In Slotherhouse, a wild sloth from Panama goes on a killing spree when she is welcomed into a sorority. The movie is now streaming on Hulu.
Story
Emily plans to become the House President of her sorority someday, but as long as Brianna, the most popular girl there, is contesting, she stands no chance. Emily doesn’t want to give up, and she does her best to become popular and match Brianna.
When she learns that exotic pet animals help people boast their social media numbers and that their sorority needs a kind house president, Emily decides to take the risk of her friends turning on her and challenge Brianna.
Emily picks up a sloth from the house of an exotic animal seller, unaware that he has been killed.
The sloth gives Emily the popularity she needs to rival Brianna, as everyone adores and wants to pet it, but, under Emily’s nose, the sloth begins murdering the girls at the sorority, turning the place into a slaughterhouse.
Performances
The cast of Slotherhouse knows what they have signed up for. Hence, the generic and stereotypical characters are played with such dedication that one understands their importance for the movie.
Lisa Ambalavanar, as Emily, carries the dreams of her characters in her eyes. However, she fails to hint at the insecurity that her character has. Sydney Craven, as Brianna, on the other hand, speaks every word as if she means it. She does justice to her mean girl character, who runs away when trouble comes for her.
Positives
Slotherhouse has a compelling drama about what takes place at a sorority. The dreams and aspirations of Emily and the challenges one faces at the sorority form a good standalone story until the sloth comes into the picture.
The film, much like every other horror comedy in this genre, is quite self-aware of the absurd idea it is putting on the screen. Alpha, the sloth in the film, goes on quite an adventure that no sloth in the world will go on.
If viewers accept the film for what it is, they will enjoy watching Alpha use a mobile phone to locate her target, drive a car, and pop a drink.
Moving on, the film is very creative when it comes to making the character of Alpha scary and vicious. A viewer can call it a parody, but some good camera techniques are used to show Alpha’s arrival.
For example, when she targets her first victim at the sorority, the lights flicker, and one sees her hopping from one place to another before attacking her target.
Another horror technique used would be when Alpha slowly approaches her target in a hospital and takes a picture before finishing the job. It can be said that Slotherhouse uses the old tricks in the book and still manages to make these breadcrumbs count.
Negatives
The antics of Alpha can become too annoying for some fans. This becomes true in the end, as Alpha refrains from dying so easily. Also, not all jumpscares of Alpha work. Some are just too loud and unbearable, as one can predict Alpha’s next move.
Towards the end, it seems like Slotherhouse attempts to establish Alpha as a cool and funny character, but it doesn’t quite work.
Verdict
Slotherhouse is enjoyable to an extent if its silliness is accepted. The sloth promises hilarious as well as annoying scenes. In the end, she fails to leave much impact. However, if the sloth as a killer is removed from the equation, the film might have failed as a slasher, considering how generic it is.
Slotherhouse
Director: Matthew Goodhue
Date Created: 2023-10-15 12:30
3
Also Read: Slotherhouse summary and ending explained