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Darren Bousman’s ‘Abattoir’ is the Best 2016 Horror Movie You Didn’t See

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You say you want original horror, huh?

Most horror fans seem to agree that films like The Witch, Green Room, The Conjuring 2, and Train to Busan were some of the best that 2016 had to offer, but there were also many other damn good horror movies released last year that sadly didn’t get much love when it came time for us to all pen our year-end ‘best of’ lists. And some of those movies, well, it seems that nobody even saw them.

Darren Bousman, who got his start directing the second, third, and fourth films in the Saw franchise, has gone on to become one of the most unique filmmakers working within the horror genre. From a horror musical (Repo! The Genetic Opera) to a serious remake of a goofy Troma film (Mother’s Day), Bousman has for years been stepping outside of boxes and making interesting career choices; and though doing his own thing may have lowered his stock in the wake of helping to put the Saw franchise on the map, he continues to be an underrated force of bold originality.

Released at the tail end of last year, Bousman’s Abattoir is one of the most original horror movies to come out in the last several years. So what happened? Why didn’t anybody see it?

Horror fans are kind of funny. We can often be found begging for original ideas, as well as bashing Hollywood for churning out nothing but sequels, remakes, and copycats, but the reality of the situation is that the major studios are responding not to what we’re asking for but rather what we’re spending our money on. And though we may constantly tweet that we want original horror, films like Abattoir damn sure seem to suggest otherwise. Why don’t they make more original horror movies? Maybe it’s because when push comes to shove, we don’t watch them.

Written by Christopher Monfette, Abattoir has a one-of-a-kind concept that by all means should’ve compelled every horror fan to give it a chance. In the film, an investigative reporter teams up with a police officer to solve the mystery of why a seemingly good man murdered her sister’s family. Well, at least that’s what IMDb will tell you. The full plot is way more interesting.

What the reporter learns in the wake of her sister’s slaying is that the family’s home was subsequently purchased and the so-called “murder room” gutted out. Furthermore, she learns that this same sort of thing has been going on for decades: a mysterious old man purchases homes where brutal tragedies have occurred, and he then removes those tragic portions of the houses and mysteriously vanishes. Why, you ask? Without giving away too many of the film’s secrets, the man is building a house that is literally constructed from rooms where deaths have occurred.

Trust me. You have NEVER seen a haunted house movie like this before.

Remember when I said that Darren Bousman is constantly making interesting choices? Well get this. As original as Abattoir may seem on paper, it’s even way more original in execution. Bousman brings the horror film to the screen as a murder-mystery crime drama, imbuing it with a film noir vibe so unique for this kind of movie that it’s almost jarring at first. The dialogue, cinematography, wardrobes and even actors are incredibly authentic to the noir genre, with a perfectly cast Jessica Lowndes leading the film as tough-as-nails reporter Julia Talban. With her bright red lipstick and take-no-shit attitude, Talban is a femme fatale ripped right out of the noir playbook. Joe Anderson is equally well cast as Declan Grady, a rough-around-the-edges cop.

Yes, Abattoir is a horror noir film about an old man who’s building the ultimate haunted house. That’s Bousman for ya. And you damn sure can’t say he’s doing what anyone else is doing.

The majority of Abattoir takes place in the fictional town of New English, which is wonderfully realized. Ravaged by the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, New English is a town frozen in time and occupied exclusively by some pretty strange folks (including a wonderfully bonkers Lin Shaye), and it’s here that the mysterious old man is constructing his haunted house. Again, there are secrets to the town that I’d rather you discover by watching the film for yourself, but it’s pretty incredible how much mythology Monfette and Bousman infused into it. Watching Abattoir is like spending 90-minutes in a world entirely its own, one quite unlike any world you’ve ever been in before.

At the center of the story is Jebediah Crone, the old man fascinated by tragedy. Dayton Callie‘s performance is unforgettably chilling, and in many ways, Crone feels like a modern horror icon for today’s society. A charismatic snake oil salesman with bad hair, Crone sold New English on a lie many years prior, and he forced the distraught townspeople to do some pretty terrible things on the promise that he was going to make New English great again. They may not make horror villains like they used to, but as Crone, Callie makes a good case for being a horror icon in his own right.

So do we ever get to see the house that Crone has spent years building? Oh boy do we ever. Bousman keeps the structure out of sight until the film’s final act, which is one of the most visionary and truly jaw-dropping finales you’ll find in any horror film released in the last several years. It’s genuinely scary and oh-so-cool, and I’ll say no more about that. You won’t soon forget it.

If you truly do want to see original horror movies, look no further than Abattoir. It’s been available for VOD rental since last month, and will be hitting DVD on February 7th, 2017.

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Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

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Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

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Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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