More Parody than Horror/Comedy
The last British horror I saw was Ghost Stories and I loved it, I saw it as a great future for the British horror community, so I had high expectations for this film. Especially as it is a Simon Pegg and Nick Frost collaboration. Director Crispian Mills, who has worked with Pegg before in “A Fantastic Fear of Everything”, has described this film as a “distant cousin of the Cornettos”.
As you may recall the Cornetto Trilogy are a collection of comedy horror films consisting of “Shaun of the Dead”, “Hot Fuzz” and “The World’s End”.
Pegg and Frost are executive producers as well as cast and even use this film as their premier for their production company Stolen Picture.
Although this film is classed as a horror, I see it more of a parodist comedy.
Parody
This film is set in a private school which can be described as a mix between Hogwarts and St Trinians. These parallels can be seen through the uniform and the houses.
At Slaughterhouse you have: Andromeda – the all girls house, Olympus – the Jocks, Xenophon – the Nerds and Sparta – who are basically the Hufflepuffs.
You can also see a clear Draco Malfoy, Snape and Neville Longbottom chracters, but I will let you figure them out for yourselves!
The parodies even continue into the Cornetto Trilogy – see what I mean?
I also liked the subtle hints, for instance the schools motto is “Per Caedes Ad Astra” which means “Through Bloodshed to the Stars” In Latin.
The use of fracking is a parody on the environment and it is something that is happening in the world but this is taking silliness to the extreme with the amount of fart jokes which can get tiresome after a while.
Symbolism
The filming itself is quite interesting. They use a lot of drone shots to show the size of the school and as it was filmed at Stowe School near Buckingham, which is 300 years old, it was very effective to show the grandeur of the Private School. This was also mixed in with POV shots, some from the creatures, some from the students as they spy. The school itself symbolises the status of going to a private school against a public school. There has always been a lot of discussion about is it worth paying to go to Private school and mixing with the elite. But at the end of the day no matter what school faces the apocalypse we are all screwed!
Another symbol I liked the use of was the school tie. For many different characters it represents something different.
Don doesn’t want to be at the school and feels very alone so the tie makes him feel alone and abandoned.
Woody graduated many years ago but still wears his school tie on his wrist as a reminder of his brother Teddy who died in the woods. It is a symbol of his past and of his rebellion from the elite.
Wootton bless him has failed the house test on the history of the school numerous times and is punished every time he fails. For him the tie symbolise and is literally a constraint.
Clegg is the head prefect and takes his role very seriously and wears his tie with pride, showing unity in the school and making life hell for the other students.
Willoughby sees the tie as a symbol of death as his roommate hung himself using the tie and he tried to do the same after pulling pranks using the noose as a symbol.
Conclusion
A lot of people have panned this film but I really enjoyed it, but I think I enjoyed it more as a parody than a comedy horror. So I think in the end it all comes down to personal taste, which in the end is what happens with any film. I found it funny and enjoyed picking out the parody nuggets but I didn’t find it scary at all. So if you want to be scared look elsewhere but if you want a lighthearted film with lots of fart jokes. This film is for you.
I give it a 3/5.
Favourite Quotes:
“Super massive Frack Hole”
“Damn, why didn’t this happen under the maths block?”
“To the Skoda!”
“This Is Sparta”
“Tunnels my arse, this is a sewer!”
“I’m gonna die unfulfilled, I’m gonna die a virgin, I’m gonna die in Greek sandals”
Director: Crispian Mills
Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Asa Butterfield, Michael Sheen and Finn Cole
Crew: John De Borma (Cinematographer)
Genre: Horror Comedy
Rating: 15
Director: Crispian Mills
Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Asa Butterfield, Michael Sheen and Finn Cole
Crew: John De Borma (Cinematographer)
Genre: Horror Comedy
Rating: 15
Claire's Cinematic Corner 