Founders Day

Plot

A small town is shaken by a series of ominous killings in the days leading up to a heated mayoral election.

Cast

Naomi Grace leads competently, Devin "13 Reasons Why" Druid unintentionally comes across as creepy as he was in that and William Russ outshines everyone.

Verdict

Though I'm a horror fanatic slasher isn't exactly my favorite sub-genre, and the reason? They're all too similar, I grew up with 70's-80's slashers and they gradually died out because of that reason.

Founders Day tries to reel in some of that nostalgic magic, but in doing so falls into the same trap! It's so generic, so uninspired, we've seen this before a thousand times (Probably not an exaggeration). It doesn't color outside the lines for a moment, it doesn't dare wander off the path and delivers something that will only be appreciated by people who have never really experienced many slashers and therefore won't predict the whole thing straight out of the gate.

And don't even get me started on that ending, I absolutely didn't "Get" that in the slightest. I need an explanation, what were they thinking?

Rants

I don't like Erik Bloomquist, it's not a personal thing, it's not a talent thing, I don't in fact know what it is. He's just one of those people who when they come on to the screen I wince ever so slightly, feel a level of discomfort and if I had any children would cover their eyes. Therefore a movie written, directed and starring him never really stood a change.

The Good

William Russ is great

The Bad

Bland kills Offensively unoriginal Dreadful finale.

This movie was interesting. The story was there, the murders were solid, but it was kinda random. No explanation of how some characters found out info, the music was very loud, the acting was okay...the mosh pit of protesters was weird. Was she in there all night? And then the cops found her? I enjoyed the sweets loving cop!! She was something else, and I would have given This movie more stars if it picked a a steady genre I guess? Horror, comedy horror, I enjoyed it for the laughs and the murders vs the story, acting, scene changing. Some shots were beautiful, others were yet again, random. Good movie if you like a good random 80s,90s,00, type movie.

I mean, it was laughable I'll give it that. Acting was bad, like it looked so bad I think it was on purpose. Like Harold character. It had PG13 gore which I don't like, I prefer it when they go all the way and make it gruesome. In between stabbings it was so melodramatic, just sad sappy stories of people we don't get to know. I didn't care for any of the characters. This was a $1 Monday mystery movie so it didn't bother me as much. It was three fully crowded theaters which is rare, usually they only have one viewing of MMM.

From the first couple minutes I knew it was going to be crappy so that helped me tolerate it more. Second time seeing Erik Bloomquist in a movie and both are pretty bad. First was "Weekenders." So many things just didn't make sense. Felt like the mystery was solved halfway through so I was wondering what's next. Didn't really care who the killer was.

There was so many dumb scenes: -the girl and her dad Left her friend sleeping when the house was potentially being broken into -A police search and this kid hid behind a tree surrounded by cops😂and then showed up at the police station while still on the run -The car chase, the cop car drove off in the wrong direction to the car it was chasing -These guys were measuring dicks by using their dead kids -Also the mayor could've just dropped the pen, How on earth did she get stabbed???

There was much more but those are the few I remember now. This was so stupid. So much dumb stuff it was funny, the person I sat next to made this much better because we were just pointing out how stupid the movie was. Even if you left your brain outside the theater you'd still think it's dumb. This was so bad it looked deliberate, everybody on set must have known what they were making.

After going to watch this movie blindly (not knowing what it was about, not having a seen a trailer) I am convinced that all the negative reviews don't get it. I'm a huge horror nerd, and this falls under the so bad - it's good satire horror film. It's not good like last year's Thanksgiving, but it is definitely a fun movie with some solid kills and a good laugh here and there.

I'm certain this movie is not to be taken too seriously, or at least I hope not, and if you do just that - you're going to enjoy the ride.

My only negative review about this film, which is why I give it a 6/10 and not a 7 is that - it's 20 minutes too long. From the opening death scene to the next, there's just too much back story that could seriously be condensed. Same with the ending, they over explain everything. And in the middle of the movie, they have like a false ending that goes for too long. But, genuinely, it's still a solid movie.

Not usually one for slashers, but this one was very fun.

Small town mayoral election disrupted by masked killer. The mask design was one of the scarier designs I've seen, and the weapon of choice was excellent (a gavel.... and a stilletto??). Great use (and over-use) of gore, especially the practical gags. Glad to see it wasn't all CG.

A stand-out in this movie was the commissioner played by Catherine Curtain. She seemed to blend several performances all into one, making for a hilarious, nonchalant figure of authority. Absolutely killed this role.

Also can't forget the two candidates running for office (Amy Hargreaves and Jayce Bartok). Both psychotic, both hilarious. Very relevant and fun subject matter to look into there. But I'd vote Faulkner. See Founder's Day!