Slaughter Studios (2002)

An abandoned movie studio known for its low-budget horror movies becomes a death trap for independent filmmakers who meet its angry resident ghost.

Steve (Peter Stanovich) is a film student who wants to direct a picture that takes place in an abandoned film studio. With his girlfriend Madigan (Amy Shelton-White) he pitches the idea to a couple friends.

Gary and Trish (Eva Frajko) look at the script for "Naughty Sex Kittens vs. the Giant Praying Mantis". Gary has a digital camera which will enable them to film as this evening. There's a rush because the old studio will be demolished in just nine hours.

Trish introduces them to the buffoonish Kevin who claims to be a Shakespearian actor. They offer him the role of the mantis.

That evening, Trish shows up on the set of the abandoned studio with a van full of her colleagues from acting school who agreed to be in this film.

One by one, the actresses emerge from the van and greet Steve. The first is the ditzy Rebecca (Laura Otis),

Darlene Valentine (Sarra Ellison) a trashy burn-out.

Candace (Lorissa McComas) is another airhead. She's agreed to take part just to meet Justin. We'll learn about the mysterious Justin later.

And finally, Portia (Tara Killian) the stuck-up rich girl.

Steve explains why there is no script. He lies and says this is a "conceptual piece" where they will improvise their lines.

Steve warns them to stay clear of the security guard - they're not supposed to be on the premises.

Throught the cobwebs they make their way through the darkened studio.

As they make their way to Stage 17, Portia notices a mirror. She can't resist a quick vanity check.

The mirror suddenly shatters. Portia screams. Steve tries desperately to quiet her down so not to alert the security guard.

They finally make it to Stage 17. Steve turns on the lights with gusto. Everyone's excited to begin.

Everyone gets down to business.

Candace can't believe she's in the same stage where Justin once performed.

She finds the bullet hole in the door - the spot where her beloved Justin was shot.

Portia asks what Candace has found.

When she sees the bullet hole, she screams and jumps onto the hood of the car.

Poor Madigan has to do most of the grunt work. She wishes she could act in this film, but Steve is a jerk and just brushes her off.

The girls go to the dressing room and check out the wardrobe covered in cobwebs. Candace opens up her Justin scrapbook.

The first scene calls for the girls to dress in skimpy nightwear and hold a seance led by Trish.

During the seance, they notice a creepy shadow appear. It seems as though they have actually conjured a spirit.

The lights suddenly go out and they hear screaming coming from another location in the studio. They don't realize the screams are from Chad, their lead actor, being murdered.

Ollie the sound engineer has to take Chad's place, so now Madigan has yet another duty taking over the sound responsibilities.

For this scene, Portia is to get in the tent with Chad's goofy replacement and make love.

But as soon as Ollie tries to pull up Portia's nightie, she screams. She exclaims that she doesn't do nude scenes.

Madigan offers to take Portia's place, but Steve naturally ignores her. Instead, Steve asks Darlene if she'd stand in for Portia. She says she'd love to.

Portia says she's very upset, and Steve worries he is losing his lead actress.

Steve offers her some pills (although he doesn't quite know what they are). She takes the drugs then chases them down with a flask of alcohol.

Now that Portia is stoned out of her mind, she is willing to do the scene.

The scene also calls for Trish to join the fun - followed by Darlene, Rebecca and Candace.

This promising scene turns into a disaster when Portia passes out and farts - driving everyone from the tent. They abort the scene, leaving Portia unconscious in the tent.

Candace resumes her search for the ghost of Justin. She gets more and more aroused as she believes she's making contact with him in the spirit world.

Madigan finds Candace talking to the ghost and is worried about her sanity.

Steve assembles another spicy scene with Ollie. With Portia completley out of the picture, he requests Darlene to take her place. As per usual, Darlene is more than happy to.

But no one is happier than Ollie the former sound engineer. He's absolutely giddy with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, it's shortlived as there's a last minute change.

Steve wants Rebecca to take part in the scene with Darlene, but she is uncomfortable with doing a lesbian scene. He gives her a bullshit story that it will make her a better actor by acting outside her comfort zone.

Rebecca eventually agrees, and the lesbian scene begins.

Once Darlene and Rebecca start going at it, things get out of hand. Both women seem to be enjoying this a lot more than expected - and they're certainly not acting.

Steve and Madigan watch in disbelief, unsure if this is great or perhaps a bit overboard.

When it's all over, Darlene and Rebecca collapse with exhaustion.

The entire crew is slackjawed and silent as the two ladies grab a cigarette and wander off in a happy daze.

Trish feels the presence of some unseen force.

She climbs up a ladder into an attic and is attacked by something. Perhaps it was just bats - but Trish is shaken nonetheless.

Rebecca and Darlene take a shower together.

For a moment we think the ghost is approaching them, but it's just Madigan.

