Dutch Horror. Not something you hear very often. Still, being a Tartan release, I was somewhat curious while checking out the DVD case that I received in the mail. Known mostly for their Asian Extreme titles, Tartan has been slowly releasing some nice genre pieces made outside of Asia. Titles such as H6 (which I didn’t care for) and SHEITAN (more than disturbing and worked for me) immediately come to mind. I guess the reason I’m even bringing this up is to point out the fact that, while I found SLAUGHTER NIGHT to be extremely fun and damn entertaining, it isn’t quite like any other Tartan release I can think of. For the initiated, this isn’t disturbing or offensive (the other titles I’ve already mentioned have their fare share of incestuous situations, rape and other sadomasochistic tendencies). What we do get is the sort of throwback to the best of the 80's, a sort of Lamberto Bava DEMONS meets NIGHT OF THE DEMONS updated via the way of THE DESCENT. It’s far from perfect, relying on quite a few clichés from 20 something years ago, but it will do in a pinch and it's a whole heck of a lot better than quite a few recent U.S. offerings I’ve sat through.
Kristel (Victoria Koblenko) is having a rough time. Unlucky in love and kind of bored with life, she witnesses her father’s violent death. Worse yet, she blames herself because they were arguing in the car just before a collision with a truck. Picking up the pieces after the funeral, she offers to travel to a closed mine in Belgium to pick up her late father’s finished manuscript for the publishers. Taking a few friends along for the ride, she hopes to connect with her father, seeing his final work get published. She also desires to have some fun, hoping to take her mind off her guilt, not to mention all the odd moments since the funeral (hallucinations, seeing moving shadows, televisions turning on by themselves, etc.). When they arrive, they meet the caretaker who offers to have Louis Oup give them the grand tour of the mine. Apparently, to keep a little money coming in, they give tourists a little history and a chance to go into a creepy dark place. You just have to wonder how the heck they could get insurance for that kind of thing.
During the tour, Oup tells them the story of Andries Martiens, the legend that is also the basis for Kristel’s father’s book. Born of evil parents, Andries fled the country to become a sailor only to return after his parent’s death in order to receive a huge inheritance of gold. Upon his arrival, he is merely given a few personal trinkets and a music box. Angry as hell, he turns to the black arts and discovers a way to go to hell in order to find his parents. Eight young girls must be sacrificed, heads lopped off and placed on poles over a pentagram (all shown in lovely detail I might add or warn). But before he could succeed, he is apprehended and sentenced to death (it doesn’t do much good to go to hell for murder if you can’t get back and enjoy the excesses of life). Now for the strange little twist, in Belgium, at least in this part of the country way back when, inmates on death row were given a choice. Either take the penalty of death or take your chances blowing up the methane in the mine with a torch. Live and your life is spared. Die and well, oh well. Andries rolls the dice and supposedly dies engulfed in flames.
Yes, I have to admit, we’re about 40 minutes in and the story setup is still in place, but trust me it is worth the wait. Once things get rolling, the tour group gets trapped, a spirit starts possessing bodies and tries to lop off the heads of the others. Somewhere in the mix Kristel’s father tries to help (here’s your cliché, which also involves one of the characters being into Tarot cards and an expert at playing with a Ouija board). It hardly matters, and often enough is used to create some genuine chills, especially when the viewer isn’t sure if it is Andries or Kristel’s father who is trying to communicate through the board.
I definitely do not want to give too much of the plot away, but the setup is important. For the ADD viewer, this all might be a tad slow despite the violence and gore in the first half, but what follows is non-stop mayhem. One possession after another, tons of violent set pieces, and one hell of a large maze of a mine shaft that offers some great atmosphere. The gore effects are extreme, including flesh bites ala DAWN OF THE DEAD, demonic transformations via DEMONS, and heads either getting lopped off or completely blown up (one great scene involves a shotgun and enough brain matter to paint all four sides of your bathroom wall). Add to that some great acting by everyone in the cast, excellent thematic tension, a well drawn out storyline, excellent sets and locations, and you get one hell of a carnie ride for your money.
That’s not to say that all is well and good with SLAUGHTER NIGHT. Even with the few clichéd moments, which I can live with, I wanted to scream at our cameraman. More than fifty percent of the shots during the final half are shaking so much that it made BLAIR WITCH PROJECT seem like a still photograph. Someone give this guy some meds for his obvious epileptic attack! Seriously, I could understand if the sets really sucked (they didn’t) or the makeup effects were sub par (they weren’t, but I had to freeze frame several to make sure), and I could also understand some quick camera jarring to add to the tension, but this was well and beyond ridiculous. I’m more than thankful I didn’t have to see it on the big screen after eating a big meal.
Despite how extreme the camera work is, I’ve already watched this sucker three times. It’s that good, or I should say, it’s that much fun. Far from perfect, but if you love some of the movies I’ve compared it to and miss the horror from the 80s, then you will find more than enough to make you a very happy gorehound. Tartan’s DVD looks great and comes with extras such as the original theatrical trailer, a Making-Of featurette, an outtake reel, and about six other trailers of some of their other releases. Definitely check out SLAUGHTER NIGHT.