Slaughterhouse (1987) User Reviews

Formulaic, brainless, and bloody

[drownsoda90 · 6/10 · 6 August 2019]

...and that's not necessarily a bad thing. "Slaughterhouse" follows an aging abattoir owner and his obese, mentally-disabled son, who are fighting off the business's closure at the hands of upgraded, mechanized forms of pig slaughtering. The unhinged father soon begins retaliating against city officials, police, and soon enough, a group of teenagers, who step foot on the property, dispatching them via his ogrous son.

It's quite clear while watching "Slaughterhouse" that the filmmakers were riffing heavily on "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," and, more often than not, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2," given the goofy demeanor the film possesses. Despite this, "Slaughterhouse" also manages to be alternately dark, dingy, and grim at times, so the film offers the audience a little bit of everything-and somehow, it sort of works.

The plot is formulaic as can be, and the set-ups and devices here are well-worn for anyone who has seen a slasher movie. The film threads two narratives together; one of the father and son running the slaughterhouse, and another on a group of teens who eventually end up attending a party that lands them at the slaughterhouse to...well, be slaughtered. It's mindless fun, and is surprisingly quite gory, boasting pretty solid special effects, and crisp, professional cinematography. The acting is decent and appropriately goofy, with Sherry Bendorf providing a likable lead, for as much as the audience is able to be acquainted with her at least.

The film's finale is where the mayhem really lets loose and Buddy, the hulking son, gets to claim some virgin (and non-virgin) blood. The ending caught me off guard a bit, but serves as a fitting conclusion to a film that is full of multitudes. In the end, "Slaughterhouse" is well-made as far as late '80s slasher films go. It is certainly not high art, but it's slickly-made and eccentric enough to warrant interest from fans well-acquainted with the genre. 6/10.

Piggy-style!!

[Coventry · 6/10 · 9 September 2004]

This little piece of junk is so much fun, you can't imagine !! Very violent, grim and demented…but covered with black humor and cheerfully twisted characters. 'Slaughterhouse' is set in a quite little American town (of course) called Lakeside. A large chain of abattoirs makes it impossible for modest slaughterhouses to survive. The old butcher Lester Bacon is declared bankrupt and along with his seriously retarded son Buddy, he plans vengeance to all parties involved. 'Slaughterhouse' is very amusing, just because it's so light-headed! This Buddy-character is really great! A big, brainless fatso who can't talk but grunts all the time due to spending his entire youth between pigs. He carries a giant axe throughout the whole movie and butchers people without thinking! Lovely!! Clearly inspired by the notorious Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this Rick Roessler one-man-showed is one of the better slashers produced in the 80's. Best sequence is probably when Buddy joyrides with the car of the deputy and chases his mistress like the lunatic he is! Love this crap!!

Porno for the Deliverance Hillbillys

[BloodTheTelepathicDog · 4/10 · 22 March 2005]

I can only imagine what those freaky hillbillys from Deliverance would think of Buddy, the 300+ pound mentally handicapped killer who grunts like a pig rather than speaking normally. He'd surely be an upgrade from poor Ned Beatty! The plot centers around old man Lester Bacon who gets his property, slaughterhouse and all, seized so a larger slaughtering factory can move in. Lester isn't going to take this lying down, so he lures the foreclosing son's of guns to his slaughterhouse so son Buddy can slaughter them.

Joe Barton, as the deranged swine-friendly killer, is the chief reason to watch this film. The soundtrack redefines abysmal, and the rest of the cast is standard.

"Squeal like a piggie!!!"

Pretty good...

[horrormb · 14 February 1999]

This film was good. That's really what I can say about it. Some of the parts (look for one part with a man being ground up, for instance) were a little over the top gory... but who doesn't like a little gross out, now and then? The acting wasn't anything to be raved upon but was good enough to be overlooked. Overall, this movie was really great to me (though, many others would disagree) so I'm giving it a 9 out of 10. WARNING : The beginning is NOT for the squeamish!

