SLICE & DICE: THE SLASHER FILM FOREVER (2012)

Directed by Calum Waddell, Starring: Corey Feldman, Tobe Hooper, Mick Garris, Tom Holland, Jeffrey Reddick, Patrick Lussier, Felissa Rose, Adam Green.                   

Documentary, UK, 2012, approx 75mins, Cert 18. 

“Lots of gore, lots of nudity: that’s a slasher film”. (Corey Feldman)

Back in 2010, Calum Waddell and Naomi Holwill were working on a 20 minute featurette entitled: “How to survive a slasher film” for Arrow Films’ Blu ray release of PIECES. Having reviewed the material they’d assembled they realised what they had could potentially be expanded into a full-length documentary. With no budget whatsoever to speak of, they combined existing material already shot with additional interviews conducted in the UK and at The Sitges Film Festival over a two year period. 

Corey Feldman - vanquisher of Jason Voorhees (sort of)

Of course the slasher sub-genre has already been given the full-documentary treatment, most notably in GOING TO PIECES: The RISE AND FALL OF THE SLASHER FILM (2006). Boasting an impressive range of contributions from such slasher film heavyweights as Carpenter, Craven and Cunningham, one could argue there was no need to attempt another documentary covering more or less the same stalking grounds – particularly one without a competing budget. But that’s precisely where SLICE AND DICE gains its unique selling point. Despite the DVD cover art depicting some of the major icons of the slasher film: Voorhees, Myers and Krueger, this documentary focuses largely away from the major franchises in favour of the lesser known, and in some cases, undervalued and unloved entries in the slasher canon. If, for example, you’re expecting to see copious clips of Freddy’s nightmarish shenanigans; Jason’s Crystal Lake slaughter fests, or Michael menacing Haddonfield then you’ll be sadly disappointed. Whether this is an entirely creative decision on the part of the makers, or merely a budgetary enforced necessity, is open to debate. You do, however, get to see Leatherface wielding his trusty chainsaw and meat pulveriser in grainy trailer footage from the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974). But there’s a high degree of repetition in the range of clips used – most of which are gleaned from trailers (for example, the same sequence in THE BURNING trailer is used at least four times across the two discs). There’s also far too much footage from the PUPPETMASTER franchise – which I’m not convinced really belongs here at all – splatter: yes; slasher: no.  

Cropsey cropping fingers in The Burning

But in between the mixed bag of trailer clips and some inventive animation by editor and co-producer Holwill there’s a steady feed of genuinely diverse talking heads to provide both insightful and at times irreverent comment on the origins and conventions of the slasher genre. Marshalled into six chapters entitled: “genesis of a genre”; “rules of survival”; “the secret of slashing up a great villain”; “the final girl”; “the gore the merrier” and concluding with “you can’t kill the bogeyman”, the history of the slasher film is covered in a breathlessly entertaining 75 minutes.

FrightFest’s favourite scream queen Emily Booth credits Alfred Hitchcock’s PYSCHO as being the film which first set down the basics for the slasher blue-print. Director /writer Tom Holland (CHILD’S PLAY, PSYCHO 2) suggests some consider PEEPING TOM as being a possible contender for this honour before concurring with Emily’s choice of PSYCHO. The director of THE HILLS RUN RED, Dave Parker puts forward Agatha Christie’s TEN LITTLE INDIANS as having provided the original slasher film template – suggesting that slashers are essentially “...murder mysteries with heightened blood guts and gore – and hopefully suspense.” Emily also scores brownie points for citing the influence of the giallo – although the filmmakers drop points for listing her as a “sceam (sic) queen” on one occasion and for following up her comment on the significance of the 1970’s with a clip from TENEBRAE (1982).

Tobe Hooper also directed 'Crocodile' - but we don't talk about that

Tobe Hooper appears all too briefly muttering about meat and chains in footage which was originally recorded for the Blu ray release of THE FUNHOUSE. Corey Feldman offers his tips on how to increase your chances of survival in a slasher film (neglecting to include shaving your head and pretending to be the killer’s younger mirror-image: FRIDAY THE 13th: THE FINAL CHAPTER). And there are many other entertaining contributions far too numerous to include here.

Director Calum Waddell doesn’t impose his own views on the proceedings and this approach helps to open up the discussions and provides a fascinating and at times diverse set of perspectives on the sub-genre. The overall feel of the documentary is not so much instructional but more conversational, where the director - clearly passionate about the subject matter – is genuinely fascinated by the responses his questions stimulate.

As you’d expect from this double-act who produce supplementary material for Arrow Films’ releases, there’s a wealth of extras on this double-disc presentation. The commentary track recorded with director Waddell and Justin Kerswell (author of TEENAGE WASTELAND: THE SLASHER MOVIE UNCUT) is both fun and informative, as are the bonus ‘outtake’ (read extended) interviews with some of the contributors. Of particular note is Adam Green’s explanation for casting decisions in HATCHET 2 and his account of the trials and tribulations of releasing the film unrated in US cinemas.

Also on disc one there is footage from several premiere’s and Q & A’s of the documentary,   a music video of the theme song, and a host of trailers from Full Moon Entertainment, including the PUPPER MASTER series and SLAVES GIRLS FROM BEYOND INFINITY (hmm...)

Disc Two features a bonus 37 minute documentary entitled: DON’T GO IN THE BACKWOODS which is itself a treat, not least because it features some additional talking heads not featured in the main documentary. Lloyd (Troma) Kaufman, Tony (Fangoria) Timpone, the much missed David Hess and Tony Todd describing the Deep South traditions of road kill stew and Catfish noodling (don’t ask) are amongst the many bonus speakers.

Then we have twenty-two slasher film trailers (with optional commentary) to add the icing to this slasherfest cake.

In conclusion, Calum Waddell and his partner in crime Naomi Holwill have produced a unique personal documentary which champions the underrated and the forgotten, and gives us the opportunity to hear from some of the rarer exponents of the art of the slasher film. 

****(out of 5*)

Paul Worts