After a car accident claims the life of her father a young girl goes to pick up some of his belongings at a closed mine where he worked. She finds some research he was doing on a convicted child killer who died in the mine and then finds herself caught by the vengeful ghost of the killer.
Written and Directed by – Frank van Geloven, Edwin Visser
Starring – Victoria Koblenko, Kurt Rogiers, Jop Joris, Linda van der Steen, Steve Hooi, Carolina Dijkhuizen, Lara Toorop, Emiel Sandtke, Serge-Henri Valcke, Martijn Oversteegen, Liz Snoyink, Michael van Buuren, Hans Ligtvoet, Robert Eleveld, Rutger Lagestee
Another great one that ran at the 2006 Toronto After Dark Film Fest. Think My Bloody Valentine with some black magic and ghosts. The movie starts with a bang as they show a killer kidnapping and beheading a young girl. The police catch up to him and we flash forward to the present. It isn’t until a bit later we find out the fate of this killer and what it was he was exactly trying to accomplish by killing these young kids. I won’t bother ruining it for anyone but it’s not the most original idea ever.
While the plot itself isn’t exactly thought provoking, the film itself is still really good. The claustrophobic nature of the mines work well as the spirit of the killer begins taking over peoples bodies. It’s hard to escape when you’re not only given limited space but you’re not really sure where the killer will be next. All the kills happen off-screen which is something I still appreciate. If your effects don’t stand up then the kills become laughable, by keeping the action off-screen it not only allows your imagination to run wild but it will hide any problems with effects you may have. There’s alot of heads on sticks and corpses missing the head that will now be on a stick somewhere and they look really well done so what effects there are are at least done right.
Since you’re also dealing with a spirit here you get the obligatory ghost caught in the camera (or mirror, or window, or whatever trick they’re using) which always creeps the hell out of me. That quick glimpse of something that shouldn’t be there seems to work so well at giving me the chills. In the end you get exactly what you would expect from Slaughter Night, a straight ahead slasher flick with a twist of the supernatural. The acting is well done and the film has a quick pace so you’re never left twiddling your thumbs waiting for something to happen.
Under the marquee – Will
