Slaughter Night – DVD Review

Film, Reviews

Available at Amazon.com

Directors

Frank van Geloven and Edwin Visser

Cast

Victoria Koblenko Kristel Lodema
Kurt Rogiers Mark
Jop Joris Paul
Linda van der Steen Estrild
Steve Hooi Ruud
Lara Toorop Susan

DVD Release Date: April 10, 2007
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 90 Minutes

The Movie

Kristel is a young college student who had disagreements with her father like any other child does. Things are said back and forth, and a lot of them are not meant seriously but said in the heat of the moment. They are often regretted but their wounds heal with time. But it was Kristel’s final argument with her father that she regrets the most. It’s the argument the feels led to his car accident that took his life.

After her father’s death, Kristel gathers up some friends and heads to her father’s home; starts tidying up his belongings; and going through things to see what he left behind. She finds a half finished manuscript her father had written that details the life of serial killer Adries Martiens.

Martiens was a sailor who had returned home almost a century ago to find his parents dead and their gold stolen. Martiens was rumored to be trying to get into Hell by doing as many horrible acts as possible. His reasoning for going to Hell was to find out from his parents what happened to their gold. Martiens kidnapped and murdered seven kids, which was a good start. Actually, it was the magic spells he learned on the seas that taught him the exact way to get into Hell. After finding out what he had done, Martiens was sent deep into the coal mines to light small pockets of gas on fire to get rid of them. Needless to say, this led to his demise before he could reunite with mom and dad.

Kristel and her friends think it would be a good idea to get a view of this mine where Martiens was banished and destined to die. Upon going on the tour, the group learns the entire story behind the madman and exactly what led him to do the horrible things he did. Martiens was sentenced to be what they called a fireman in those days to get rid of the methane gas. If they were able to do so and live, they were released. If they could not survive, then so be it. Martiens never returned from the mine but ghost stories say his spirit still haunts them.

After the tour the kids get trapped in the mine and decide to make the most of it by telling stories, laughing, and playing with a Ouija board that belonged to Kristel’s father. Summoning the spirit of Martiens, it seems the rumors were true and he does still haunt the mines for he begins to possess the kids one by one having them killed and then leaping into another fresh body. It’s up to Kristel and whoever can stay alive to get out and away from Martiens trapping him in the mine forever.

Slaughter Night is a fun attempt at a slasher flick without a real killer. It’s as if they were going for the gorefests of the mid eighties but trying to do it with a new twist of never having one solidified murderer and it worked to some extent. The possession angle is really quite interesting in how Martiens isn’t really there but using the kids to kill each other and it keeps things fresh. Throw in some awesome death scenes and the film was going on the right track.

That was until the directors tried to get cute with the camera. If you hated or got sick by the camera work in Blair Witch, then I highly suggest skipping this film altogether, because I don’t think there has ever been a more annoying camera angle then some of those you get in Slaughter Night. Anytime there is an attack or some sort of fast action the camera begins shaking so violently, that you might as well close your eyes and run around your apartment. That’s what it’s like to experience the action scenes in this film. Once or twice may have been OK, but it happens to often to forgive it.

Overall it’s not a bad film, but the minor annoyances of “we’ve seen this before” combined with the major annoyance of the camera really drag it down into a totally different level of bad. If you can make it past those things and to the story itself, it’s really quite interesting. Throw in the cool deaths and it makes for a very decent popcorn flick.

The Video

The film is shown in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen and looks great. The colors are bright where they need to be, especially with the blood. And the darker scenes look great where they actually look black instead of the purple we may usually get. If it weren’t for the damn camera work, this film would look absolutely fantastic.

The Audio

The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and like how it looks, it also sounds really good. The surround sound is put to good use with some great music and sounds that just seem to follow you all around the room. The film, like almost all Tartan presentations, does have English and Spanish subtitles and they are matched up perfectly. There have been a few titles recently where they were a bit behind or didn’t show up at all, so this was a nice surprise and very well synched.

Special Features

The Making Of Slaughter Night – A comprehensive behind-the-scenes look at the entire film almost from beginning to end. There is a bit on the history of Martiens and and the cast and crew interject with their thoughts on how good a film it is, and how they felt during production. A few of the actors are actually quite humorous and fun to watch while they explain how they got prepared for their parts and dealt with their characters getting killed.

Outtakes – Your basic bloopers and mess-ups here, but I never thought that bloopers with subtitles would be amusing. I was wrong. It really looks like everyone involved had a good time.

Original Trailer

Trailers for H6, Sheitan, Perth, Bloody Reunion, and Hillside Strangler

The Inside Pulse

The film has its moments and really should be checked out because it wouldn’t be a total waste of time. Like I said, Slaughter Night really is a very decent popcorn flick for a few good scares and cool death shots. The special features are quite skimpy again, but unless it’s a big two-disc set, then I haven’t come to expect much more from Tartan these days and that’s rather disappointing.

The DVD Lounge’s Ratings for Slaughter Night
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

5.5
THE VIDEO

6.5
THE AUDIO

7
THE EXTRAS

4
REPLAY VALUE

4
OVERALL
6
(NOT AN AVERAGE)