Sometimes it’s hard to pin down why you like a movie. Slash/Back is clearly made on a micro budget, with young girl actors who’ve clearly done very little acting in their lives, special effects that are at times terrible, ridiculous dialogue, and a plot that, while interesting, comes with an abrupt, unfulfilled ending.
Yet, I enjoyed the film. Not once did I consider turning it off and finding something else to watch.
Slash/Back is about a small Inuit town in Northern Canada that is suddenly hit with an alien invasion of sorts. (I say ‘of sorts’ because it’s never quite clear what the tentacled aliens are trying to do. If they’re trying to conquer the planet, they came ill-prepared for the fight.) While the invasion is taking place, most of the adults in town are at summer solstice party getting drunk. Thus, our main protagonists for this adventure is a group of girls.
And these girls are part of what make the movie interesting. While they bicker and talk about boys and tap away on cellphones, like any girls, we also see the ruggedness of them, a ruggedness that likely only comes with living so far north, away from the rest of civilization, and a ruggedness perhaps engrained in the Inuit people. The girls are familiar with hunting and fishing, and they know how to operate a boat and take it across the channel. They know how to navigate the surrounding mountains and how to use weapons. These girls are a far cry from the typical trip-and-fall horror heroines. Their acting is not good, but they’re still fun to follow.
Above, I mentioned that the special effects were sometimes terrible. This is true. But they’re also sometimes really good. The aliens, as you can probably tell from the poster, take over the bodies of Earth creatures, like bears, moose, and people. Some of the scenes depicting these aliens trying to operate their Earthly veils are downright creepy. They can’t walk or run properly, but they do their damndest. Some of the best moments in the film are those with the creatures and their fucked up gaits. And the scene where the veiled creature has its human face torn off . . . badass!
This is why I enjoy doing these reviews. Last night, after watching the film with Petal, I was sitting there trying to figure out why I liked it. Because there is very little about the movie that is done well. But the atmosphere of it, the toughness of the girls, and the creepiness of the aliens, that’s what made it fun. And the love that went into making it, I would argue. This is not a Hollywood film. There are no known actors in it. From an outsider’s perspective, it looks like director Nyla Innuksuk arrived at a small Inuit village with her camera crew and said, “Okay, who wants to be in a movie?” That’s cool!
PC3’s Horror and Exploitation Movie Scale of Awesomeness!
Gore - 4
Special Effects - 5
Nudity/Sexuality - 0
Wow Factor - 3
Acting - 2
Fear Factor - 5
Story/Plot/Originality - 6
Cinematography/Atmosphere - 7
Sound/Music - 5
Fun Factor - 8
Alright, not bad for Slash/Back with a 45 overall PHEMSA. By the way, I have no idea what the title has to do with the movie. Hmmm. Anyway, if you want to give it a watch, you can find it on Shudder.