Average slasher fare

[Tikkin · 5/10 · 7 May 2006]

Whilst not being the best slasher film around, Slaughterhouse is worth a watch as it has its fair share of splatter and a good atmosphere. There are some good deaths and cheesy moments, such as when the cop bleeds to death from having his hand chopped off. There's also a great scene where a man gets pulped in some sort of meat grinder. The slaughterhouse itself is a great setting for a slasher film, you can almost smell the atmosphere of death surrounding it. People say the ending was rather abrupt, although I think it was cool because it doesn't provide you with the typical Hollywood "happy ending" everyone expects.

Overall, this is an average slasher. It has its good moments but it also has its boring moments. It's worth adding to your collection if you're a fan of the genre.

Predictable, routine, but diverting.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 2 March 2014]

"The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" wields an enormous influence over this rural horror comedy; on the whole, "Slaughterhouse" manages to be a reasonably interesting and effectively atmospheric production. The characters are often inane, and the performances aren't so hot for the most part, but that's very much par for the course. *Some* of the characters are pretty damn memorable, especially the homicidal antagonists. There's a fair amount of gore, although the body count may not be high enough to suit some tastes. Writer / director Rick Roessler gives us a taste of what's to come with his pre-credit sequence, then goes through a little bit of set-up, eventually delivering respectable bloody mayhem for 80s horror lovers.

Don Barrett plays Lester Bacon, a demented old farmer about to lose his slaughterhouse to foreclosure. He lives with a massive, mentally impaired son named Buddy (Joe B. Barton), who grunts instead of talks, and who is very handy with assorted killing implements. Buddy also gets along much better with pigs than with people. Lester finds that Buddy has a taste for murder, but implores him to save it for those who deserve it, namely those that are trying to take his business away from him. Soon enough, he starts to enjoy the experience.

Barrett is a delight, and Barton is quite fun to watch, especially in one scene where Buddy goes on a joyride after slaughtering a deputy. The movie gets better as it goes along, culminating in what is actually a solid finale, as four friends that had been filming their own "horror" footage head right into danger by utilizing the slaughterhouse at night. The sequence in which sheriffs' daughter Liz(zie) Borden (Sherry Leigh) is pure TCSM type material.

The fun factor of this rollicking "Do It Yourself" feature is high. The filmmakers seem to be enjoying themselves, so the fans should too.

Seven out of 10.

Horror for the mentally challenged.

[hohumdedum2 · 1/10 · 30 July 2004]

***SPOILERS***



I should have known this one was going to be bad just by looking at the cover. It wants to be cool yet wants to be scary and fails miserably at both. It involves a group of local bureaucrats who are trying to foreclose on a pig slaughterhouse which used to be the bread and butter of the town. The owner doesn't appreciate it much so he gets his son who cannot talk other than making pig noises to off each of the fat cats one by one. This is a very lame attempt at a slasher film, and anyone looking for a scare or a good time should avoid "Slaugherhouse" like the plague, for it is horror for the mentally challenged. 0 out of 10.

Swine and cheese.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 20 June 2015]

Lester Bacon (Don Barrett) and his grunting, meat-cleaver wielding son Buddy (Joe Barton) aren't very happy about the foreclosure of their abattoir and decide to use their slaughterhouse equipment and butchering skills to deal with the swine responsible. The meat-hooks become even more crowded with bodies after a group of teens visit the old meat-packing factory during a thunderstorm for a dare.

With its all-pervading aura of death and decay and its hulking mentally challenged killer (mentored by his demented father), Slaughterhouse is clearly aiming for a Texas Chain Saw Massacre vibe, but at the same time it also caters for the audience of the day, delivering inane teenage characters, predictable jump scares, some reasonable splatter, a few pig-related puns (Lester is described as 'pig-headed' and calls his son 'hog-wild'), and a couple of typically cheesy '80s scenes in which the youngsters act all wild and wacky, their zany antics accompanied by a tacky pop/rock soundtrack.

The result is a fun slice of stalk 'n' slash, a spirited blend of mean-spirited nastiness and tongue-in-cheek silliness that ticks all of the genre boxes with the notable exception of gratuitous female nudity. The suspenseful rain-drenched finalé is particularly well handled by one-time-only director Rick Roessler.

