The focus of my latest movie review is on a DVD release of "Summerhouse Slaughter" from Wild Eye Releasing. This movie was originally released in 2014. The thing is, the version of it presented here includes horror host parts from Malvolia. Malvolia is the alter ego of actor Jenn Nangle who first came to my attention when I saw "Amityville Karen.". 

Now, apparently, and this is based on information I've been able to find on the internet, so I'm not guaranteeing this is true, the movie, or at least the title came from an internet hoax. At one point someone created entries for "Summerhouse Slaughter" as if it was a real film that had been released in 1984. 

The wrinkle is that the movie didn't actually exist. It was just a hoax. So, my guess is that a clever film-maker decided to capitalize on that and create this movie. My other question is whether there are any versions of this movie that don't include the horror host parts or if that's another hoax angle, and they were intended to be part of the movie from the start. 

I love how this movie pays tribute to the classic era of slasher movies. It's obviously a 21st century creation. The fact that cell phones exist proves that, but in so many ways they created a movie that looks like it could have been released in the original golden era of slashers. 

The movie includes a couple vintage slasher actors in the cast, too. Jennifer Banko from "Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood" is one of such actor. Ari Lehman who played the original Jason Voorhees is the other. 

Among the things this movie has going for it is inventive kills. The methods and details are varied, and the gore is captured pretty well. That said, I'm not sure how believable the bath-tub scene is, but I won't give more of a spoiler than that. 

I just in general love how they have done such a good job of mimicking the look and feel of those vintage slashers. The characters reference horror movies in a great self-aware scene, and you have to love the whole killer-in-a-panda-suit, thing. It's so absurd, but somehow feels like it makes sense in a weird way. The Malvolia stuff also pays tribute to the whole horror host tradition with a lot of style. 

Honestly, I have to mention that that portion really resonates with me. In our household, Svengoolie is a Saturday ritual. With that in mind, you might wonder just how Malvolia fits in that whole horror host thing. I'd say that she brings a bit of an Elvira thing to it, but with a lot less camp. I honestly wish there had been a few more of those segments here. 

The main problem with the movie itself is the sound. The volume levels are all over the place. We found ourselves turning it way up to catch the dialog, but then having to quickly turn it back down when the sound jumped way up. I found that very annoying. 

Beyond that, this whole thing was a lot of fun and an obvious love letter to both the slasher movie tradition and the horror host concept. Don't come here looking for high art or even a great horror movie. This is obviously intended both as tribute and spoof, and it works really well on both of those levels.