User reviews

In the 70's, while acting in a porn movie, Jennifer (Cheryl Dent) has a vision of her dead sister Jessica and attacks her dwarfish partner Nasty Nat (Pancho Moler). She is sent to a mental institute and six months later, her doctor discharges her under the condition that Jennifer should stay with her parents using medicine for a period. While driving through the desert, Jennifer is thrown in a ditch by the truck of two guys that want to rape her. However she is helped by the dysfunctional hippies Damon Grey (Vin Crease), Violence Onelove (Michele Morrow) and Guilty Karma. They invite Jennifer to spend the night in their camp and they offer peyote to her. Under the effect of the drug, the delusional Jennifer and her new friends are haunted by a mysterious fiend.

"Slaughterhouse of the Rising Sun" is a weird movie, with bizarre characters and situations that are not well-developed. The dysfunctional group of hippies, for example, are totally insane and silly, and their violent attitudes are unusual and against the philosophy of "love and piece" from the 70's. Jennifer's insanity is never explained, and the viewer has no explanation why she has this killer instinct and why she killed her younger sister. The genre shifts between a comedy that is neither dark nor funny and horror that is silly and never scary. Therefore the film fails. The best offered by this flick is the version of The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun" in the end. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Delírio Assassino" ("Assassin Daydream")

This is not a horrible movie. It has a few moments. But there are many obvious giveaways that make it clear that it was not made in 1972. Things like hairstyles, clothing, the use of a steadicam and other modern digital editing techniques totally spoil the potential illusion. I don't know how anyone can say that it is convincing in this respect. Unless they have not watched a lot of films from 1972. The music is probably the most convincing part. I also think they make the mistake of playing for laughs at times (and not getting them) when they should have just played it straight. It could have been funnier that way. Just watch SCTV for examples of how that can work. But, in fact, I would have preferred it if they were not going for laughs at all. If they had instead chosen to just make a good solid horror film in the style of movies from 1972. And just an odd side note: Texas Chainsaw Massacre came out in 1974. I'm not sure how to interpret homage to/parody of a movie which is embedded in a movie that's supposed to be made two years earlier.

The problem with this movie is after the beginning which was fun, it starts to try to tell some story. That part of it is a fail. The 70's feeling is lost on the horrible script and story, altho the quality of the acting seems pretty right for the time. 2/10.

This movie is bland.

It has neither gore, nor sex, nor scares, nor comedy or suspense. Nothing at all. Just one "hand-grabs-shoulder" type of cheesy stuff.

And contrary to claims by other viewers, it doesn't even remotely approach classics like Evil Dead, TCM, Dawn of the Dead and so on.

The story is laughable.

About 1/2 way through, the movie abruptly shifts gears and focuses on the "house".

And where did the movie title come from?

Not recommended -- go watch Fulci instead.

I saw this film at the Denver Underground Film Festival and I was so surprised to to see such a funny, campy and creepy film. Although this is a new film, you would swear this was made in 1972. All of the characters are hilarious and memorable -- especially the psycho-duo Guilty and Violence (they're also really hot!!!). The movie touches on so many horror and exploitation films from the time -- from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Last House on the Left" to Russ Meyer's films and all the groovy counter culture films from back then. Even the music, editing, titles and effects are dead-on. The film is definitely the kind you'll see at midnight shows for years to come. It has the kind of lines that people will probably interact like they do with "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". I can't wait to see this again. A true modern cult classic.

I love watching films from the 70s because of the weak film quality and basic soundtracks. This film filled those requirements. There have been a handful of "not good" movies I've watched to the end strictly because of the cinematography. This is one of those. It's not because the cinematography was great, but it captured the 70s style of filming enough that I went back to see what year it was made which is why I gave it a "5" instead of a lower rating.

The story was very Charles Manson-esque in its deliver. The acting was weak, but it didn't really matter because the story was the same. I did like the filming locations a lot in this film though. The locations along with the filming style gave it a "feel".

I'm not disappointed that I watched it, but I wouldn't watch it again or even recommend it to a friend.

An excellent re-work of Seventies film clichés - or really a Seventies film, how the prologue will suggest? It's pure fun to point out during watching this very charming genre bastard, which contains several elements of 70ies road movies, hippie movies, horror movies, drug movies and a little bit Russ Meyer touch. And also a bit of David Lynch-like atmosphere. Okay: Lynch is not very typical for the 70ies, but anyway. The acting is great (especially the director himself as crippled hippie leader), also the dialogues and the cinematography. And there is also a lot of strange humour and irony in this generally strange, funny and likable independent movie.

Rarely do you find a horror film with so much going on in the text and subtext. Both nerve-wracking and funny at the same time, it's a example of cinematic artistry, a perfect homage to its 1970s low-budget predeceases, and a compelling night at the movies all around. The tone of the film is eerie.

The pacing is excellent. I can see why Oscar-winning distributors THINK FILM picked up this gem of a movie. Production quality is first rate. Amazing when you consider that it was not a huge budget film.

I had nightmares. And funny dreams. This movie takes you places you might not want to go. Or do want to go.

I normally hate horror films, but this eerie and very funny film was really fun to watch. Really good acting, great lines and psychedelic imagery made this a real throwback to 70's films that I grew up with. Vin Crease is a very talented director and has a great screen presence. I really loved the pathetic Sabbath Jones and Westy Westerman -- a great love/hate character.

Saw this at the Fearless Tales Genre Fest in San Francisco and it went down a storm! Really enjoyed this movie and recommend that everyone go see it. The acting is great, the costumes are great, the cinematography is great and the sound design absolutlely spot-on! This is a very enjoyable and remarkable film - I look forward to seeing in again... 9/10 Rob