Slapface. This was a goddamn fun witch movie! They never explicitly call Slapface a witch, but she looks like one and has supernatural powers. To me, this is a witch flick.
I usually don't care for films with such in your face plot uncertainty but is the witch real or imagined is a large part of the story here. As well as dealing with trauma from bullies, at home and amongst peers. Lucas could be killing everyone himself with the .357 that his older introduced him to, for all we know.
And props must be given to Lucas for not attacking his bullies, at least his "girlfriend" and her "friends", the twins; they're all female, and he was assumedly raised not to hit girls. Though they all need a punch to the face. At one point, Lucas's supposed girlfriend, Moriah, spits on him as the twins egg her on. She does, and right then and there he should have backhanded her.
Let me be clear, the characters in this movie are all quite unlikable. All of them, save for older brother Tom's girlfriend Anna, and the witch. I like the witch. She protects Lucas and always has his back. That's friendship you can't pay for.
It appears that the filmmaker is making the case that Lucas, thrown into an abandoned building by the big bad bullies, could have imagined the witch monster while being stuck inside and scared witless. He could have snapped and made up the monster, and thus he could take back power that was being taken from everyone in his life, including his brother Tom who bullies him with their Slapface game.
The game is exactly what it says, each brother takes a turn slapping the other in the face, with the older brother obviously doing more damage with every strike than his smaller younger brother can do at this time. But Tom eggs him on, demanding that Lucas his him harder and harder. In a way, I understand this game. He doesn't give what he isn't taking, and he is trying to make his brother stronger, tougher, so that he can stand up for himself and not be taken advantage of when he's not there.
For me, the witch is real. Or Earth monster, whatever Slapface is. I don't imagine Lucas being able to shoot his way out of a Sheriff's Office by himself, so for me she is a powerful being imbued with supernatural power. And she most definitely gets Lucas out of this jam.
Just recently Vinegar Syndrome put this out on Blu-ray. I think this is worth an own, and I'm ordering a copy immediately. The witch, Slapface, is effing cool as hell. The makeup, or mask, and costume is triple A good. While in attack mode, or defense? - branches start to exit from her dress or her body, and the look is quite interesting. I wish more thought had gone into the lore of the magic or powers Slappy has, but what we get is what we see.
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