Slapface – Big Message, Tense Thriller

 

Director: Jeremiah Kipp

Writer: Jeremiah Kipp (Screenplay)

Starring: August Maturo, Mike Manning, Libe Barer, Mirabelle Lee, Bianca D’Ambrosio, Chiara D’Ambrosio, Dan Hedaya

Plot: A boy deals with the loss of his mother by creating a dangerous relationship with a monster rumored to live in the woods.

Tagline – Where do monsters come from?

Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Slapface starts as siblings Lucas (Maturo) and Tom (Manning) are looking to get their lives back on track after the death of the mother, Tom needing to take guardianship, while Lucas finds himself getting into trouble more and more.

As Tom tries to put Lucas back in place, he introduces a game called Slapface, which will see Lucas become more distant. Lucas will find himself using the stories of a monster in the woods to try and strike fear into everyone, while having his first teenage relationship with Moriah (Lee), while her friends see him as a freak.

Thoughts on Slapface

Characters & Performances – Lucas is the teenager dealing with the loss of his mother, learning to adapt to the life with his older brother, he is getting himself in trouble for his rebellious behaviour, he starts to believe in a monster lurking in the woods, that starts getting close to him, starting to hunt down people in his life. August Maturo does well in this role, showing the difficult life his character is going through. Tom is the older brother that has taken guardianship, despite not being prepared for it, he introduces the game Slapface, and must deal with trying to keep Lucas in order. When it comes to the supporting cast, we have a string of characters that treat Lucas differently, showing different personalities around him.

Story – Slapface is a story that will show how an isolated teenage boy struggles with relationships in life, befriends a monster lurking in the woods, as the people in his life only make his life even more difficult when the monster starts getting drawn towards them. The story here will have plenty to say in a bigger message about how you treat people in life, while leaving us in the position of wondering what is real or not, which gives us plenty of mystery to play with.

Themes – Slapface is a horror thriller dealing with real problems in life, while having a terrifying monster creation to help increase the scare factor of the moments it is involved in. we will see plenty of mature themes which work in horror, with the small town setting only helping show that people could do more to help after what has happened in the past.

Final Thoughts – Slapface is a deep horror that will deal with adult themes, while giving us an interesting connection with the monster.