If you’re a slasher fan, you’ve been eating good the last few years. From trusty IPs like HALLOWEEN to adaptations of books (FEAR STREET) to such original properties as THERE’S SOMEONE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE, there has been no shortage of slashers to satiate our collective bloodlust. While slashers have waned in 2024, in favor of religious and vampiric horror, there are still plenty being released that will make you giddy with excitement.
You can slot Erik Bloomquist’s FOUNDERS DAY into the current landscape as an entry packed with twists, turns, bloodshed, and sociopolitical subtext. While it’s modern in every way, its approach is very much rooted in the 1980s, fitting somewhere between THE DORM THAT DRIPS BLOOD and TERROR TRAIN. Co-written with his brother Carson, the film rearranges slasher conventions, riffing on the likes of SCREAM and I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, to subvert expectations and keep the audience guessing until the messy and elaborate finale.
The story follows Melissa (Olivia Nikkanen) and her girlfriend Allison (Naomi Grace), whose relationship is on the rocks as Allison plans to attend college in the fall. Melissa resents Allison for wanting to escape small-town life, and it becomes clear they are on completely different wavelengths. When Melissa says the big L-word, Allison doesn’t reciprocate, adding tension between the characters and supplying the film with the necessary emotional backstory. As the two contend with their personal problems, the town readies for the big Founders Day festivities amid a mayoral campaign.
Blair Gladwell (Amy Hargreaves) seeks reelection while Harold Faulkner (Jayce Bartok) challenges her for the position, promising change over Gladwell’s “consistency” campaign slogan. Bloomquist sketches both characters as exaggerated political caricatures. It’s unclear which political party they reside within, but the heated race results in protests across town. Clearly having fun in the roles, Hargreaves and Bartok reach for hyperbolized performances that give the film some (perhaps unintended) camp.
With Fairwood’s big event looming days away, a murderous attacker in a red-faced mask and presidential wig prowls the city streets. Wielding a gavel, quite a strangely specific weapon of choice, the killer relies on the element of surprise. From a first-act shock to some generally brutal setpieces, they thrive on the theatrical, even leaving menacing rhymes at the scenes of each kill. They taunt the townsfolk, forcing them to live in constant fear with inept leadership that struggles to get a handling on the mayhem.
If you dismantle FOUNDERS DAY, there emerges commentary about political differences and how fear spreads when parties clash rather than striving to work for the public. Gladwell believes she’s built Fairwood into the perfect, idyllic town, and Bartok promises to make the town great again. Their conflict creates a swirling eddy of self-important ideologies that damages the public belief in government – a town hall meeting finds the townsfolk expressing their distrust of officials, as they grapple with the murders and seek answers. After downing a bottle of whiskey, Gladwell hopes to offer some semblance of stability – but in her drunken stupor, she devolves into an unhinged hyena spouting buzzwords of little substance.
These political ideas serve as the backbone of the film, both to give the killer a strong motivation and to backdrop the community with an authentic reality. Without these threads, FOUNDERS DAY is otherwise your typical slasher with bloody practical effects, gnarly kills, and some well-earned emotional payoff.
As things build into the climactic finale, the film unravels itself with a convoluted, yet still enjoyable, killer reveal. As Allison and the others uncover the truth, twists abound at every single turn. The killer is not who you would expect; the viewer is kept glued to the seat until the last possible moment. FOUNDERS DAY commits to the mess and hopes the audience goes along for the ride. But therein lies its charm. It’s so dedicated to the big reveal, even going as far as replaying earlier scenes from a different perspective, that it’s seriously unserious. But there’s tons of fun to be had.
From the wildly over-the-top performances and vein-bursting violence to the outrageous third-act unveiling, Erik Bloomquist’s latest outing makes a bid as an instant cult classic. It’s silly and bold, a wonderful disarray of slasher clutter. If this were the ‘80s, audiences would eat it up. And hopefully, they still will.
FOUNDERS DAY hits VOD on Tuesday (May 7th) — today!
Tags: Amy Hargreaves, Carson Bloomquist, Catherine Curtin, Dark Sky Films, Devin Druid, Emilia McCarthy, Erik Bloomquist, Horror, Jayce Bartok, Mike Magilnick, Naomi Grace, Olivia Nikkanen, Slashers, Tim Williams, Tyler James White, William Russ
No Comments