Kevin, in his mantis costume, carries Portia to a park bench in another set.

She suddenly wakes up from her slumber and starts grabbing him. Kevin has a huge crush on Portia but won't take advantage of her while she's hammered.

Portia quickly passes out again. Ever the gentleman, Kevin grabs a blue crocheted shawl and covers her with it before leaving.

Darlene and Rebecca find a recording studio. Darlene performs a terrible rap and then is murdered by an unseen entity. Rebecca witnesses it but is unable to help from the other side of the glass. She then becomes the next victim.

Candace is once again in search of Justin's ghost, getting more and more aroused with each step.

As Candace takes off all her clothes, a door creaks open behind her. But it turns out to just be Ollie.

Steve is rapidly running out of actors with Rebecca and Darlene missing, and Candace off the deep end. He suddenly has an epiphany: "Portia! She can sleep all she wants - we just need her body!" He instructs Kevin to go retreive her.

Kevin returns carrying Portia over his shoulders.

And thus, they are able to complete the entire scene with Portia completely unconscious.

With Portia only minimally conscious and barely able to stand upright, Madigan takes her to the shower to wash off the fake blood.

Madigan carries Portia back to the park bench. She's wearing only panties, so she and Kevin cover her up with that crocheted shawl.

Madigan and Kevin have a moment and realize they are attracted to one another.... hilariously right over Portia who is passed out and basically drooling. Their romantic moment is cut short when Steve rudely yells for Madigan.

Candace is again seeking the spirit of Justin. She is led by a mysterious voice.

As she ascends a ladder to an attic, her towel slips off.

The voice guides her into a crawlspace where she is killed.

Trish is getting dressed when she drops an earring.

She kneels to find the lost item and a figure approaches her from behind and strangles her to death.

Later, Steve and Madigan enter the dressing room and find Trish dead, hanging upside down. They finally understand a killer is on the loose in this studio.

Meanwhile, Portia is still fast asleep, blissfully ignorant of the mass murder going on around her.

Good guy Kevin picks her up and tries to carry her out of harms way.

He carries her to a back room and lays her on a mattress.

Portia wakes up and mistakenly thinks Kevin has taken her here to rape her.

Her fear turns to passion as Portia gets turned on by the idea of Kevin assaulting her. (!) When Kevin tells her he doesn't want to rape her, she gets offended and leaves. Kevin is powerless to stop her as he has managed to entangle himself in his monster costume.

Madigan and Kevin stumble through a veritable house of horrors - finding the bodies of pretty much the entire cast and crew.

Including Candace's body which they find hung naked on a chain link fence.

Kevin and Madigan have a lengthy fight against the studio's security guard, culminating in a car chase. When they've finally won the bloody battle, they find that security guard wasn't the killer after all. That means Portia is alone in the studio with the real killer!

Portia is wandering around the studio wondering where everyone went.

A meat hook swings down and lodges in her mouth. Portia is killed, dangling from the ceiling, impaled through the mouth and swinging back and forth in ghoulish fashion.

In the end, we find that the real killer is a homeless man who says, "It ain't right to fuck with a man's house." The ghost of Justin Kirkpatric sits beside him, nodding in agreement. THE END

VZ6 SCORECARD

This movie is better than you might think.  The only real negative is that it takes half the movie to get to the sleaze.  That's a problem for a film that hangs its hat on T&A.  But it's saved by genuinely funny scenes and really fun energy.  

First a shout out to fellow Ohioan Lorissa McComas.  She started out doing tons of wet t-shirt contests then leveled up to innumerable appearances in softcore flicks on late night cable and straight to video.  She retired from the biz, moved to FL to take care of her mother and sadly killed herself in 2009.  McComas provides some good boob scenes as she searches for her ghost crush in the haunted studio.

All the actresses in this film are all great, but the real MVP of this picture is, without any doubt, Tara Killian.  Tara is a South Carolina native whose parents were both in the science field.  She actually got accepted to medical school but turned it down when she got a part on Dawson's Creek.  Tara Killian spends nearly all her screen time passed out or barely coherent.  She takes a sedative then chases it with alcohol. Tara does a good job of playing someone absolutely sloshed and allowing herself to get carried around and manhandled from start to finish.

Nothing compares to when Tara Killian is washed in the shower - I'm going to go ahead and call it an HOF scene. Shower scenes are a dime a dozen, but this one is special.  Not only because Tara Killian is such a hottie, but we just weren't expecting FFN, certainly not from her.  Sure, the actual FFN is brief, but damn this is amazing.  She's drunk, falling in and out of consciousness, getting washed down in the shower.  Great lighting, fairly lengthy, this is pure cinema magic.

Loads of fun, and if you can wait until the halfway point, you'll be rewarded with gobs of T&A. I've seen it several times and like it more each round.  

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ 8/10