Slaughterhouse Rulez

The second film directed by Kula Shaker frontman Crispian Mills (after 2012's A Fantastic Fear of Everything) sees posh boarding school Slaughterhouse put a group of students in peril when fracking on school grounds awakens beasts from below. It all starts out with a lot of potential, mixing an air of foreboding with high-school angst. From there, however, things descend into a cavalcade of silly gags and flat scares. The biggest disappointment is the missed potential. The film hints at social commentary, environmental awareness and the general hell that is secondary-school hierarchy. But, at every opportunity for satire, there's a cheap gag or a CGI monster. It's a shame the film doesn't have the bravery of its protagonists. What sets out to be a horror comedy in the vein of Shaun of The Dead ends up a bit of a mess, wasting the likes of Simon Pegg and Michael Sheen as members of staff, and leaving you with a longing for the intelligent spoof that might have been.