Horror Movie Review: Chopping Block (2016)

From writer and director Joshua Hull comes Chopping Block, a horror comedy that is both funny and bloody. It stars Alex Raaen, Jasper Lewis, Haley Madison, Michael Malone, Bryan Wilson, Raymond Kester, Melissa Revels, and Nicholas Wayne Thompson.

A slasher flick with a twist, the movie actually begins about halfway through the story, before sending us back in time to see how we got to where we are. Beginning with a group of hapless criminals kidnapping a young woman. Who just so happens to be covered in blood and traumatised.

Confused? They are too, but they have no time to think about it as they are planning to use her to extort money out of her father. A man, who up until recently, was their boss.

It’s an awful plan, one thought up of while drunk, enacted by people with no real criminal capabilities, and with no idea of what to do next. Nor any idea of how to deal with the fact that they’ve inadvertently saved the final girl.

It’s not an original idea, but thanks its fast pacing, bloody action, good acting, and constant slew of jokes and references, it is quite entertaining.

It does require an ‘unchain your brain’ mentality to fully enjoy because the core concept, the kidnapping, is so absurd. Something the writing knows. Resulting in it coming across really half-baked. However, this works because the characters are so believably idiotic. Having been stepped on by ‘the man’ for so long, and with no plan to be violent in anyway, why wouldn’t this work?

The cast are great. Everyone throws a ton of energy into their performances, and while we don’t get a ton of development to them, each has their own distinct personality and their own moment to shine. Almost all the comedy lands because of how they deliver the lines, react to the madness around them, and so on. The knife scene (a homage to Evil Dead 2) is simply hilarious.

It is more focused on being funny, but that doesn’t mean it’s lacking in the horror department. Chopping Block isn’t afraid to spill the blood and guts, and the ‘villain’ of the piece is impressive looking. While it’s not a scary film in any sense of the word, the gore is impressive.

It’s rare that a film manages to nail both comedy and horror, and while Chopping Block doesn’t quite balance it perfectly, it comes mightily close. That’s better than most, so it’s more than worthy of a watch.