Slaughterhouse Rulez marks a reunion of sorts for stars- and executive producers- Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, best-known for the so-called "Three Flavours Cornetto" trilogy, or, if you prefer, the "Blood and Ice Cream" trilogy, which includes the films Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World's End, all of which were directed by Edgar Wright, of Baby Driver fame. The film is also the first release from Pegg and Frost's new production company, Stolen Picture, which will release both movies and TV shows.
Though not technically a part of the "Cornetto" trilogy, Slaughterhouse Rulez will absolutely appeal to those who enjoyed those films, even if the overall quality is not quite as high as the famed trilogy. Still, that's a high bar for anyone to cross, so that's not really a criticism, so much as a way of letting viewers know that, though it may seem on the face of things to be similar, it's actually kind of its own beast.
Basically, it's more in keeping with a British version of something like From Dusk till Dawn, which is to say, a film that starts out as one thing, then turns into something else altogether about halfway through. Whether you like the film as a whole will probably depend on how you feel about both individual parts as a whole, rather than one part over the other. Most will likely prefer one half to the other, and I can see where some might think it drags for the first half in particular.
Basically, the first half is a coming-of-age story. In the beginning of the film, we meet our protagonist, Don Wallace (Finn Cole, TV's Peaky Blinders and Animal Kingdom), who is still reeling from his father's death, when his mother informs him he'll be attending private school at the high-end facility known as Slaughterhouse Academy, and that it's basically non-negotiable, as she has paid his tuition in advance.
It doesn't take long for Wallace to realize there's a pecking order to things at the Academy, and that one must work their way up the ladder to be treated with respect. Wallace, of course, starts at the absolute bottom, and is paired with fellow outcast, Willoughby Blake (Asa Butterfield, TV's Sex Education), himself still reeling from the death by suicide of his former roommate, with whom he was very close.
Naturally, in no time Wallace finds himself smitten with someone who seems completely out of his league, Clemsie Lawrence (XXX: Return of Xander Cage, Star Wars: The Last Jedi), a sexy, sassy leader of her pack that seems to have her life all mapped out, down to the requisite sports-playing boyfriend, Smudger (Louis Strong, TV's Endeavor), who is about to be accepted into the school's not-so-secret-society, led by the smug, neo-Hitler Youth-looking prick Clegg (Tom Rhys Harries, of the British TV miniseries Jekyll & Hyde), who already has it out for Wallace practically at first sight.
In other words, this is all your standard teen drama set in what amounts to the British equivalent to high school. However, not unlike Hogwarts, this is no ordinary academy. Turns out that there are nocturnal, carnivorous critters living underneath the grounds, and that the efforts to frack the wooded area near the school have caused a sinkhole to form, which eventually allows said beasties to emerge and start attacking everyone in sight, which is what makes up the second half of the film.
Pegg and Frost fans should know the famed duo only have one brief scene together early on, so those expecting Shaun of the Dead-type shenanigans from them will come away disappointed, as the two fight their fearsome foes apart from one another, not together. Instead, it's the core group I described above that form the film's main focus, as we follow their progress throughout the film, as they first bond, then band together to fight the monsters at hand. As to be expected, not everyone makes it out alive.
The film also features Michael Sheen (TV's Masters of Sex, Good Omens) as "The Bat," aka the Headmaster of the school. Sheen is firmly in wacky mode here, as he was in his prior fantasy/horror flicks, the Underworld and Twilight series. As much as I like his serious dramatic work, I kind of prefer Sheen over-the-top, in particular his mental turn on The Good Fight. He's not quite that broad here, but he's still pretty goofy, which makes for a good time whenever his hapless character is on screen.
Also cropping up, albeit only briefly, is superstar Margot Robbie, who plays Pegg's character's absent, long-distance girlfriend, Audrey, who he suspects may be pulling away from him and towards a sexy doctor she's working with. Robbie literally phones in her performance, in that she only appears via footage on a phone or the occasional laptop. That's not to say she isn't welcome, just that it positively screams someone calling in a favor, likely Pegg, as he and Robbie co-starred in the film Terminal together, which she also produced. (See review here.)
The film was written and directed by Crispian Mills, son of actress Hayley Mills, of Disney's Pollyanna and The Parent Trap fame, and filmmaker Roy Boulting, of Twisted Nerve fame. Some of you may also remember Mills as the lead singer of the popular 90's British psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker, whom horror fans might recall covering the song "Hush" in the slasher flick I Know What You Did Last Summer.
The band still gets together from time to time, most recently reforming in 2016, with the album K2.0, a reference to their debut album, K, which was released back in 1996. Mills also has several side projects as a musician, including the bands Pi and The Jeevas. Mills started writing scripts in 2001, eventually landing his first proper film deal in 2010, with the movie A Fantastic Fear of Everything, which he also co-directed with music video director Chris Hopewell, and which also starred Pegg.
His solo debut feature, Rulez, shows a filmmaker coming into his own, and edging ever closer to something special. While neither this film or Fantastic are quite classics of their respective forms, they both show promise, and I feel like Mills is on the cusp of delivering something great the next time around. He certainly comes close here, but it's undeniable that the film drags a bit in the first half and never quite takes off until the second half.
Like I said, it's a lot like FDTD in that way, except I really enjoyed Dawn's first, more action-movie-type first half, almost as much as the second, horror-movie-oriented second half. I didn't hate the first half here, and the younger cast does a fine job in their respective roles, but all of it is nothing you haven't seen before, and better. Hell, even many of the cast members have done better variations of this film elsewhere, including Butterfield in Tim Burton's underrated Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and Corfield in Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.
To say nothing of Pegg and Frost, who are perfectly adequate in their respective roles, but the film never quite achieves the heights of any given "Cornetto" film, I'm afraid. That said, the first half is certainly watchable, and the second half more than makes up for the slow parts by being packed wall-to-wall with action, much of it spectacularly gory and fun.
The creatures are pretty neat-looking, and suitably horrific, and the FX are mostly top-notch, save a few obvious CGI effects that are mostly used for explosions and the like. The rest appear to be practical effects, which I liked, being a bit of a purist about such things.
Overall, I would absolutely recommend the film to fans of Pegg and Frost and the "Cornetto Trilogy," so long as they know that the focus here is on the teens, not the adults, and that most of the adults are only in the film for brief periods of time, rather than being prominent throughout.
Of the younger cast, Butterfield, as ever, is a stand-out; Corfield is nothing if not easy on the eyes, and Cole makes for a properly brooding leading man, if a bit sullen at times- but then, that's what the role calls for, so it's not really his fault.
Slaughterhouse Rulez is kind of like its title, a bit too desperate to be hip, but when it relaxes and just has fun with things, it's an enjoyable watch. You just have to stick with it to get to the payoff, but it's more or less worth it, making for one of the more entertaining modern creature features I've seen in recent years, even if it's no Tremors or Slither. Hell, I'm just happy stuff like this is still getting greenlit, honestly.
So, even if it isn't perfect, it does ultimately get the job done, so I'll take it. If you like this sort of thing, then you'll probably like this- just keep your expectations low and hang in there during the first half, because the second half is great fun. As such, it's a mild recommendation at best, if you can keep your enthusiasm in check and don't go in expecting another Shaun of the Dead or The World's End, because this isn't that. 😐
No comments:
Post a Comment