CERT: 18 / PLATFORM: SHUDDER / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 20TH
The real-world consequences of the portrayal of violence in popular culture is a recurring media obsession. The threat posed by a copycat killer, who takes inspiration from the blood-soaked comic book series Slasherman, is the central premise of writer-director Jay Baruchel’s new slasher-with-aspirations.
Comic creator Todd makes the fatal decision to head off on a promotional road-trip, in the company of wife Kathy, his assistant Aurora and Hard Calibre Comics owner Ezra. Kathy is researching a book focusing on the lives of murder victims. Her criticism – that Slasherman glorifies a killer – is shared by others the group encounters. Yet die-hard fans at a convention signing reveal the devotion that the comics engender. Unfortunately for the team, a killer is hot on their trail and determined to re-enact comic book murder scenes. Soon his attentions turn towards Todd’s group, as he begins to carve out a vicious homage to the Slasherman myth.
The killings in Random Acts of Violence are unflinchingly nasty, and there’s bucketloads of gore on screen. Sadly, those elements of the screenplay intended to address the issue of artistic culpability, or an obsession with perpetrator over victim, never really gel. The film does nothing provocative to illustrate these controversies in a way that might excite a reaction. And while there are animated sections that flit across the pages of Slasherman, there’s no effort in the cinematography to frame the film with the panache of comic book visuals. The largely improvised dialogue does light up the relationships between the foursome crammed into the car, so the viewer is offered some sense of these characters’ personalities before the slashing starts.