Weak horror pic about a murderous fatso

[fertilecelluloid · 3/10 · 6 January 2006]

Even when I first saw it years ago, I wasn't too impressed. Now that I've seen it again, I'm less impressed but more forgiving of its ineptness. Once again, it's another horror pic inspired by "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", but it doesn't understand why "Texas" was so effective. It substitutes Leatherface with Buddy (Joe B. Barton) a filthy fatso who runs a slaughterhouse and kills local interlopers. Despite a solid opening sequence, it is all over the place, and the scenes of violence have no quality control whatsoever. It's bloody, yes, but none of it is convincing, shocking or unnerving. If the film was half as good as what the poster art promised, I wouldn't be burying it with my literary shovel. I love horror, and I always want to love the next horror film I see, but a love of something doesn't imply you love all its children.

The Pigs are alright

[bobhartshorn · 7/10 · 19 August 2015]

The main story concerning two all-mod-cons (for 1987 anyway) small town businessmen and a gruff sheriff trying to underhandedly usurp an old school sausage factory owner, Lester Bacon (Don Barrett), and his psychotically wayward son, Buddy (Joe Barton), is pure EC horror comic pulp resulting inevitably as it does in gruesome murder.

Wrapped around this is a fun quartet of teens in a Jeep who while away their time making rubber mask music videos in the slaughterhouse when they're not drowning their French fries in ketchup or cutting a rug to cheesy synth bands at the local Bacon disco dance.

Both these strands are married up quite successfully with likable and reprehensible characters alike meeting grisly fates in the piggy execution chamber via Buddy's big cleaver.

But Buddy's kind of a problem as he's played more for laughs than menace and comes over way too sweet and cuddly for a Leatherface wannabe. Clearly this was the intention of writer/director Rick Roessler from the opening sequence, but it seriously devalues any threats of suspense and tension that might be brewing and leaves an unsatisfying taste in the mouth. Buddy's Pop is cartoonish in tone too but Don Barrett makes a fair old go of it in the eye rolling/teeth gnashing department, so some kudos is due there.

The last third however, does make up for these shortcomings somewhat with an atmospheric climax in the meat plant chamber of horrors where most of the cast are quite harshly dispatched in brutal fashion before the freeze frame cliff-hanger brings us to an unexpected full stop.

Keeping the murderous pig farmers in the shadows would have added a much needed air of mystery and surprise and may have pushed it toward the realm of 'minor classic' and, possibly, a higher rating. But it's still a pretty decent, fun slasher that's well worth a look.

R-Rated horror with little gore and no nudity

[squirrel_burst · 2/10 · 26 November 2014]

The only thing that differentiates "Slaughter House" from other "slasher" or "dead teenager" films is that in this one, the killer makes oinking and other pig noises whenever he appears. Other than that there's nothing that really stands out from other typical 80's horror films except for the horrendous soundtrack of the film. At times it sounds like someone was banging pots and pans with a wooden spoon and calling it a day. You think I'm joking, but I'm not. Even for hardcore horror fans, there isn't much gore and absolutely no nudity (and if you're going to make a crappy R-Rated movie, at least give me something to garner my interest). The story is so paint-by-numbers that you'll be able to predict every scene, making this an incredibly dull horror film. (On VHS, August 18, 2012)

Fun with meatcleaver!

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 8/10 · 4 August 2008]

In this blood-drenched gore-soaked slasher a group of businessmen try to buy an abandoned slaughterhouse owned by Lester Bacon(Don Barrett) and his son Buddy(Joe Barton)who enjoys playing with filthy pigs and butchering people with meatcleaver.After a radio station promo prompts curious college students out to visit the abandoned facility,Lester and Buddy proceed to dispatch victims,who end up on meat hooks.Rick Roessler's "Slaughterhouse" is grisly slasher punctuated with some moments of black humour.Buddy looks like a hidden brother of deadly twins from "Just Before Dawn",the gore flows freely and Buddy seems a little more goofy and we get a hilarious moment where he is pretending to be a cop and drives around in the cop car.Its sequel "sLaughterhouse II" from 1988 actually doesn't exist.

