Girlhouse is a 2014 slasher that takes the expected levels of nudity and sex and cranks it up to a new extreme. Following protagonist Kylie, a college student who becomes a member of a private house where all the residents are broadcast 24 hours a day on a pornographic website. When she catches the eye of regular user Loverboy, a chain of events lead to the unstable voyeur beginning a murderous rampage through the house. Oh and just to add to the stakes, the house is in an unknown location meaning the website patrons can do nothing but watch as their favourite stars are tormented.
2014 Brookstreet Pictures
Despite how easily this film could have just been nothing but boobs and blood, it’s actually a bit of a surprise. Of course, there is still a lot of boobs and blood but for once the nudity is in a situation that makes sense. The rampage of the unstable Loverboy is also a lot smarter than many slashers, as he doesn’t just rely on his physical strength but also on IT skills, using the high tech assets of the house against the resident in a number of ways.
The girls of the house are a mixed bag characterwise. Shy newcomer Kylie takes on the porn version of the standard virginal final girl role and is the most fleshed out of the characters. A great deal of the film is actually devoted to her budding relationship and her reasoning behind joining the house. The audience gets demonstrations of her smarts throughout and she seems like a genuinely nice girl, making it very easy to root for her (unlike a lot of horror films where sexually promiscuous characters are almost universally superficial, cruel, ditzy or some combination of the three).
2014 Brookstreet Pictures
The other girls are a bit less developed, although its clear that the writers tried to give each of them something to make them interesting. There’s the vapid Devon, couple Mia and Kat, heroin addict Anna and then two more girls, Heather and Janet (they don’t really get any characterisation beyond this). The problem is that these traits are never expanded on, which is really a shame particularly in the case of Devon as she is basically the Pride victim from Seven, opting for death over deformity. I think that would have been fascinating to explore further.
Still, despite their shortcomings, the film avoids the typical clichés. The girls are largely supportive and friendly towards one another and none of them are looked down on for their work. Even though there are male characters, they also avoid potential pitfalls. With the exception of Loverboy, the patrons of the website are shown as a diverse mix of ordinary people ranging from college students, teens, businessmen, rather than as creepy basement dwellers. They’re real people not caricatures of porn users. The man who owns the site would also have been shown as a creep in some lazier films, instead he’s shown to be a decent guy and while he doesn’t get much screen time, the audience also gets to know a little bit about him. He’s attentive to his female employees, friendly and he’s depicted as being in a gay relationship but fortunately doesn’t display any of the unfortunate stereotypes that still plague gay characters.
2014 Brookstreet Pictures
The deaths of the film aren’t super elaborate and they’re not portrayed in an over the top obscene way, keeping it from falling into the torture porn category. They might even be a little lacklustre in places, opting to instead show vague images from a distance. The only kill that stands out is the villain’s death which is brutal and so satisfying.
The film has some obvious flaws and missed opportunities but it is still an interesting concept and enjoyable enough that you can overlook the negatives.