Slotherhouse Movie Review – Slashes Its Way to Total Hilarity

While Cocaine Bear might have sounded like the peak of human creativity, there’s a new contender on the block: Matthew Goodhue’s Slotherhouse. Yes, the name is a cringy play on words, but it encompasses entirely what the film is about: A sloth that kills people in a house. Bursting with a murderous sense of humour and unlikable human characters whom everyone wants to see gone, this is a horror comedy that deserves an Oscar for existing.

Slotherhouse follows Emily (Lisa Ambalavanar) who wants to be her sorority’s new president. She meets a mysterious exotic animal dealer (Stefan Kapičić) and decides to adopt a poached sloth, believing the animal’s cuteness might win her popularity points. The sloth receives the name of Alpha and becomes an integral part of the sorority house. However, the bodies start to pile up and everyone begins to look at the sloth whose cuteness hides the soul of a deadly killer.

All hail the sloth

Look, if anyone walks into this movie expecting deep storytelling or life-changing themes, Slotherhouse isn’t for you. Taking inspiration from the likes of Critters and Lake Placid vs. Anaconda, everything about this movie leans into its silliness factor and Bradley Fowler and Cady Lanigan’s script is about as relevant as any of the Hellraiser sequels. Of course a killer sloth is an unlikely occurrence, but Goodhue asks the viewer to just go with it and embrace the concept like they would any boogeyman in a slasher film, except this one winks at the audience more. In fact, it’s impossible to not burst into laughter at the most inopportune times, as even some of the deaths are utterly ridiculous to witness.

Goodhue also does a good job of getting the audience firmly behind Alpha – even if the sloth is a lethal killer – since this creature is so damn cute. There’s a specific scene when everyone is around the pool and Alpha wears a sun hat and looks adorable. It’s disarming and intentional, but it also puts Alpha in the same bracket as the raptors from Jurassic Park, where the audience secretly cheers for them to overcome the pesky humans.

Funny enough, Slotherhouse borrows a similar theme from Jurassic Park too. The humans remove a wild animal out of its natural habitat then get surprised when the animal becomes wild and starts to ravage them. Once again, it’s a firm reminder to humans to let other creatures be and to stop messing with the ecosystem, because it always ends badly in the end.

Embracing puppets, selfies, and stereotypes

Credit needs to go to the puppeteers who made Alpha come to life on screen. Instead of using CGI, this sloth is a result of practical effects and harks back to the days of Gremlins and Critters. Immediately, this adds a special factor to the movie, as there’s something more appealing about seeing a “real” creature on screen versus a digital recreation. Plus, it makes the scenes where Alpha takes selfies or drives a sports car even more side-splitting to watch because of the comical nature of how it was made.

While there’s certainly a macabre nature in how the audience wants the sloth to slice and dice the humans, the actors play their roles to a T here. From stereotypical sorority girls to wannabe social media socialites, Slotherhouse embraces the tropes and dials it up to 11. As the main character, Emily experiences the most growth in her arc as actor Lisa Ambalavanar builds a commendable connection with the audience and sloth. There are times when the viewer might think she deserves what happens to everyone else, while there are other occurrences where someone could imagine her and Alpha teaming up. Needless to say, the bond between Emily and Alpha is the film’s biggest story point.

Should you watch Slotherhouse?

There’s a special place in cinema for trashy films; for the movies that don’t take themselves too seriously or try to be anything more than fun. That’s what Slotherhouse is. It’s a ridiculous concept that maxes out the zaniness – and that’s okay because it proves to be entertaining in the long run. The title tells the viewer exactly what to expect, so there’s no reason anyone should be surprised about what’s on offer. Now, where’s that announcement for Slotherhouse 2 and the return of Alpha?

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Slotherhouse
Emily Young, a senior, wants to be elected as her sorority's president. She adopts a cute sloth, thinking it can become the new mascot and help her win, until a string of fatalities implicate the sloth as the main suspect in the murders.

	Studio: Renegade Studios Chicago, Cinema Relics Productions, Buffalo Speedway Film Co, Talking Wolf Productions
	Running Time: 93 mins
	Release Date: August 30, 2023
	Cast: Lisa Ambalavanar, Sydney Craven, Andrew Horton
	Director: Matthew Goodhue
	Writers: Bradley Fowler, Cady Lanigan
	Genre: Comedy, Horror, Thriller
	Box Office: N/A