Slashers (2001) (V)

Director:

Maurice Devereaux

Writer:

Maurice Devereaux (writer)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Six contestants... Three Slashers... No prisoners!

Plot:

Japan's number one extreme reality show is having it's first all-American special! Six lucky contestants...

Plot Keywords:

Japan | Contestant | Clothes Ripping | Date Rape | Bra Less

Cast

Sarah Joslyn Crowder	...	Megan Lowry
Tony Curtis Blondell	...	Devon White
Kieran Keller	...	Michael Gibbons
Jerry Sprio	...	Rick Fisher
Carolina Pla	...	Rebecca Galley
Sofia de Medeiros	...	Brenda Thompson
Claudine Shiraishi	...	Miho Taguchi
Christopher Piggins	...	Doctor Ripper
Neil Napier	...	Chainsaw Charlie and Preacherman
Takaaki Honda	...	The Announcer and Hideo
Koichi Yano	...	The Technician
Erik Rutherford	...	Steve Taylor - US correspondant
Shigeru Fugita	...	DJ Slash
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Li Li	...	Cheerleader
Sylvia Louis	...	Cheerleader
Linh-Han Nguyen	...	Cheerleader
Mabel Palomino	...	Cheerleader
Akemi Yamagishi	...	Cheerleader

Also Known As:

$la$her$ (Canada: English title) (alternative spelling)
Slashers (USA) (video title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence/gore, language and nudity.

Runtime:

99 min | Canada:97 min (edited version)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:18 | USA:R

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Michael stabs Devon in the back, you can see the person who squirts the blood in the bottom left hand corner of the screen.

Quotes:

[first lines]
The Announcer: [speaks Japanese; subtitles read:] Welcome back for another pulse pounding night of suspense, thrills and chills on the number one extreme TV game show in Japan... Slashers!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Playing with Your Nerves: The Making of 'Slashers' (2002) (V)

Under-rated, funny satire, really fun

This is one brave direct to video feature. The director chose to present the film as one long shot, with invisible edits like Hitchcock did in "Rope". The acting is pretty good considering all the actors were non-union amateurs, and this has a nice take on the whole reality TV show phenomenon. The characters all run around in a maze trying to avoid being sliced and diced by a bunch of masked killers. The winner of the contest gets millions of dollars. The film takes the whole disgusting "Fear Factor" thing to its logical conclusion, making some good points about the blurring line between entertainment and reality, and the danger of introducing cruelty into the mix. Deveraux obviously wanted to use Freddy, Jason and Leatherface here, as he has villains that resemble them. What he does with his limited budget is really clever and he sets himself apart from the hacks with this one. I can't wait till he has some real money to work with.