The Daily Dig: Slaughterhouse Rock (1987)

Gore-a-plenty, Toni Basil, and an Alcatraz setting make the late 1980s supernatural horror “Slaughterhouse Rock” fun, despite its flaws.

A group of friends breaks into Alcatraz when one of them starts having dreams of a killer connected to the rock. Let’s dig into 1987’s SLAUGHTERHOUSE ROCK, directed by Dimitri Logothetis!

As I See It

The practical special effects are a perfect representation of the golden era of horror visionaries, specifically in the makeup department. Special effects makeup artist William Forsche has a ton of high-end horror credits under his belt, including Friday the 13th Part VI – Jason Lives, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, and The Exorcist III, just to name a few.

The makeups played really well on camera and were “scary” enough to give me flashbacks of the creature work on Fright Night. Using nightmares throughout the film was a wonderful way to showcase the FX work.

The story, unfortunately, is where everything falls short for me.

It started with a promise, giving us some heavy-handed exposition about a rock group that was massacred on Alcatraz Island. Even the name of the band, “Bodybag”, got me intrigued, especially knowing Toni Basil was the singer of the band.

I must applaud the production designers of the 1980s genre films. The bar they set for interior decorating is still overstaying its welcome in “man-caves” across the country. Who had the original thought of putting the front end of a classic car on the wall of your apartment?

The film’s title is misleading.

Being that the folks at Vinegar Syndrome paired this film with Hard Rock Zombies, you would think that the music element is an integral part of the plot. It’s not. Then you find out about the Alcatraz aspect of the story. Ah, the Rock! Makes sense! Nope, it doesn’t matter all that much.

Instead, the film’s mythology focuses on the evil that transpired before Alcatraz became a prison. At the point of filming, Alcatraz was a public attraction for about fifteen years. Surely they could have dug up something from historical or anecdotal stories to make it a unique character in its own right?

A last tidbit of zero value beyond my own amusement was that I chuckled at some of the dialogue and its whimsy. I’m surprised the catchphrase “marvy”, for marvelous, never caught on.

Famous Faces

Toni Basil (Sammy) is endlessly talented, and you’ll recognize her from the video for her 1982 hit “Mickey”.

Hope Marie Carlton (Krista) had a bit part in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, and was also in Ghoulies Go to College, Slumber Party Massacre III, and the TV mini-series adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand as Sally Campion.

Of Gratuitous Nature

Toni Basil is an award-winning choreographer, so it’s natural that they would have taken advantage of that, but the scene is about as inorganic as an Elephant in a ballet. Scenes from the movie are intercut with Basil’s dancing, almost like a mini-trailer. It makes no sense and is a failed opportunity to parlay her talents into something original and memorable in an artistic way. There is also a moderate amount of female nudity, but it’s done with such a cavalier attitude that it never comes across as exploitative.

Heartthrob

Toni Basil. Easy answer. There are not many things that this uber-talented performer has failed to do in her sixty-plus-year career. She may be known most in the mainstream for her 1982 hit single “Mickey” and its subsequent music video, which seemed to play every fifteen minutes on MTV, when they used to do that sorta thing. She’s in the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame, has been nominated for a Grammy, multiple lifetime achievement awards, and has a song in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (“Mickey”). She is still working at 81 years old!

She was a lot of fun in this film, even if her talents weren’t fully utilized. She has a couple of other horror films on her resume, and I’d be pleased to check those out just to see her personality come across again.

Ripe for a Remake

The individual elements of the film (a rock band slaughtered for dabbling in the occult, an abandoned prison, and the lore behind Alcatraz, albeit contrived) each could serve as a basis for their own film. My money would go towards the band angle.

Spawns

No progeny to report.

Where to Watch

Vinegar Syndrome released Slaughterhouse Rock in an appropriately titled double-feature Blu-ray with Hard Rock Zombies, both featuring new scans (4K for Slaughterhouse). It was also released on Blu-ray in 2016 by Code Red Releasing and on DVD by Kino Lorber. You can stream it on Shout!, Amazon Prime, Plex, and The Roku Channel.