Mladen reviews ‘Slotherhouse’

Image courtesy of Gravitas Ventures and Iconic Events Releasing.

“Slotherhouse” Starring Lisa Ambalavanar as Emily the wannabe; Sydney Craven as Brianna the haughty; Olivia Rouyre as Madison the conscientious; Tiff Stevenson as Ms. Mayflower the un-adult; and others. Directed by Matthew Goodhue. 1 hour, 33 minutes. Rated PG-13. Streaming on Hulu.

Plot summary: A baby chimpanzee-sized sloth from central America goes on a killing spree at a sorority, taking selfies along the way.

Mladen’s take

Kristin, a co-worker, mischievously lured me into watching this movie. I assumed she had seen it. My assumption was incorrect. No matter. Kristin has no idea what she’s missing. “Slotherhouse” excels as social satire horror.

“Excels” is no exaggeration, either. The “Slotherhouse” script is very good. The acting is very good. The clunky mechanical three-toed sloth is perfect. Moving past the film’s absurd premise – an aggressive, sometimes fast-moving sloth, whacking creatures from a caiman to humans – what do we get? Snarling commentary on our fixation with social media as the path to popularity and influencer fame. “Slotherhouse” is a light-hearted assault on the notion of achieving social standing by contriving Instagram- or TikTok-like unrealities and seeking “friends” on Facebook to earn a dollar or win an election. Think of the film as a bloody and funnier version of the Black Mirror episode, “Nosedive.”

But, wait, there’s more tomfoolery. The movie sets up the serial killer sloth plausibility with an opening that feeds on your understanding, assuming you have one, of a sloth’s life. It made me chuckle and then it made me groan with disbelief. In 2 minutes, “Slotherhouse” had me strapped in for the ride to the end of the line. I’m glad I didn’t pop the buckle. “Slotherhouse” just kept getting better and better.

You demand an example of better and better? How about this? The freak sloth drives a Mustang with a six-speed manual transmission. The sloth-enstein punches through doors. The sloth can take a bullet or six. The satanic sloth is literate.

I love the sloth. I hope there’s a “Slotherhouse II: Three-Toed Death Returns” or “Slotherhosed – Man, You’re Dead,” or “Slothageddon – Humans Are Too Slow.”

You must see this film to believe it. It’s imaginative. It’s well done. It’s correct. And, “Slotherhouse” is an “A.”

Mladen Rudman is a former journalist and technical writer. Del Stone Jr. is a former journalist and writer.