Slaughterhouse Rulez
Cert 15, 104 minutes, in cinemas 2 November
Starring: Finn Cole, Asa Butterfield, Simon Pegg Director: Crispian Mills
THE PLOT When northern lad Don (Cole) lands a place at swanky boarding school Slaughterhouse, he discovers archaic hierarchies, a shady headmaster (Michael Sheen), and a covert fracking operation that is about to unleash something even scarier than highly flammable methane gas. WHAT’S RIGHT WITH IT? Handsome Cole is a genial central presence, and the cast also benefits from Simon Pegg as a cricket-loving, broken-hearted housemaster, and Nick Frost as a drug-dealing anti-fracking protestor. WHAT’S WRONG WITH IT? The grisly content is played agreeably for laughs, but overall, this horror-comedy delivers more smiles than chuckles.
VERDICT Crispian Mills previously directed Pegg misfire A Fantastic Fear Of
Everything. This one’s a more enjoyable watch that should find its true home on digital and streaming. HHH Charles Gant