THE SLASHENING is a 2015 horror comedy from Annum Films. In the movie we follow a group of best friends who decide to have a girl's only sleepover. Well, technically it's supposed to be a "friendly get together," but that's debatable. Lucy, Eva, Ashley, Beth and Margot spend the night together in a house. Once day turns to night, the group begins to get picked off by a bag-faced serial killer.

What I love most about this movie is the writing. The SLASHENING is a horror/comedy that pokes fun at the slasher sub genre. This is a horror comedy that plays with the slasher tropes. This is apparent when you get introduced to the characters on screen. Despite being an all girls "get together," a slew of male characters do show up out of nowhere. That's when the partying really gets out of control.

When it comes to slasher films, this cast of characters checks all the boxes. You've got your slutty characters, your nerdy characters, your final girl (or guy), and your "I can't seem to stop doing drinking and doing drugs characters".... you get the idea. The interactions between the characters are very funny. The dialog is great, and the comedic scenes are very well written. THE SLASHENING is a Troma release. If you've ever watched anything from Troma, you already have an idea of what to expect.

THE SLASHENING as a whole is pretty tame compared to what you're used to with Troma. The story is simple, and the characters you're introduced to have their own unique personality traits. Each actor brings a different type of humor to their roles. While it is a comedy that pokes fun at the genre, at no point did the humor ever feel forced. It drives me nuts when movies try to force unfunny scenes on you. This film didn't do that. I was genuinely laughing through most of it. Hell even the names of the characters are funny. The only real problem I had with this movie was its pacing. I'll get into that shortly.

Judging by the film's content, you can tell this was made on a shoe string budget. Despite having small budget, the movie makes up for it with creative funny kills and a nice body count. THE SLASHENING features the typical slasher tropes. However, they don't play out in the way that you're used to. It's good or bad depending on your personal taste. For me, some of the death scenes went on a little too long, and some of the others are done off screen. The kills themselves seem to suffer the most from the budget. Thankfully there's more than enough blood and shock value to make up for it.

Most (if not all) of the death scenes are played for laughs, and at no point did it ever feel too spoofy.

The gags that go along with the kill scenes are pleasing. There's one gag in particular that involves pizza delivery, and it's absolutely bonkers. Those were my favorite scenes in the entire movie. Not to mention it has a great payoff. The soundtrack in this movie is also hilarious. There's a couple poppy songs that play in the movie, and the lyrics reflect what's going on in the story. Each song feels crafted for the scene it's featured in. The lyrics are funny and the songs themselves are very amusing.

I did reach a point in the movie where my interest was beginning to fade. Somewhere after the pizza delivery bits, I felt that the movie was dragging on. Towards the end it did begin to pick up steam. The final death scenes did keep me entertained. The identity of the killer is revealed at the end. I won't spoil it for you, but you might be able to guess who it is fairly easily. Character wise, the killer reveal does make sense. If you're planning to watch this movie, make sure you watch past the credits. There is a post credits scene that's actually pretty funny.

Overall, I thought this movie was pretty decent. While it did drag for me I parts, the movie did manage to keep entertain me. Despite having a small budget, the level of humor and creativity in the kill scenes and characters themselves more than makes up for it. Some of the gags did go on a little too long for me, but that didn't ruin the overall experience for me. The film's strongest aspect is within the writing. The dialog is funny and I loved how it played with the slasher tropes. Most of all, I appreciate the fact that it didn't feel like a spoof. This movie is much smarter than you think it is. I'm glad that I watched THE SLASHENING; I just don't see myself wanting to revisit it in the future.

Rating: 6/10.

The. Slashening released in 2015, is actually very good. I saw it on BluRay in 2021 and it was fantastic.

Without ruining the plot, it's a parody of Slasher movies and it knows it. It actually puts the females in male roles and male in female roles in sex scenes and it's funny. It really is funny. It's because it doesn't work and doesn't make much sense, and the film is aware of it, that is why it's funny.

It's a typical slasher film, obviously smaller budget and smaller tighter movie shots...but it works. If you understand it's a small budget film and give it a fair chance, you will enjoy by yourself or with friends. Thank me later.

9 out of 10. It's just a fun good time.

Were you trying to make this movie as lame as possible? Because you sure succeeded.