"Slash" (2002, New Africa Media Films, Neal Sundström) is a rock band slasher flick set in the American countryside. It's also an 'Old Macdonald Had a Farm....' horror...
'Slash' are a young rock band on tour. After a show, a strange fellow called Billy-Bob shows up to inform lead singer Joseph 'Mac' Macdonald (James O'Shea) that his aunt has died and that his father Jeremiah Macdonald (Steve Railsback) requests his attendance at the funeral.
Mac and his band jump on their tour bus (while playing a riveting game of 'celebrity death cause') and head to Macdonald's farm. At the funeral a crazy Christian lady, Jesse (Jocelyn Broderick) begins yelling at Jeremiah about his cursed family and the legend of his father Jethro (Danny Keogh), who murdered people and harvested their blood to feed his crops... Apparently, this began due to an old slave superstision that if you sprinkled chicken blood on crops they'd grow better... it appears the Macdonalds took this tradition a couple of steps further...
The band stay the night, only to become the latest victims of Old Macdonald and his blood thirsty farm.
A relatively good opening scene with young Mac (Adam Woolf) spying his grandfather's handiwork before an accidental barn fire killed ol' Jethro (or did it? Dun dun dun!) is kind of spoiled by a severly overacted scene where two teens are murdered in the corn field while on their way to a nightclub Halloween party. Of course, any sane person would feel up their girlfriend's boob after a car crash.... Ray's a dick. Also, if I ever see a scarecrow with clearly human teeth, I'm not going to pee next to it! I'm going to run like heck! Geese!
Some stilted editing ruins an otherwise pretty good running-away-from-the-killer-through-a-corn-field-and-cemetery-in-a-short-skirt scene.
'Slash' have just the worst stage presence ever! They're way too pleased with themselves through the whole boring first track. And the typically portrayed big-headed axeman annoys me. No matter how good a guitarist you are, if you can't be bothered to be on stage for the gig and are too busy getting jiggy with a hippy groupie chick, you're outta the band!
I did enjoy the changing room papered with iconic band posters though; System of a Down and Creed.
Like all low budget slashers, 'Slash' feels the need to mention and parody several famous slasher genre films...
The awkward romance between bassist chick, Suzie (Suleikha Robinson), and Mac is odd. And her idea of pillow talk is disturbing; a threesome between he, she and his grandfather's spirit!!! Really???
I did enjoy Jeremiah's character though. He's always 'yanking your chain' and makes a creepy yet likable antagonist.
Billy-Bob was also a pretty interesting character, between taking the mickey out of the band members, being creepy and killing chickens.
Who knew the ultimate death machine was actually the combine harvester?!
I did kind of enjoy the idea of the band having a song called 'Old Macdonald's Farm' though, which also actually included 'ee ii ee ii oh' in the lyrics.
Some, but not all, of the acting in this movie is pretty wooden, and most of the characters are unlikeable, except for Jeremiah, Mac and Billy-Bob. But on the whole, there's a lot of scythe related deaths and the scene with the combine harvester is pretty gruesome.
I can't stomach a horror with too happy an ending though... although I suppose it's not really a happy ending for everyone.
Another bargain bin buy, but it's not the worst I own...
[Picture: New Africa Media Films]
Hani
