Slapface (2022) Review – A Messy and Muddled Metaphor for Abuse

Welcome to Knockout Horror and our review of Shudder original horror movie Slapface.

Horror, mystery, social commentary, psychological, creature feature

I have just added a Slapface Ending Explained article for you guys to check out. There will be spoilers, unlike this review, so keep that in mind.

“It’s a weird title, right? The name “Slapface” comes from a game that Lucas’s brother makes him play. As you can perhaps guess, it’s a type of abuse disguised as fun.”

Slapface is a “monster in the woods” type story directed and written by Jeremiah Kipp that started life as a short movie. As with a lot of shorts, the story doesn’t really work stretched to a feature film. The story mostly focuses on young teen Lucas (August Maturo) who has recently lost his parents and is being cared for by his older brother Tom (Mike Manning). Lucas is bullied by both his older brother and a pair of local twins. Seeking a place away from his troubles, he wanders into an abandoned asylum where he meets a monster. A monster he befriends and will soon become just a little overprotective.

It’s a weird title, right? The name “Slapface” comes from a game that Lucas’s brother makes him play. As you can perhaps guess, it’s a type of abuse disguised as fun and it plays into the movie’s greater theme. This is a story that puts the spotlight on bullying and the societal impact of abuse. The cycle of abuse is apparent in Lucas’s domestic life and his social life is no better.

It’s very poorly executed

This is a fine message but it is very poorly executed. The movie basically portrays Lucas as something of a depressed kid. He has no friends and the bulk of the film reflects that. A troubled home life and an even worse school life make for fairly dull drama. It’s not until we get to the monster stuff that the film picks up a little. Lucas meets the monster while he is alone in an abandoned asylum.

The monster follows Lucas home and basically acts as a metaphorical representation of what happens when the cycle of abuse finally leads to a desire for revenge. People die, society suffers, and the person responsible blames the people around them or a “monster” inside them manifested by said abuse.

“The monster is probably the best part of Slapface and has potential to be scary. As it stands however, it had me laughing at various points for how ridiculous it is.”

It’s all there in spades, despite the film presenting itself as a simple creature feature. Lucas is harmed by those around him, he spends a lot of time alone, while alone he manifests something horrifying, when he finally snaps that manifested horror is made flesh and people die as a result. It’s hamfisted, rote, not as smart as it thinks, and above all kind of ridiculous.

It’s comical and kind of ridiculous

The monster is probably the best part of Slapface and actually has some potential to be quite scary. As it stands however, it had me laughing at various points of the movie for how ridiculous it is. It looks pretty crap and it’s best viewed as something of an imaginary friend to Lucas. Hell, it even plays as a surrogate parent, at times.

With this in mind, you can probably imagine the scenarios the pair get up to. Lucas lacks a parental figure that isn’t a complete prick-hole. He’s going to use this monster to fill in that emotional support gap. The things that Lucas and the monster do together had me thinking of Mac and Me or Chunk and Sloth in the Goonies. They play games, frolic, and generally get up to mischief.

From a narrative standpoint, it makes sense. After all, the monster is a reflection of Lucas’ childish side and acts childish along with him. Given the potential mental illness implication that would actually make a lot of sense. It just didn’t fit with the vibe of the film and felt incredibly awkward in parts.

Shouldn’t I be creeped out by this monster? Not laughing my ass off repeatedly because it acts like a Sesame Street character. The monster may have a greater impact on other viewers but it just didn’t work for me despite looking quite imposing. Some of the close up shots of the monster’s face looked a bit cheesy and lame, which didn’t help.

Poor acting, pacing, and a messy story

Scripting and story is a huge problem, here. My fiancée summarised the layout of the narrative really well. She described it as the script having blown off the table so they didn’t know which order it went back together in. A lot of the events make no sense and there are too many points in the movie that just seem needless. It all adds up to an 85 minute movie that feels 200 minutes long. Maybe this is due to editing? I’m not sure but it’s nonsensical in its framing.

“The script feels as if it blew off the table and they didn’t know which order it went back together in. A lot of the events make no sense and feel needless.”

Acting is generally okay but, in parts, it is terrible. Mike Manning, who plays Tom, is absolutely awful. This dude has apparently won an Emmy? Do they give those out in cereal boxes now? He was a low point for the movie and steals any potential gravity from every scene he is in. He is one of those actors that has a perma-smile, as well, which undermines some of the events. Perhaps he just realised how little he was working with and phoned his performance in.

Libe Barer, who plays Anna, is fine and seems pretty authentic in her role as well as helping Mike Manning not seem so stiff in the scenes they share. August Maturo is okay in the lead role of Lucas but his constant crying towards the end came across pretty hammy and fairly annoying. Everyone else is somewhere in between adequate and awful.

I should add that movies like this are critical darlings and this has 90%+ on Rotten Tomatoes. People who review horror love this metaphorical stuff. I’m not a critic, though. I’m a guy that watches horror and it didn’t resonate with me or the couple thousand people who have it as a 5.1/10 on IMDb.

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