Slaughter Disc

Ever since the 1960's sexploitaion films transcended into hardcore pornography in the early 70's, many film makers have tried to merge hardcore pornography with horror in order to create a shocking masterpiece. Whilst some have failed miserably - such as the early 70's Satanic porno films that were more comedy and camp rather than evil, heinous and debauched - some have succeeded in utilising both the horror and pornography genre to create an indisputable unnerving experience. This hybrid genre of horror and pornography reigned most supreme in the 70's, and included perhaps the greatest horror porno of all time, Through the Looking Glass. Hardgore, on the other hand, become the most famous (or infamous, depending on your mentality) and relied heavily on gore to traumatize the viewer. Through the Looking Glass bestowed an intense atmosphere of dread and suspense. When watching you never knew when the demon would emerge from the mirror and kidnap Catherine and drag her into hell. Hardgore wasn't as unpredictable because you knew an erect penis was about to be cut off and knew the dildos would develop a life of their own upon masturbation.

The horror pornos were quite popular in their day and have since developed a cult following, but not even that was enough to save the genre from dieing during the decadal change and the new administration in the Whitehouse who made it apparent from the very first day that they would clamp down pornography. The genre continued until the late 80's in Europe, but it was always a dieing genre.

The past few years, however, has been witness to a new push by the horror genre which has ascended back up the ladder to bestow shocks and hard-ons in equal proportions. Since the year 2000 we have had Germany producing the hardcore porno with monster tentacles in the film Damonenbrut. Damonenbrut has since been released on DVD with English subtitles and is even banned in Australia. Rossa Venezia was completed 3 years later, and was a throw back to the giallo of the 70's, but included hardcore sex to try and titillate the viewer before shocking them. Slaughter Disc attempts to do something similar. First you get your rather superior sex scene, and then your shocking gore scene.

Slaughter Disc continues the rise of the new horror pornos and is a slightly better effort than the rest. It can either be deemed a horror film or a porn film; but because Slaughter Disc has hardcore sex, some people might adamantly label it a porn film due to the fact that sex in film is still a taboo subject. If you purchase Slaughter Disc to watch a good horror film, you might be disappointed. If you watch Slaughter Disc to watch porn film, you might also be disappointed. Slaughter Disc seems as if it will only pique the viewer who has a predilection and a palpable understand for a film that can merge both the horror and porn genre into one picture, and then allow themselves to appreciate the horror and porn scenes without being disappointed when a sex scene spoils the horror element or when a horror scene spoils the porno element. It can be problematical to watch Slaughter Disc if you want to watch it for the gore element that the film title suggests without knowing about the sex scenes first.

The story of Slaughter Disc begins with a porno addict called Mike. Mike is man engaging in a relationship with a woman and cannot stop his appetite for masturbation or watching porn films featuring clowns. When he is caught with a hard-on watching clown porn by his girlfriend, he not only is dumped by her but kneed by her where his addiction most expresses itself. A neighbour comes out to see what all the commotion is about, only to discover Mike clenching his balls on the floor with a woman painted as a clown licking a pussy on the television. This adds some humour to Slaughter Disc. Whether the humour arouses you laughter depends on whether you are drunk or not. Watching Slaughter Disc sober is quite an eccentric experience because you become confused over the differing genres within the film. When you're drunk, however, things make sense.

Mike visits his local sex shop in need for more clown porn. Whether real clown exists is something I do not want to know, but if Mike attains pleasure from pleasing his Rodger when watching clown porn then that's up to him. But what isn't up to him, however, is the allure encompassing the front of a magazine which features a sinister, gothic beauty called Andromeda Strange, seeming to entice Mike into purchasing the magazine and then luring him into her deadly grasp of terror. Mike's curiosity gets the better of him and thus he purchases the magazine. He enquires at the desk whether they sell any DVDs featuring Andromeda Strange. When Mike is told that DVDs featuring Andromeda can only be purchased via the internet, his curiosity is further provoked. When at home, Mike orders an Andromeda Strange DVD after reading about her in the magazine, and discovers he will have to wait up to 6 or 8 weeks to receive the DVD. When the DVD eventually arrives, mysterious incidents begin happening…

