BA_Harrison For the first time in its history, extreme Japanese game show $la$her$ hosts an All-American special, throwing open the doors of its gore-drenched arena to six plucky U.S. contestants who must fight for survival against a trio of blood-thirsty killers for the chance to win a fortune in prize money.Going by the terrible UK DVD cover that simply screamed 'worthless garbage', my expectations for this low budget horror were set extremely low, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that that I actually enjoyed the film on more than one level...On one hand, $la$her$ is an enjoyably silly splatter flick—an over the top parody of extreme game shows that delivers a significant level of tension, genuinely well-executed jump scares, cheap and cheerful decapitations and dismemberment aplenty, and just a smidge of female nudity—all of which makes it a fun film to down a few beers to.However, for those looking for something a little more cerebral, the film also offers some wry satire that takes swipes at such subjects as today's celebrity culture, the depths to which people will sink to make a buck, and the hypocrisy of religion. Much of this humour is derived from the film's superb villains: Preacherman (Neil Napier), who kills in the name of God; Dr. Ripper (Christopher Piggins), who encourages the female contestants to get topless to boost their popularity; and Chainsaw Charlie (Napier again, in a dual role), an inbred redneck who is 'just doing his job'.Although production values are very low, the whole movie being shot on digital video on a flimsy set constructed from hardboard and plastic sheeting, the cheap look and feel actually works in the film's favour, effectively capturing the poor quality and style of many a tacky Japanese game-show.

Bill357 Despite some very bad acting, I found Slashers (or $la$herS) to be an engaging and very entertaining movie. The colorful sets and slasher characters won me over.What I found interesting was that the slashers weren't portrayed as pure psychopaths trying to kill everyone as soon as possible but performers trying to coax good "performances" out of the contestants before killing them at a very dramatic moment and the fact that offering a good performance can make the slashers hold off on trying to kill you. I also found it quite amusing that they tried as much as possible to get the girls naked!As far as the acting goes, I found it pretty wooden and stilted most of the time. The dialog handed them didn't help as it seemed better suited to a comic book than a movie. However, considering the content of the film, it didn't take away much.The slashers themselves give the best performances of the picture but that's not saying much because they were supposed to overact. I found the purposely bloated stereotypes quite funny as well and loved the evil doctor's bad Boris Karloff impersonation.

enkephalin07 I picked this movie up without much expectation -- I saw 'Fangoria' on the cover and thought I'd give them a chance to scare or freak me out. This is not the kind of horror that will make you fear the dark again but is more accurately described in some reviews as satire. This movie was every bit as fun as the bubble-gum pop theme song suggests. Many low budget choices were so appropriate to the setting and feel, and so well executed that they shouldn't have been done any other way. The gore effects were liberal with blood and so apparently fake that they contributed to the charm.This movie was so full of personality that even the camera was a character, one who was always present, but because of good action pacing managed to remain inconspicuous until one of the other characters addressed him. The cast of competitors were personable enough and watchable enough (though some become more watchable with their shirts off,) in spite of their weaker acting. But good horror relies on the strength of good villains, which Slashers had. Each Slasher had their comic-bookish personal style of WWF ranting and fun-park menace, backed up by their signature weapons, of course, and made the most of their screen time, hamming it up and thrilling their fans. Even bad dialog would be good for these subjects, but it was all delivered with such flair and enthusiasm by Neil Napier and Christopher Piggins that they were a pleasure to see every time they crawled, sometimes literally, out of the woodwork.

blackdeath21 This movie is fantastic, I loved watching it. The movie is basically an episode of a game show called "slashers". The object of the game is to survive being chased by homicidal murderers and the winner, if there is one, gets a lot of money. It's like a haunted house ride come to life.As the movie progressed you really start to feel for some characters and wish the others an untimely demise. Out of the killers Chainsaw Charlie was very entertaining to see, he made me laugh as he was chopping someone up. All he wanted was a kiss. Out of the victims Megan(played by a very sexy, I think so, Sarah Crowder) was my favorite. As the movie went along I really wanted her to win the game.In my opinion, for anyone who is a fan of horror movies this is worth seeing. A+