Pigman kills people, had to see that

[Sandcooler · 6/10 · 3 March 2010]

This bizarre B-movie oddity has a couple of things going for it. First of all there's the splatter, this movie really is pretty messed up. People get crushed, chopped up and grounded, all in a day's work. Then there's the Bacon (clever writing there) family itself, which reminds me a lot of "Texas Chain Saw Massacre". Sure, there are only two people in it, but those two are really awesome. Don Barrett is great as the insane father who's out for revenge and also tortures some random people on the side, and Joe B. Barton is actually pretty menacing as the son who does all the dirty work and for some reason makes pig noises. The people who play the teens aren't really any good, but if they were they would probably be in another movie. They're just there to get killed anyway, and they do a good job of that. Because this movie is really short the pace is pretty fast, and the bodies pile up quickly, which leads to a pretty inspired finale. The ending may be disappointing to some, and can probably be best explained by budget cuts, but really I kinda like it. It definitely makes this movie stand out from the others. "Slaughterhouse" is a lot better than what I gave it credit for.

a few killings and a lot of blah blah

[trashgang · 5/10 · 12 March 2012]

This was directed by Rick Roessler, his one and only attempt to make a flick. Made in 1987 it surely looks like it was made earlier. It even looked like a drive-in flick.

The acting was okay, no big names here. Joe B. Barton (Buddy) was also seen in Blood Diner made in the same year. Don Barret (Lester) was seen in two more flicks. maybe the one who made it was Sherry Leigh who did stunts for a lot of B-flicks.

The story is very simple, an abandoned slaughterhouse is the ideal place to party for some youngsters but naturally it turns out awry. Not only that, the place is for sale but the owners don't want to sell it and are out for some revenge. The killings aren't gory but they do have some red stuff. But it's low on killings, only in the beginning and the end, in between it's blah blah. Easy to see it was low budget. Just have a look at the end, it stops with a freeze, up to you to guess what is going to happen. Some say it's a slasher, for me it isn't. It was clearly made out of that era and nothing is added to name it a slasher, no points of view or whatsoever.

Pure fun to watch if you can dig low budgets, otherwise leave it on the shelves.

Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

Don Barrett IS Acting Royalty!

[horror7777 · 26 August 2001]

Don Barrett is certainly one of the funniest actors in history. Just about every word that comes out of this man's mouth is a perverse joke. As for the plot, it was a typical slasher that had pretty good acting, great music, and a sadistic killer in Buddy. The opening credits scene was absolutely beautiful. It'll probably reassure all the vegans out there that they're doing the right thing, though it didn't bother me one bit. ***1/2out of****This film has to be one of my personal favorites and is worth a couple of looks. It certainly deserved the DVD treatment that it got.

You want to see an 80's horror film? Watch "Child's Play." It is competently made and smarter than this insult to horror cinema!

[j-jessie-weaver · 1/10 · 14 August 2017]

Never, and I mean, never in my life have I seen a movie like this that is so asinine and felt like it was made by a twelve year old. I cannot believe this "thing" was actually brought to Hollywood and somebody thought it would be a good movie. "Slaughterhouse" is, without question, the worst slasher movie in the history of slasher movies. Oh. My. Goodness. This film is beyond stupid and all logic is thrown out the window the second the main antagonist's son comes on screen. If there's a plot to this movie, it practically has one finger hanging off the edge of a cliff. Let's get into why "Slaughterhouse" fails in every way and manner possible and why it's not even trying to be a horror flick.

The acting is the worst thing you will ever see on screen. The teenage actors, half the time, do not even attempt to put effort into their performances. Seriously, these kids do such a poor job in their roles and the characters are genuinely unlikable; However, the kids are the best actors, compared to Don Barrett as Lester Bacon. This guy overacts so badly, you just wanna reach into the screen and smack him across the face.

Joe B. Barton as Buddy is equally as terrible. He looks like somebody the filmmakers just pulled off the street and the character gets annoying, really fast. I get he's supposed to be mentally disabled, but there are some points where the actor hams it out of the ballpark and overacts, as well.

