If I were to do some of that word association business, my response to the word ‘Mycho’ would be ‘bold.’ It applies to the company’s work in just about every meaning of the word. On an aesthetic level, bold is an accurate summation of their in-your-face approach, particularly when it comes to colour schemes: as I noted of the original Slasher House, writer-director MJ Dixon has clearly never heeded the maxim ‘red and green should never be seen,’ and as the above image demonstrates, he hasn’t faltered there. But beyond that, boldness is clearly something that Dixon, producer Anna McCarthy and their cohorts at Mycho Entertainment clearly have in spades. Making movies for next to no money, taking on multiple roles within the filmmaking process, enlisting others willing to pour in the blood, sweat and tears without monetary remuneration; this in itself takes some gusto. But to attempt to forge your own overlapping cinematic universe at this level of filmmaking, spending less per film than Marvel spend on the baby oil for their lead actors’ shirtless scenes; yes, bold is the word.
Slasher House II is the fifth Mychoverse movie, following on from 2012’s Slasher House, 2014’s Legacy of Thorn, and 2015’s Hollower and Cleaver: Rise of the Killer Clown, and in many respects it is their boldest film to date, as it’s considerably more action-oriented than anything they’ve done before. Slasher House’s heroine Red returns, Francesca Louise White taking over the role originated by Eleanor James, but where the earlier film saw her stricken with amnesia struggling to piece together her life as a vengeful ‘killer of killers,’ here we have her in kick-ass vigilante mode from the get-go, facing off against a broader and more lurid selection of foes, from a stripper-killing maniac in a panda mask, to a reanimated skeleton, to an army of dolls. Each confrontation brings Red that bit closer to solving the mystery of the shady organisation that is amassing these killers for their own nefarious purposes; but, as ever in these instances, there’ll be a twist or two along the way.
Aye, there’s the rub, for it’s in the midst of all these twists and turns that Slasher House II threatens to lose its way. I’m not about to reveal any spoilers, but I can’t deny that, even as one who’s seen (and indeed reviewed) all the Mychoverse films to date, I still find myself struggling to recall who’s who and what’s what at times, and matters aren’t necessarily helped by how things don’t always run in an entirely linear fashion. Still, whilst Dixon is interested in building up his mythology, his primary focus always seems to be on paying homage to the films that inspired him, and as with his earlier films it’s the earnest spirit of these homages that really lends it all some charm. As a writer, Dixon’s always had a proclivity for self-consciously corny one-liners, and leading lady White proves adept at delivering these with a fair bit more attitude than we saw from her predecessor in the role, even if not all her co-stars prove quite so at ease delivering dialogue (a common problem with microbudget indies).
Where the existing Mychoverse films for the most part hark back to the stylings of 80s horror, there’s more of a 90s/millennial vibe here as the film embraces an action-horror style more reminiscent of the Blade, Underworld and Resident Evil movies – although, again, this is obviously a challenge given the gargantuan budget disparity between those movies and this one. Happily, White also proves more than capable in the fisticuffs department, and faces off against clearly accomplished martial artists in some scenes. No one’s going to confuse Slasher House II for The Raid, but we have a few pretty decent punch-ups. Beyond these scenes, a little ultra-low budget crudity is all part of the fun, most notably in a graveyard confrontation with an endearingly lo-fi skeleton puppet.
I can’t help feeling that, all things considered, Dixon and the Mycho crew may have tried to bite off just a little more than they can chew with Slasher House II. Again, the timeline is getting a bit confusing, and the resources are lacking to really do justice to the ambitious vision – but once more, this just brings us back to that whole ‘bold’ thing. Building up a somewhat complex mythology might make the films that bit less accessible to the wider audience, but then microbudget horror isn’t necessarily for that wide an audience to begin with; might as well give the real die-hards something to look forward to. For all its faults, Slasher House II is enjoyable enough to have been worth the wait, and I remain keen to see where the Mychoverse goes from here.
Slasher House II will premiere at the Horror-On-Sea festival in Southend on 22nd January 2017. The DVD can be pre-ordered from Mycho Entertainment here, for a limited time only!