Throughout the rest of the film, Mike is weaved into the deadly web of Andromeda Strange. Mike is fired from his job and Andromeda Strange is there for him when he wants to escape from his daily life. Andromeda masturbates with a demonic dildo (a graphic and shocking scene) and has sex with tied up men on her bed. Her chthonic realm is gothic aesthetic at its very finest, providing a spooky atmosphere whenever Mike decides watch the DVD. Andromeda talks directly to viewer, assuring that their darkest fantasies will be deeply satisfied as she weaves her way through various sexual depravity. A presage of doom drapes over the footage involving Andromeda. Her body decomposes with alarming alacrity as the film goes on. Once her perverse desires are satisfied, she murders the men tied up to her lavish bed and takes further orgasmic pleasure by chafing her body with their blood as they die. Sometimes she mutilates herself and chews on the body parts of her hapless victims. Her eyes become more malevolent, and when she glances towards the camera you can genuinely feel her eyes baring into your soul. It isn't long before Andromeda begins exploiting Mike's weak points, making him muse whether Andromeda is manifesting herself into Mike's reality.

As with most hardcore sex scenes, there is the typical clichéd soundtrack; but the atmosphere provided within Andromeda's realm is menacing to say the least. Andromeda Strange is played by real porn star Caroline Pierce. She steals the entire show with her presence, performance and ability to do just about anything. Her acting is brilliant. You genuinely feel her pleasure when she terrorises her helpless victims with a blade. But whilst Andromeda's acting performance is the best you could hope for, the acting by the rest of the cast leaves a lot to be desired. You must remember that Slaughter Disc is a low budget horror film, and it certainly shows; however, it is not detrimental. Mike, who is the second main character, puts in a less than convincing performance. The acting by the police officers during their investigation towards the end is also below par. The acting by these characters are quite comic, and should provide some humour to the film. But it is this humour that is the problem. Every other word said by the police is 'fuck,' quite unreal if you ask me, and this might ruin any atmosphere conjured up during the venomous scenes involving Andromeda and Mike's plight into her dark realm. It did not with me, however. The saving grace of Slaughter Disc is Andromeda Strange herself. She will turn you on and scare the pants off you in equal doses. Adromeda is so good that I can't help but think Slaughter Disc would have been much better if the film just concentrated on her as she lures Mike unobtrusively into her realm with her deadly seductiveness which most men would fail to resist.

After seeing the trailer for Slaughter Disc on the Slaughter Disc website, I knew what would be in store when the DVD arrived. As in most cases when one purchases a DVD expecting to see the most graphic bloodshed their retinas could take, your imagination has a tenacity to scuttle away and imagine the worst atrocities possible. And then when you finally do watch the DVD, you wonder what on earth was the fuss all about. Slaughter Disc is a slight exception. Even I was still shocked during some of the bloody play scenes on the Andromeda disk. The gore overall is quite low, but graphic when seen - so any prudes reading, please do not purchase. For the curious who wishes to see some hot sexxx with a bloody twist - look no further.

The production value was high during the scenes inside Andromeda's lair and was very well spent. The lighting and direction was no different from mainstream films. It was during the scenes with Mike and the outer world, however, that gave the film its low budget look which was a slight distraction from the scenes involving Andromeda. The sound was fine and easily discernable. The soundtrack itself is quite eerie and will make you feel uncomfortable.

Overall, I was quite pleased with Slaughter Disc. It was a better viewing the second time round when I drank alcohol as it is quite a fun film that does not take itself too seriously which the acting of the police officers demonstrated. So don't expect a masterpiece with world class acting when purchasing Slaughter Disc because you will be disappointed. However, the director David Quitmeyer has made a very impressive low budget film. It may not be a masterpiece, but it isn't a disappointment thanks to the performance by the dangerously sassy Caroline Pierce playing Andromeda Strange. Go on, let her scratch your chest with her long nails, slash your neck with a blade and then proceed to slurp your blood. She'll give you one helluva blowjob before she finishes you.

Slaughter Disc comes with some interesting extras. You get a photo gallery, a behind the scenes feature compilation containing Andromeda in the make-up room and her lair being organised. You have a short outtake section. A feature called The Curse of Slaughter Disc which describes a number of incidents which went against the production team during filming, and a Slaughter Disc trailer.

Slaughter Disc is a film I enjoyed immensely. Don't worry about the below par acting performances by the most of the cast. Andromeda Strange is the reason why you are watching Slaughter Disc. A very fucked up film, but in a good way. My rating is 8/10.

The studio that made Slaughter Disc is Steel Web Studios. Their website is http://www.steelwebstudios.com/. They are one film studio to keep your eye on.

Happy Nightmares!

Review by Pryce