Practise makes perfect, or so they say.
Two years before combining tits and zombies for his enjoyably silly comedy/horror Zombie Strippers, director Jay Lee practised his technique on straight-to-DVD splatter-fest The Slaughter. With basic plot elements borrowed from The Evil Dead and Night of the Demons, Lee's first attempt at trashy T&A terror isn't exactly original, and suffers badly from budgetary limitations that result in iffy CGI, terrible sound (on my DVD, at least), cheap editing effects and generally poor production values. Fortunately, the graphic gore and gratuitous nudity go a long way to help matters, making this a fairly entertaining ride despite its technical flaws.
The film starts with a trashy credits sequence featuring several topless hotties getting drenched with blood as they perform a ceremony to summon a she-demon, which they intend to control for their own nefarious uses. Of course their plans go tits-up, they wind up dead, and the demon, trapped between dimensions, opts to lay dormant until she is able to put into motion the wheels that will enable her to break free and finally rule our world (or something like that!).
This opportunity arises 60 years later, when a house is built upon the land where the demon lurks: the evil being is able to commence the ritual that will release her from her inter-dimensional prison by killing a child. However, this action results in the house being unoccupied for decades, and the creature is unable to continueat least, that is, until a money-hungry businessman purchases the property for redevelopment. He hires a team of students to clean up the place before putting it back on the market, and once again provides the monster with everything she needs to complete her plan...ie., good-looking victims with high sex-drives!
After the impressively sleazy opening, I found The Slaughter to be incredibly dull for at least half an hour, and even contemplated switching the film off; I am, however, made of sterner stuff than that, and soldiered on to the end. And I'm glad I did, for things eventually get a lot better: the gore gets gorier, the nudity gets more 'nudie', and there's even a good jump-scare or two to keep viewers on their toes.
Fans of splatter, in particular, are advised to continue watching (either that, or fast-forward!): eventually, we are treated to some great (and some not-so-great) effects, including a nasty broken leg, some gut-puking, face removal via flying brick, a squished head, throat slashing, decapitation, and dismemberment. Some of these moments are admittedly achieved through the use of some pretty dire digital trickery, but on the whole, it's impressive stuff.
The film's fun finalé sees the demon's victims rising from the dead to try and kill the remaining two survivors, a set-up which allows for some amusing banter about how to despatch a zombie, and even more mindless violence.
Not quite as good as Zombie Strippers, but an admirable effort nonetheless, The Slaughter is recommended to those who like their movies cheap, bloody and loaded withyes, you guessed ittits and zombies!
