HorRHIFFic 2024: ‘Slasher Hous3: Rebooted’ Review
Stars: Redd Nicholson, Carley Halse, Paris Rivers, Luna Wolf, Lewis Cooper, Cy Henty, Aileen Daly, Pauline Per, Nicholas Vince, Dani Thompson, Jack Glanville | Written and Directed by MJ Dixon
British independent film company Mycho, made up of MJ Dixon and Anna Dixon – the husband and wife filmmaking team behind the Mycho Entertainment Group brand; are back with the third film in the Slasher House series – a film that spawned an entire UNIVERSE of movies, dubbed the Mychoverse, which includes the likes of Pandamonium, The Haunting of Molly Bannister (aka Bannister DollHouse) and the Thorn and Cleaver franchises.
Now I’ll be honest, despite having seen both Pandamonium and The Haunting of Molly Bannister, both of which are spin-offs from the second film in the Slasher House series. A film where Molly Bannister first made her appearance, as did the killer from Pandamonium. The fact that I hadn’t seen the Slasher House films didn’t tarnish my enjoyment of either film, in fact I rather enjoyed both movies – the former was a fun absurd take on the slasher genre, whilst the latter was a slow-paced, creepy, supernatural horror.
But… this is the third film in the core Mychoverse series, which is set to – once again – revisit Project Slasher House, in what is the 10th feature set in the Mycho Films Universe and is also apparently a direct sequel to the original film. Can a newbie to the series keep up? Or should I have gone back and watched the first two films? Only one way to find out!
It’s out of the frying pan and into the fire for our heroes as they discover the truth behind Project Slasher House and H.E.X.A.G.O.N. where Red makes her last stand against an army of Government ops and NEW deadlier killers and the truth will finally be revealed.
Turns out the “Rebooted” in the title is NOT just a gimmick. This third film feels like a restart for the series which started in 2012 and as such it goes some way into explaining what has come before – laying out the Project Slasher House concept, reintroducing Red in THE most succinct way possible – what’s not to get about Red (Redd Nicholson) being called the serial killer of serial killers. Even newcomers to the franchise will get that!
The main crux of Slasher House 3 is a series of “vignettes” set in each house in the aforementioned Project Slasher House, which is run by Red’s father(!), introducing the participants in this particular slice of slasher fun – the survivors of each house being returned to Project Slasher House HQ, all the while Luse (Carley Halse) explaining to Red, and thus the audience, what’s going on. Of course, said survivors are in most cases the killers of the Mychoverse but not all; so only do we get existing Mycho killers from the various Mychoverse films – including a new addition, the killer jester from the short Slaypril Fools Day (and good god is his fourth -wall breaking meta talk oh so amazing. Like Deadpool level funny!) – but the Mychoverse’s heroes are here too, including Eric Jones (Paris Rivers) from the Thorn series AND Amber Hart (Luna Wolf) from the second Slasher House film!
Eventually, Project Slasher House’s true nature is revealed. And frankly, it’s brilliant. It’s also very reminiscent of the superhero genre – something with which these films, the “Mychoverse,” share a lot in common with. MJ Dixon and co. have, over the years, created the kind of multiverse that Marvel and DC would kill for. A series of films, some connected, some unconnected, that all tie together superbly, And they’ve done it on a meagre budget. Like superhero films, Mycho has its heroes and its villains. But, like DC’s Suicide Squad, what if the Mychoverse had its own anti-hero group, made up of serial killing monsters that are the under control of shady government types?!
Brilliant. Just brilliant.
What’s not so brilliant is this film’s length. Not only has writer/director MJ Dixon taken a leaf out of superhero storytelling, but it seems he’s copied the grandiose nature of their filmmaking too, with Slasher House 3 running almost two hours! I get it, there’s a lot to pack in here. Especially considering you’re calling this a reboot of the series. For one, we’ve got the vignettes/chapters that give us the killer’s backstories and motivations; then you’ve got the part of the film that’s essentially getting a new audience up to speed on Red and the whole “slasher house” concept (which as a newcomer to this series I appreciated); then you’ve got this films NEW story… It’s a lot to pack into one film. And, honestly, I can’t see where – to do all the aforementioned – how you could cut this one down. It’s not like it feels that lengthy. There are, at times, some slow spots – mainly in the more explanatory portions of the film but otherwise, the pacing doesn’t really let up.
And when the story really gets going. When all the characters in this film are introduced? Well, all hell breaks loose! Plus… Slasher House 3 has a few more surprises up its sleeve that add more to the mythos of the series and ultimately the Mychoverse as a whole. Where the hell does this shared universe go next? That’s the REALLY exciting part of this film, what it sets up the the future. And after watching this one, I’m down for whatever Dixon and co. do next!
**** 4/5
Slasher Hous3: Rebooted screened on Saturday, March 2nd as part of this year’s Romford Horror Film Festival.