The L.A. Slasher has been on my radar for a variety of reasons. I’m a sucker for a slasher, the cast list is impressive, I take personal interest in the plot and it had shiny, colorful promotional graphics. Being that I was snowed in for the last two days, I finally had the opportunity to check out the feature film and give it a review. You can find that all below…
The L.A. Slasher is written and directed by Martin Owen with co-writers Abigail Wright, Elizabeth Morris, Tim Burke and Sean Decker. Lead and supporting actors include Mischa Barton (“The OC,” The Sixth Sense), Dave Bautista (San Andres, “WWE”), Any Dick (“Less Than Perfect,” Sharknado 2), Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight, Jake’s Road), Danny Trejo (“From Dusk Til Dawn,” Machete), Brooke Hogan (Sand Sharks, “TNA”), Marisa Lauren (“Greek”), Drake Bell (“Drake & Josh”), Abigail Wright, Tori Black, Korrina Rico, Elizabeth Morris and Tim Burke.
“Driven to rage over the tawdry excesses of reality television, a self-appointed cultural crusader kidnaps several very famous nobodies to make his point- but his crimes only generate more tabloid frenzy.” – JWright Productions
First and foremost I want to congratulate director Martin Owen, cinematographer Chase Bowman and production designer Cassandra Surina for developing a film that was cinematically pleasing to the idea. I would say that they went forward with the idea of making The L.A. Slasher an experimental film of sorts and they definitely succeeded in that goal. The normal, every day shots are perfect and then there are these artsy, high quality, thematic and beautiful shots that are really astounding. Everyone working behind the camera, or in the light department, pulled out all the stops to make a product that was awe inspiring. Wow, wow, wow. The L.A. Slasher is film-making at its best.
The next thing that blew me away is the level of talent that was included in this film given that it was mostly an independent adventure. While some cast members are bigger stars than others, they definitely helped propel the movie to its limited theatrical release and highly anticipated DVD release a few months ago. It was a really wide range of talent and everyone pulled in an excellent performance, though I have to say I think Mischa Barton has a lot more talent than she let on here and Dave Bautista continues to show that he’s far more talented than a professional wrestler. There’s a couple more appearances from people you’d recognize in The L.A. Slasher – you could even make it into a drinking game every time you see someone you know.
Unfortunately, a supremely talented camera crew and name talent does not a quality movie make. For there being so many writers on this project, I was extremely let down on how the plot was carried out – one of the main reasons I bought this in the first place. Introduce a new character, show how shitty they are, abduct them, death – wash, rinse, repeat. There was virtually no story-line, no conflicting ideas, no suspense and barely any gore here. Again, the underlying plot – a guy who abducts tabloid pariahs and tortures them – is a great, gratifying plot to anyone who hates reality television or people who are famous for being famous. But, the execution was horrible… Just horrible. And for that, I have to mark this movie down.
Final Score: 4 out of 10
