Taglines: Where do monsters come from?
Slapface movie storyline. After the death of his mother, Lucas, a loner who lives in a rundown home with his brother Tom, regularly seeks solace in the nearby woods. With his only “friends” being a group of female bullies, he keeps to himself most of the time. After a strange encounter with an inhuman monster, Lucas begins to withdraw from others.
The two reach a tentative trust and the boy is swept up in a series of primal adventures. A bizarre friendship is born. When violence and carnage begin to follow the witch, Lucas must try and stop his new friend from killing again, but is it her he really needs to stop? Meanwhile, Anna, an outsider in their small town, becomes romantically involved with Tom and grows increasingly concerned about the welfare of Tom’s little brother. Plus, Sheriff John Thurston, has a history with Tom and Lucas’ deceased mother and feels a responsibility to look out for the well-being of her orphaned children.
Slapface is a 2021 American Indie horror film[4] written and directed by Jeremiah Kipp and produced by Mike Manning. A feature-length adaptation of Kipp’s 2017 short film of the same name, it features an ensemble cast that includes Manning, August Maturo, Libe Barer, Dan Hedaya and Lukas Hassel as the film’s monster.
The film premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival on March 20, 2021, where it won the Audience Award in the “Feature Thriller, Horror or Sci-Fi” category. It was released by Shudder and Epic Pictures Group in the United States on February 3, 2022.
About the Story
Lucas and his neglectful older brother Tom live alone in a rundown home after the death of their mother, who took them away from their abusive father. They play a “game” called Slapface, which involves them slapping each other violently in the face, and Lucas’s only “friends” are Donna, Rose and Moriah, a trio of female bullies. One day, Lucas is forced by the trio to explore an abandoned house by the trio for “stalking” Moriah, one of the bullies, who he has a crush on. He encounters a monster named Virago, and he befriends it over the course of several days.
Lucas returns to the abandoned building alone, enters but quickly gets frightened and runs off into the woods. The monster grabs him and carries him towards a lake. Lucas screams and is placed down. The two stare wordlessly off into the distance. Next the two are seen sitting in the building with a gas lamp between them. Lucas has a brief talk with his brother and later with his brothers live-in girlfriend Anna. Later, while Lucas and Moriah talk on the phone,Lucas hears a sound outside. While in bed, he overhears Tom and Anna arguing about him wandering the woods alone. Anna drives off.
Lucas returns to spend time with the monster who places something in his hand. When he leaves, a dog chases him and the monster intercepts it and kills it. After burying the dog, Lucas tries to talk with the monster. Anna catches Lucas washing the dogs blood off his hands, she and Tom try to talk with him. Both boys appear very angry that Anna left for two days. Anna suggests they seek help. Tom and she fight again and again, Anna drives away. Moriah accompanies Lucas to the abandoned house. She is scared and leaves, Lucas kisses her. The monster is watching from inside.
Monster visits the boys home and enters. Moriah and Lucas are researching the monster in the library. Anna sees a missing dog poster, and returns to talk to Tom. The monster watches her, shows itself and appears to attack. Lucas goes to find Tom, at a bar, looking for Anna. The two go looking for her. Later on a date with Moriah, Lucas hears Tom scream and runs inside their house. Lucas brutally kills a rat, upset, Moriah breaks up with him and leaves. Lucas, taking a bath is joined by the monster. After, the two are seen “playfully” destroying pictures on the walls, and then the house. Lucas gets angry when the monster is cradling and then dancing with a dress.
Slapface (2022)
Directed by: Jeremiah Kipp
Starring: August Maturo, Mike Manning, Libe Barer, Mirabelle Lee, Bianca D’Ambrosio, Chiara D’Ambrosio, Lukas Hassel, Dan Hedaya, Alixx Schottland, John Backstrom, Mack Kuhr, Nick Theurer
Screenplay by: Jeremiah Kipp
Production Design by: Kat VanCleave
Cinematography by: Dominick Sivilli
Film Editing by: Katie Dillon
Costume Design by: Anna Iurtaeva
Art Direction by: Mark Reuchlin
Music by: Barry J. Neely
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Shudder
Release Date: February 3, 2022
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