Girl House

"Girl House" has been called a slasher film for the digital age. The theme was done to death before the turn of the Millennium, though here there is a new twist, a couple of dudes are watching the carnage live on-line but are unable to warn the victims as one by one they are done to death by a disgruntled weirdo who has been driven into a frenzy by a cruel joke. Actually, it wasn't that cruel, but stranger things have happened in real life. In March 2014, a woman was given a 12 year sentence at Snaresbrook Crown Court after throwing acid in the face of a former friend. Mary Konye went to incredible lengths, disguising herself as an Orthodox Moslem woman, totally veiled, tailed her victim from the Underground station, and then attacked her. The motive was a throwaway remark that most people would have forgotten within a day or two if not an hour or two. Here it is not a remark but a caption on a photograph that unhinges a guy who although clearly highly intelligent is not exactly good looking, and is somewhat lacking in social skills, not to mention short tempered.

Okay, this dude is not just mad, he's insane because there are better things to do with a houseful of nubile young things than murder them, but if this tale has a moral it is never be unkind to anyone, even by accident. Or alternatively, once you knock the bad guy down with a golf club or a hockey stick, hit him again, and again, and again, and again...

A young girl gets a job as a web cam performer at a house. When an unstable client is humiliated by them, he seeks his own sort of justice.

I can't say I had much hope for this film and it was only in desperation that I turned it on. However it proved to be a pleasant surprise. It's well filmed, gory, very tense and quite scary which I find is a relative rarity these days.

Although the script is pretty standard, where Girl House succeeds is that it makes you care for the central characters. Rather than some empty headed bimbo the lead character Kylie ( played well by Ali Cobrin) comes across as intelligent and likable as does her boyfriend Ben ( a good performance from Adam DiMarco) who is not the stereotypical jerk. You find out pretty early who the killer is and also why he does it. He is suitably scary and again it's another good performance, this time by Slaine.

I found this pretty entertaining modern day slasher. Although not in any way groundbreaking this is a decent addition to the genre and worth checking out.

May not be the most exciting slasher flick in history but it may possibly have the highest production values.

Even the script is solid. Not mesmerizing. But solid.

Star Ali Cobrin has one of those odd faces -- she looks familiar to the viewer as if a composite of 4 or 5 well known female stars had been squeezed into one.

The biggest problem with the film ironically is how little sex, nudity or even slashing there actually is. In effect, this is a "cheat" in that viewer expectations are raised and there is no payoff.

But gosh-darn is this is a well made little film.

After I watched the trailer and the opening scene of this slasher flick I had no illusions about what this movie would be. Sadly, The filmmakers did. After a solid opening scene, the movie lingers way to long before showing us what we all sat down to watch. This is ironic given the premise. There is even a line in the movie about a site customer not logging on the see a "shoulder". So why make us wait and wait and wait to get to what we all paid to see? When the lights finally dim and the "show" finally starts it's not bad. In fact there's some pretty good slasher cool. But by then I was already bored and couldn't even fully appreciate it. Better writing or even better editing could have improved this movie greatly. Was hoping for some cool slasher fun but got lukewarm slasher ehhhh.

BOTTOM LINE: If you're a slasher fan it's probably still worth the watch. If slashers aren't your thing you can feel free to LOG OFF.

As a slasher fan, I quite enjoyed this directorial debut. The first time director Trevor Matthews shows promise and delivers a satisfying horror movie that ticks all the boxes one comes to expect from a slasher film. It's fun, bloody, gratuitous and inventive.

The setting of a house that broadcasts x rated content online works perfectly for horror, much like the Sorority House Slasher movies from the 80s but with a modern twist.

The film is nicely setup and allows you to get to know the characters quite well before they are dispatched! (and they are all quite likable and not annoying!) And it must be said; the dialogue and acting from everyone is quite good. Especially from the main actress Ali Cobrin. Therefore the film never drags....

The kills and makeup were also quite good, with one kill in particular being quite amusing..

The only problem I'd have with the movie is that it was a little tame for my standards, probably cause I'm used to seeing crazy films from the French Extreme Horror movement like Martyrs and Inside! But for me it just wasn't all that scary.

Overall opinion: Satisfying horror movie and a promising debut.