No surprise a serial-killer sloth went viral. But 'Slotherhouse' is shockingly good-bad
When the trailer for “Slotherhouse” was released, it went viral.
How could it not? It’s a movie about a killer sloth rampaging around a sorority. It is precisely for this kind of thing that the internet exists.
But a viral trailer doesn’t guarantee a good movie. Have you seen “Cocaine Bear?” My condolences if so. It tries way too hard to manufacture the buzz the trailer generated for an entire movie, but forgot about almost everything else.
I am happy to report, however, that “Slotherhouse” lives down to expectations.
It is dumb beyond belief, but it’s also fun, aware of its intentions to an almost meta extent (a character yells, “It’s a slotherhouse!” and is roundly mocked by his friends, even as they are in mortal danger) and it boasts surprisingly inventive direction by Matthew Goodhue.
It boasts some fairly pedestrian direction, too. But there’s promise here.
In other words, "Slotherhouse" has the courage of its lack of convictions.
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What is 'Slotherhouse' about?
Emily (Lisa Ambalavanar) is a member of Sigma Lambda Theta, which is ruled with an iron, manicured fist by Brianna (Sydney Craven), the president of the sorority, whose wealth and arrogance is matched only by her cruelty. Emily dreams of becoming president, like her mother, but no one dares challenge Brianna.
A chance meeting in the mall with a man who seems to know a lot about unusual animals gives Emily an idea — evidently cute exotic pets are big hits with sororities, and the man, Oliver (Stefan Kapicic), just happens to have a sloth in his care.
Overcoming her initial hesitancy by way of some Brianna-inspired antics, Emily decides she wants the sloth.
But, it turns out Oliver has a lot of animals in his care, illegally, and he mistreats them. When Emily stops by his mansion to pick up the sloth, things have gotten, shall we say, messy.
Emily hurries back to the sorority house, sloth in tow. Brianna wants none of it, sensing how much the sisters like the animal and the threat that implies to her stranglehold on the presidency. But she’s overruled and the sloth, whom Emily names Alpha, becomes the official mascot of the sorority.
The audience at this point is vaguely aware of Alpha’s murderous tendencies. Soon enough, however, they become evident, in that she starts killing sorority sisters. And it seems they run a pretty loose ship over there at Sigma Lambda Theta, because besides the occasional, “Hey, anybody seen Chloe?” questions, no one seems to know or care that people are going missing.
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Is a serial-killer sloth a bit too much? 'Slotherhouse' might not be for you
Emily, meanwhile, is becoming a serious threat in the upcoming sorority presidential election, thanks to Alpha’s popularity. Madison (Olivia Rouyre), one of the sisters, serves as Emily’s conscience, reminding her that Alpha has no business being in captivity, much less a sorority house. Alpha does not like this line of reasoning.
Alpha, it turns out, has something of an agenda. She is not just your garden-variety serial-killing sloth. In addition to being able to tear people apart with her claws and teeth, she can use a computer, a cellphone and, in an inspired bit of stupidity, drive a car. Fast.
Why? Who knows — even asking the question seems ridiculous. If you’re going to get bogged down in small details like how a sloth knows to stop at a red light, well, “Slotherhouse” probably isn’t the movie for you.
It might not be anyway.
"Slotherhouse" is surprisingly light on gore for a horror movie. Then again, it’s going more for laughs than screams.
Goodhue directs the film like the grab bag that it is. He does some intriguing things with depth-of-field in places, though, something that greatly improves a horror movie (see “It Follows” for the master-class version).
Craven is funny as a snotty princess who occasionally has to drop the facade because, you know, a sloth is terrorizing her house. And Tiff Stevenson is funny as Ms. Mayflower, the boozing house mother who knew Emily’s mom.
Overall, it's exactly as absurd as it sounds, but in the best way.
The trick is not to take things too seriously. Despite some weaknesses, “Slotherhouse” is good at that.
'Slotherhouse' 3 stars
Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★
Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★
Director: Matthew Goodhue.
Cast: Lisa Ambalavanar, Sydney Craven, Olivia Rouyre.
Rating: PG-13 for violence, bloody images and language.
How to watch: In theaters Wednesday, Aug. 30.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Slotherhouse' review: Serial-killer sloth delivers in horror-comedy
