An excellent article well written and right on the money: our slide toward a new form of capitalistic fascism, where we all "shop til we drop" and the income and sales tax support an all-volunteer army.
I haven't seen this movie and so cannot comment on whether it is-or is not-"a slasher film." Intelligent people find relevance anywhere.
It is a strange world where torture becomes the norm but impeaching the president for lying and stealing is off the table, as Hughes notes.
The title of this movie and the original book comes from W.B. Yeats' poem "Sailing to Byzantium." The poet-old when writing it--looks around the the "young in one another's arms" and turns to his own mortality, soul, and art.