Pandamonium (2019)

Written and directed by M.J.Dixon

Stars: David Hon Ma Chu, Oriana Charles, Will Jones, Dani Thompson, James Hamer-Morton, Charlie Bond, Lee Mark Jones, Derek Nelson, Chloe Badham, William Marshall, Tatiana Ibba, Charlie Clarke, Nad Abdoolakhan, Annie Knox, Martin M Payne, Pablo Raybould, Luna Wolf

Pandemonium, the latest offering from the Mycho Entertainment Group is a wonderfully fun, back to roots slasher comedy and I loved every minute of it.

Yes that not so lovable Panda mask wearing maniac (a wonderfully unhinged performance by David Hon Ma Chu) has his very own film and he is taking his wisecracks and his tools to a late night office party where the staff are about to get cut and the entertainment (strippers) are going down with them!

If viewers of Slasher House 2 remember rightly, Pandy - real name Jacob Jukushi-  has major beef with strippers...therefore the bevvy of beauties  who arrive at 'level 6' hoping for a big pay out from a bunch of horny, coked up office pricks are in for a REALLY rough night.

There are so many moments in this film which made me laugh out loud. There’s lots of brilliant film references and silly humour (they had cows didnt they?)  that along with all the corporate carnage, it’s just a full on, fun ride. It really harks back to some of the zany office slasher films of the 80s/early 90s, specifically Hard to Die (or Sorority House massacre 3) and Psycho Cop 2.

There are also some great death scenes in the movie - they start out slightly straightforward and then just get nastier and more creative. There is a perfect knife throwing scene which only goes to show director M.J Dixon's love of the horror and slasher genre. There are of course characters who die when you don’t particularly want them to but then again there are characters you are rooting for to get the chop and lets just say you are not going to be disappointed! 

What’s a good slasher film without some great characters. Well Pandamonium certainly doesn't fall short in this area. Charlie Clarke as Carol is an absolute hoot and lights up the screen from the second she arrives. She gets some fantastic lines and made me think that every office needs a Carol from HR. Oriana Charles is perfect as the feisty lead Arielle- equal parts determined and damaged and more than a good match for the murderous villain who is hunting her. Dani Thompson stars as Jasmine, the self-appointed leader of the stripper clan and as always, she never disappoints. Jasmine is sexy, confident, outspoken and not afraid to put up a fight. James Hamer-Morton is great as the sleazy and disgusting Damian who appears to be willing to do anything for a promotion from the big boss. Special shout to Chloe Badham as well for her hilarious role as Aura Dawn (she gets the brilliant cow line mentioned earlier). 

To top it all off there is a fantastically shot, not to mention creepy, final scene. It certainly has you wondering whether there could there be a follow up. Then the next screen pops up and well...I'll leave that there. I hope there are even more films as this slasher has legs....perhaps our favourite cuddly carver could descend on an Ann Summers Party!

The movie makes its official debut at the Horror on Sea Film Festival on the 18th January 2020: https://www.horror-on-sea.com/ and I'm sure the lovely people at Mycho would be delighted to see you there!