The writing is... What writing? Yeah, what writing? Like I said, if there's a plot to this movie, at all, it has a finger hanging off the edge of a cliff. The dialogue is absolutely some of the worst dialogue you will ever hear in a film. I'm gonna say it, Tommy Wiseau's "The Room" has a better screenplay than this. The dialogue these characters have to say isn't dialogue. A six year old could do a better job at writing a horror film.

The kills are an absolute joke and the way they're executed is atrocious. Seriously, I have seen better blood and gore effects in "Deep Rising." I'm not kidding. There are times during this movie where the blood has the consistency of water and it looks so unrealistic. You want to see good blood and gore effects? Try seeing "An American Werewolf in London," for Pete's sake.

I could name more problems with this movie, but those explanations are darn well enough to prove my point. "Slaughterhouse" is a pathetic excuse for a horror film that feels like it's not even trying. Its premise is virtually nonexistent, the actors don't put effort into their performances, the kills are incredibly lazy and this has one of the worst endings in all of cinema. Do yourself a favor and avoid this pile of pig manure. In fact, run, don't walk away from it and watch "Child's Play," instead. Now, that is a great slasher that knows what it's doing.

Horror Movie about surrounding an old slaughterhouse

[zeeroover · 6/10 · 27 July 2008]

Horror movie which gives rise to a new horror icon: Buddy. Nice movie for horror fans. Otherwise: skip it. Has good scenery and some good acting by the baddies: pa and his son. The reasons for the kids to be there are obvious. I really like the scenes with Buddy. The actor has obviously put some great effort in it and I like the fact that the movie does not end with some stupid kids escaping.

I liked some of the extras as well but the quality of the film showing Buddy meeting some fans is poor. Sad note: the obvious footage of Buddy on a short promotion tour shows Buddy walking in theaters with just a few visitors for movies. I really hope this was not where they were showing Slaughterhouse...

Too bad no sequel was made.

Some humorous moments...but what a load of crap!

[gridoon · 3/10 · 29 December 2002]

This uneasy, uncertain mix of brutal murder sequences (though the effects don't stand up to scrutiny) and a spoofy tone is a complete waste of time. It's the kind of film that has you constantly counting how many people are still alive in order to guess approximately how much running time it has left. The fact that it got a DVD release (and one full of extras, I hear) is more amazing than anything you'll see in the picture itself. (*1/2)

Briging home the bacon

[movieman_kev · 6/10 · 18 April 2005]

Over the threat of his slaughterhouse being closed down, Lester chooses to send his boy, Buddy (Joe Barton), out to kill anyone that tries to take, or trespasses on, what's his. If you like 80's slashers, you'll like this one. If it's not your thing, skip it One thing this film is sadly missing is female nudity. A slasher film with no nudity is like a Leonardo Dicaprio film with no gay fan base, unnatural somehow. Plus the ending is too abrupt. Furthermore, I don't know why people are complaining about the slaughterhouse footage in the beginning, it didn't repulse me, just made me hungry.

My Grade: C+

DVD Extras: Commentary Track; 5 Deleted Scenes; Making of; Executive Producer Interview; home video of Joe Barton and Director/writer Rick Roessler going to various cities to hype the film; Theatrical Trailer; Teaser; a smoking PSA; and 4 TV spots

DVD-Rom: Sketches and clippings; the film budget documents; the Theatrical Distribution agreement; Stills Gallery, and the entire script all in PDF form

Not Bad!

[gwnightscream · 5/10 · 14 January 2017]

This 1987 horror comedy stars Joe Barton, Don Barrett, Sherry Leigh and William Houck. This tells of a hog farmer, Lester (Barrett) who discovers that his mentally challenged son, Buddy (Barton) is hacking up trespassers in the area. He decides to use Buddy's skills to rid the ones trying to shut his business down. Leigh plays Liz, a girl who becomes hunted along with her friends and Houck plays her father who is the Sheriff. This isn't bad, it obviously pays homage and pokes fun of "Motel Hell," "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Friday the 13th" featuring amusing and gruesome moments. If you're into slasher flicks, check this out at least once.

