Slaughterhouse Blu-ray - Sherry Leigh

(aka "Bacon Bits" )

directed by Rick Roessler
USA 1987

The county is about to foreclose on the defunct Bacon & Sons slaughterhouse (on Slaughterhouse Rd.) and ex-employee Tom Sanford (Bill Brinsfield, DEATH HOUSE) is in collusion with lawyer Harold Murdock (Lee Robinson) to try to buy the land for a new plant before it is sold at auction. Unfortunately, old Lester Bacon (Don Barrett, HOBGOBLINS) - who prefers good old-fashioned knives to mechanization (and thirty-percent fat) - refuses to sell, and his hulking son Buddy's (Joe B. Barton, BLOOD DINER) penchant for slaughtering trespassers soon comes in handy. Despite the fact that two of their friends (PUMPKINHEAD's Joel Hoffman and NIGHT RIPPER!'s Courtney Lercara) mysteriously disappeared in the vicinity of the slaughterhouse, troublemakers Skip (Erich Schwarz) and Buzz (Jeff Grossi) decide it would be the ideal spooky to shoot a music video for their girlfriends Liz (Sherry Leigh, DEMON WIND) and Annie (Jane Higginson, SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 5: THE TOYMAKER) to launch their singing careers. They get in, film, and get out without a scratch (much to Buddy's disappointment); however, they decide to return on the dark and stormy night when the big K-FAT party turns out to be a dud. An increasing string of disappearances - including Deputy Dave (Jeff Wright, HIGH SCHOOL HIGH) and waitress Sally Jean (Donna Stevens, SHADOW FORCE) - lead Sheriff Borden (William Houck, SPEAK OF THE DEVIL) to the slaughterhouse that night as well, providing more charnel fodder for the "hog wild" Buddy and his batty dad.

The San Diego-lensed "regional" slasher pic SLAUGHTERHOUSE was one of the few from the dwindling genre in the late eighties that received theatrical play when most of the entries were either shot on film and went direct to video or SOV (shot-on-video) for the rental market. The results are fairly slick with MTV-on-the-cheap cinematography and editing, a New Wave rock soundtrack (in Ultra Stereo surround), and sub-TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE production design. Barton's snorting Buddy is more of an iconic slasher figure because of the film's poster and video cover rather than much of what he does in the film (which has a few striking deaths but not enough gore); yet, the film manages to entertain because it feels as though all the familiar trappings were approached enthusiastically and without derision by the cast or the filmmakers. Fans who did not enjoy the post-SCREAM recursive slasher trend may find this late traditional entry worth checking out.

Eric Cotenas

Posters

Theatrical Release: 28 August 1987 (USA)

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Program Power - Region 0 - NTSC vs. vs. 88 Films - Region FREE Blu-ray

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas and Gary Tooze for the Screen Caps!

(Program Power - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. 88 Films - Region 0 - PAL - RIGHT)

Box Covers

Distribution	Program Power Region 0 - NTSC	88 Films Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:25:19	1:25:25.829
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.5 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 35,654,283,467 bytes Feature: 25,777,403,904 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.93 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate: 88 Films Blu-ray
Audio	English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono	LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit Commentary: LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitles	none	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Entertainment Program Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Audio Commentary by writer/director Rick Roessler, producer Jerry Encoe, and production designer Michael Scaglione • Dead Scenes Vault (five angles of unedited footage - 4:3; 1:15 + 1:10 + 0:18 + 7:22 + 0:53) • 'The Making of Slaughterhouse' (4:3; 15:11) • 'Financing and Distribution of Independent Horror Films' with producer Jerry Encoe (4:3; 10:40) • 'Buddy Slaughters Georgetown U.' (4:3; 11:50) • 'Buddy Slashes Washington D.C.' (4:3; 13:20) • Still Galleries • Theatrical Trailer (4:3; 2:04) • Teaser (4:3; 1:18) • 'No Smoking' Trailer (4:3; 0:28) • TV Spot 1 (0:30) • TV Spot 2 (0:30) • TV Spot 3 (0:30) • TV Spot 4 (0:30) • PDF files of the screenplay, budget forms, distribution contract, ads and reviews, and stills DVD Release Date: 8 March 2005 Amaray Chapters 9	Release Information: Studio: 88 Films Aspect Ratio: 1.78 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 35,654,283,467 bytes Feature: 25,777,403,904 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.93 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Audio Commentary by Rick Roessler and Jerry Encoe • Rick Roessler Interview (15:11) • Jerry Encoe Interview (10:31) • Raw On-set Footage (10:57) • Buddy Meets the Public (25:11) • Theatrical Trailer (2:03) • TV Spots (2:01) • No Smoking Trailer (:28) • 88 Films Trailer Reel (21:55) • Collector’s Booklet By Calum Waddell • Reversible Sleeve Blu-ray Release Date: February 25th, 2015 Red Blu-ray Case Chapters 12

Comments

NOTE: These Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: 88 Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray (March 2015): This Blu-ray transfer exports a very dark, and often saturated, image. I have no idea what the film is supposed to look like theatrically - for all I know, this may be accurate. Colors look unnaturally rich and deep. The ARs are different so you can see what is missing and judge the composition for yourself. The screen captures tell more of a story than my words can.

88 Films raise the quality of the audio with a linear PCM, but the film's sound is subject more to the original production limitations. There is some depth in the more aggressive (gruesome) sequences with plenty of screaming and the score by Joseph Garrison (his only composure credit - also listed as 'Boom Operator' on this film) and some pieces by Vantage Point. There are no subtitles.

Program Power's "Lucky 13" series DVD was part of a small run of special editions of obscure titles like EVIL LAUGH, BLOOD-SUCKING PHARAOHS FROM PITTSBURGH, and THE BONEYARD (with announced but never issued releases of THE REDEEMER, THE SLAYER, and Romano Scavolini's NIGHTMARE) that were stacked with extras but utilized existing tape masters. The ones for SLAUGHTERHOUSE start off with an commentary by the director, producer, and production designer (in an odd configuration with the commentary on the right channel and a mono mix of the Ultra Stereo soundtrack on the left). Also included are a making-of retrospective as well as a featurette by the producer on marketing independent horror films, videos of promotional appearances by "Buddy" for the film screenings, as well as trailers and TV spots (and DVD-ROM extras like the original screenplay, budget, and behind the scenes stills as PDFs).

88 Films' Blu-ray features a brand new commentary by the director and producer while pruning down the other extras carried over from the Program Power set. New to the release (besides the commentary) are a collector's booklet, reversible sleeve, and trailers for other 88 Films titles.

Pretty nasty stuff - as you can guess by the title! A lot of shock-value and gritty, exploitive, horror realism that we often find from these lower budget entries from the 80s.

-Gary Tooze and Eric Cotenas

DVD Menus
( Program Power - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. 88 Films - Region 0 - PAL - RIGHT)

88 Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Screen Captures

(Program Power - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. 88 Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM)

Report Card:

Image:	Blu-ray
Sound:	Blu-ray
Extras:	Draw (different commentaries)

Box Covers

Distribution

Program Power

Region 0 - NTSC

88 Films
Region FREE - Blu-ray