possible.
Fortunately, there are a few positives, including Dave Bautista, who comes through again with some nice comedic acting chops, as seen in Guardians of the Galaxy. The film’s neon vibe marketing was also a neat tool, and makes me wish it lived up to that promotion. Some of the synth-jams in the film are also slightly dance-in-your-seat-able.
L.A. Slasher missed some big opportunities to explore deeper into the celebrity subject matter, as well as take a more artistic approach stylistically to the genre. If you’re a die hard fan of slashers, you may want to check this out for a small bit of fun. Otherwise, it feels like a stale satire on the tweet generation, reality TV models, and big time L.A. stars who can’t help but get into loads of drugs and trouble. Meh.
L.A. Slasher opens this Friday in Los Angeles at Citywalk Stadium 19 and AMC Atlantic Times Square 14.