80s Horror Lite

[sorendanni · 7/10 · 16 November 2015]

I found this on VHS at a local flea market. Had a lot of fun with this old thing, and the pizza I ate while watching was delicious. I say it better right away: that movie is never scary, let alone terrifying. But it is fun if you like the 1980s, especially of teenagers with Gothic rock and / or hair metal outfits. My advice: fun for the enthusiast, e.g. people that like The Lost Boys, the late 80s A Nightmare On Elmstreet (from part IV onwards) franchise, Elvira, Night of the Creeps and many other stuff of this like. Skip this one if you are looking for some serious frightening stuff, but don't miss it if you like this sort of movies.

Woeful!!!!!

[Maciste_Brother · 1/10 · 22 August 2003]

SLAUGHTERHOUSE is a terrible film. In fact, it's one of the worst films I've seen recently and this is after watching SILO KILLER and SCARECROWS. SLAUGHTERHOUSE is as bad as SCARECROWS. Everything about it is truly pathetic. Being a big TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE fan, I had hopes that this film would be a fun rip-off. It's not. It tries to be funny and scary and it's not even close to being funny (in a good way or bad way) and it's definitely not scary. The only thing scary about this woeful "film" is the acting. I've never seen such bad acting put on film! The acting in an Ed Wood movie is usually better than the acting in this dreck. There's a scene inside the slaughterhouse, when the fat killer is above one of the businessmen and taunts the businessman with a weapon. That scene is the most pathetic example of acting I've ever seen in a film. I regretted watching this horrible film. It's bad and to be avoided at all cost.

Don Barrett Proves He Is Acting Royalty In This Fantastic Movie

[Skeeter700 · 10/10 · 8 December 1998]

Run to your local video store, card in hand, now! 'Slaughterhouse' has to be the greatest B-movie, horror slasher piece of cheese to come out of the 80s. A decent plot (less predictable then most), fantastic ending, and surprising special effects put this one over the top. Yet, Don Barrett (III) delivers what should have been an Oscar performance. With just two words: "Why?....Why?..." he tops William Shatner's entire career of work. Don Barrett must be an acting genius to deliver such a hilarious performance! Well done Don! Skeeter gives this one a perfect 10 - Now get out there and rent it!

Buddy brings home the bacon

[WirelessE · 7/10 · 18 August 2015]

Whilst I don't consider Slaughterhouse vintage slasher fare, it is a bright and breezy one that leans heavily on its comedic tone. The killers pig squeals are funny rather than frightening. The mixing of comedy and horror can be tricky to pull off, but it just about stayed black enough to work here. The opening shots of pigs being slaughtered were darkly humorous and I particularly liked the excessive ketchup on chips scene.

I liked all of the characters and even wanted to see more of their teenage tomfoolery. In critique it does all feel rather lightweight with not much content. Settings such as the dance aren't exploited as they could have been. In particular more could have been made of the deaths, especially those towards the end. Whilst some of them were surprisingly nasty, they were all fleeting and could have been extended to add to the black humour. There weren't really any scares to be had, despite some enjoyably atmospheric eerie music.

I would also have liked to have seen an added chase scene and a bit more thrust towards the climax. I did enjoy the freeze frame ending but it could have done with a bit more energy immediately before getting there, as it was slightly anticlimactic. Overall Slaughterhouse offers a slight, but fun time for 1980's slasher aficionados.

Crappihouse!

[lordzedd-3 · 1/10 · 9 June 2007]

Not just your typical slasher flicks of the 1980s. No, this has something to say, and that is an anti-meat message. Saying people who kill animals for a living must be insane to begin with and that's just B.S. like the movie LARVA, SLAUGHTERHOUSE must have been written by a vegetarian or something. Second, why kill anyone who walks onto the property, that'll make it hard to sell pork, plus where was the sign warning people that "TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROCESSED INTO SAUSAGE." These are the questions that leave you scratching your head, wondering if you have a tumor or something for even wanting to watch it. Lastly, the climax or as I like to put it, THE OTHER SHOE ENDING. The last survivor escapes in the Deputy's car, kills Lester and just when you think it's safe, Buddy comes leaping out of the back seat and kills her. They don't show him killing her it freeze frames before that. But she's trapped behind the wheel of a car with that ax machete thing coming towards her so there is clearly no escape. THE NOOSE!