L.A. Slasher

L.A. Slasher
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMartin Owen
Screenplay byMartin Owen
Story byAbigail Wright
Elizabeth Morris
Tim Burke
Produced byDaniel Sollinger
Shree Patel
Jonathan Willis
Abigail Wright
Martin Owen
Jeffrey Wright
StarringMischa Barton
Eric Roberts
Dave Bautista
Drake Bell
Brooke Hogan
Abigail Wright
Elizabeth Morris
Korrina Rico
Tori Black
Frank Collison
Marisa Laurén
Danny Trejo
Andy Dick
CinematographyChase Bowman
Edited byEmanuele Giraldo
Keith Croket
Music byMac Quayle
Production
companies
JWright Productions
The Ideas Factory
Distributed byArchstone Distribution
Release date
  • June 26, 2015 (2015-06-26)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2,421[1]

L.A. Slasher is a 2015 American comedy slasher film co-written and directed by Martin Owen. The film stars Andy Dick, Drake Bell, Mischa Barton, and Dave Bautista. The film was released on June 26, 2015 in a limited release by Arthur Jones.

Plot

Los Angeles learns that the city’s minor celebrities are being stalked when The Reality Star is found wandering the Hollywood hills wrapped in bloodied bandages. The self-proclaimed pop culture obsessed L.A. Slasher, a masked killer with a burning hatred for reality TV, begins abducting and torturing various stars while amassing a large cult following that monitors his activities as he posts videos online.

The Slasher stalks The Heiress as she dines with her friend The Socialite. After picking up a stash of cocaine from a pair of Drug Dealers in a cheap motel room, The Heiress is grounded by her parents for embarrassing herself while high at a family dinner. The Slasher abducts The Heiress from her room and later kidnaps The Socialite, as well.

As the kidnappings and torture continue, the citizens of Los Angeles are interviewed about the actions of the Slasher; most people generally do not care and feel that society is better off without them.

While The Actress hosts a party attended by her friend The Stripper, The Slasher nearly drowns The Teen Mom in a pool before abducting her. The Slasher releases video of the captive Heiress, prompting her parents to beg for her release on TV.

The Mayor publicly decries The Slasher’s actions. The Slasher then forcibly kidnaps him after The Mayor has a drunken sexual encounter with two women in a car outside a sleazy bar.

After taking a drive with The Actress, The Stripper ends up abducted by The Slasher. Meanwhile, The Producer plans on making a horror movie based on the crimes and The Slasher kidnaps him, too.

Holding his victims captive, The Slasher forces everyone to perform humiliating auditions that he posts online for his followers’ entertainment. The Teen Mom is killed on camera with an ax while dressed as Marilyn Monroe.

The Slasher cuts off The Socialite’s fingers. He then briefly attends a group therapy session at a Killers Anonymous meeting, but leaves before participating. The Slasher next abducts The Popstar at a boxing gym. After getting a haircut, The Slasher attacks The Heiress back at his lair. The Slasher then kidnaps The Actress while she searches for her missing stripper friend.

The Slasher releases The Stripper in order to play a cat and mouse game. The Stripper escapes to an abandoned gas station with online-enabled cameras, but no one watching at home responds to her cries for help. The Slasher continues chasing The Stripper through the desert before finally running her over with his van.

The Drug Dealers come to the desert looking for the location of an underground drug lab. One of the Drug Dealers reveals himself to be an Undercover Cop after calling in the discovery of The Stripper’s body lying in the sand. The other Drug Dealer shoots the Undercover Cop, but The Slasher then kills the Drug Dealer with a machete.

The Slasher loads up his van with the remaining hostages and drives into the city. He meets The Reporter who has been covering his crimes for local newscasts and they kiss because she “understands him.”

The police arrive at The Slasher’s desert lair with an ambulance. They discover The Mayor being held captive and forced to watch recordings of disgraced politicians making public apologies. The police also rescue The Actress.

After making his escape with The Reporter, The Slasher uses a remote control to unlock the back doors of his van. The Producer, The Popstar, The Heiress, and The Socialite go free.

Cast

Marketing

A theatrical trailer was released on September 24, 2014.[2] on June 24, 2015, the official theatrical poster was released.[3]

Release

On February 9, 2015, Archstone Distribution had acquired all North American distribution rights to the film and planned to release the film through AMC Theatres in 2015.[4] The film was released in a limited release on June 26, 2015, with December 1, 2015 DVD and December 8, 2015 VOD releases to follow.[3]

Reception

The film holds a 0% rating on the review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes; the average rating is 2.5/10 based on five reviews.[5] Camilla Jackson of Fangoria gave it a positive review of 3 out of 4 stars, describing it as a "colorful feast for the eyes."[6] Clayton Dillard of Slant Magazine gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four stars and wrote, "It [the film] inflates the meta conceit (already borderline overblown) of a pop-obsessed, sex-negative serial killer to excessive but trite proportions."[7] Martin Tsai of the Los Angeles Times called the film "vile" and "worthless", writing that it "actively wishes harm" on the subjects of its criticism.[8]

References

  1. ^ "L.A. Slasher".
  2. ^ "L.A. Slasher Official Trailer #1 (2014) - Mischa Barton, Dave Bautista Movie HD". Youtube. 24 September 2014. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "New Batista Film 'L.A. Slasher' Is Arriving This Friday, June 26; Viewing Details And Comments From Producer - Wrestlezone". 23 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Press Release: L.A. SLASHER finds a home". Truly Disturbing. 9 February 2015.
  5. ^ "L.A. Slasher (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
  6. ^ ""L.A. SLASHER" (Movie Review) | FANGORIA®". www.fangoria.com. Archived from the original on 2015-06-27.
  7. ^ Dillard, Clayton (June 20, 2015). "L.A. Slasher; Film Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  8. ^ Tsai, Martin (June 25, 2015). "Cut worthless 'L.A. Slasher' from any might-see list". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 29, 2015.