Slasher (2004)--3/5

Michael Bennett likes to drink. And smoke. A lot. At seven in the morning, he grabs two bottles of beer for the trip to the airport. One night, he lights a new cigarette before the current one is halfway done, as if he's forgotten about it. As the Slasher--and he asks people to call him The Slasher--Bennett travels across the country to diffuse his creepy, drug-fed energy into oblivious car buyers. The idea is to get people to agree to cars priced beyond their means, sometimes without even a test-drive. The jacked-up prices are magically "slashed" by the Slasher. The documentary "Slasher" follows Bennett on a weekend trip to impoverished Memphis.

Director John Landis follows-up with a young lady lucky enough to "win" the chance to buy an eighty-eight dollar car. Back home, in a scene straight out of "Matilda," the serpentine belt comes off in her brother's hand. Minutes later, the car makes an ominous creaking sound and begins expelling engine oil. Some deal.

The Slasher says that his wife is worried about him on his trips, what with his binge drinking in parking garages, dehydrating work ethic, and late-night strip club excursions. Maybe his lengthy stays on the other side of the country are what's keeping the relationship going in the first place.

Note: By the end of "Slasher," you will cringe upon hearing Bennett's gravelly voice, along with the words/phrases "slasher," "slash," and "eighty-eight dollar car."