Fangoria Pictures manages to take a handful of no-name actors, a set that screams "low-budget", and put together one of the scariest movies I've seen in a while.
This is the most bizarre opening to a DVD I've EVER SEEN. Seriously. It's got half a dozen Japanese girls acting as cheerleaders, waving around pom poms built around human skulls. Meanwhile, in the background, Japanese pop music commonly called "J-Pop" is wailing with its typically upbeat peppy style. The refrain "Slashers! Super fine!" can be heard at regular intervals. I don't know what the lyrics translate as, but it's really something to hear.
You can tell immediately that this is about a game show just from the title. It's spelled thusly:
"$la$her$"
Note the clever use of dollar signs denoting big prizes.
And indeed, that's what it is...it's a "extreme game show", in fact, the most popular one in Japan. And tonight, it's going to be big, or so says Miho, the show's vivacious host. It's an all-American special tonight, and half a dozen Americans are going to take a run at twelve million dollars US. The rules are cliche-simple. There ARE NONE. Anyone can work together or singlehandedly, with money to split or collect all at once.
The objective is simple--kill the slashers and walk away alive. Every Slasher killed adds another two million dollars US to the already-rich pot.
Our Slashers are bizarre to say the least.
Chainsaw Charlie, a described redneck with a weapon to suit his name, bears a striking and truly unsettling resemblence to Mad (r) (c) (tm) (please God don't let them sue me for mentioning their name in print i'm too poor to be sued!) frontman and logo Alfred E. Neuman (Alfred E. Neuman is a licensed property and official sponsor for Mad Magazine, see previous lawyer-pacifying rant). Preacherman is a vaguely undead-looking fellow in a dour black outfit, toting a dagger in the shape of a cross.
Finally, we have Dr. Ripper, a truly hideous surgical type with a bone shear, and plenty of other malpractical tools of the trade.
There are other Slashers available that are only mentioned, or seen in the deleted scenes.
Weapons are scattered throughout the "Danger Zone", where the events take place, a strobe-light-strewn warren of tunnels and various flat arenas.
Bookies take bets on who will survive the day, or on any number of permutations therein. The fix is in on any number of fronts, and you can tell it. It's even possible that one or more contestants will in fact kill each other.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Steven Andersen's Sci-Fi Movies topic, please visit the Discussions page.