Spoiler-Free Review of “Founders Day”: A Fun Political Slasher

*This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!*

“Things are really heating up in the race for Mayor…”

Founders Day released back in August 2023 at London Fright Fest and will be playing at Toronto After Dark on October 20th 2023. The slasher horror film stars Naomi Grace, Devin Druid, Amy Hargreaves, Catherine Curtin, and William Russ. It runs for approximately an hour and forty-five minutes.

A small town is plagued by a series of brutal killings leading up to a cutthroat mayoral election.

Founders Day has a fun premise and a few twists worth sticking around for. Is it worthy of your next watch? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Images courtesy of Mainframe Pictures

Fun idea for a slasher film.

We have plenty of horror entries for Halloween and Christmas, but not too many November/Fall ones. With the film, Thanksgiving coming out soon and now with Founders Day, we have some some solid slasher entries for the season to indulge in, which is a very good thing!

This film is brought to us by the same creator of She Came from the Woods and I thought it had a similar vibe to that film. It had some dry humor mixed in, which worked well for the most part, and some stand-out characters. Some of the small town discussions even reminded me of Jaws in a playful way, which worked to the film’s advantage.

Catherine Curtin stole the movie for me and was as fantastic as ever and I thought our lead did a decent job as well.

Inventive kills!

I actually really enjoyed some of the kills in this one and thought they were well done. I would have liked a touch more gore and some extended chase scenes, but I’m all for some slasher fun just in time for Fall.

The Cons:

The fluff in-between slowed down the pacing.

Overall, I thought the runtime for this film was fine, but I could have done without some of the unnecessary conversations between certain characters. They felt a little filler. The killings were a lot of fun and I didn’t think this film needed to be weighed down by anything else. It found its groove again by the time it reached the climax, however.

So am I in or out?

I’m in about 75 percent…

If you’re looking for a fun B-movie slasher film with an inventive premise and some killer twists, there’s plenty to enjoy with this one.

I think horror fans will appreciate this one for sure.

Special thanks to Mainframe Pictures for this press screening.

I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on Founders Day in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

Spoiler-Free Review of “She Came from the Woods” in Theaters: Campy Fun

*This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!*

“You have to make the threat feel real..”

She Came from the Woods released in theaters on February 10th 2023. The horror-comedy film stars Cara Buono, Clare Foley, Spencer List, and William Sadler. It runs for approximately an hour and forty minutes.

Set in the 1980’s, a summer camp celebrates the end of its season by conducting a blood ritual, but things go horribly wrong when they accidentally unleash an evil spirit who hunts them down one by one.

Here is the trailer:

She Came from the Woods has a super fun premise and some bloody entertaining moments, but is it worthy of your next watch? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Images courtesy of Mainframe Pictures

The horror-comedy moments are brilliant!

The best parts of this film involved the campy moments. There were some parts that had me laughing out loud. This film wasn’t afraid to be a little darker with its comedy, which worked in its favor. I loved the overuse of gore and the banter was actually a lot of fun once the film found its groove.

Strong second half.

I much preferred the second half of this movie to the first. It was really entertaining and even though some of the twists and reveals were a little out there, I just went along for the ride and enjoyed it. This film wasn’t afraid to kill off characters and it really put forth a valiant effort to channel films like Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp while still finding a voice of its own.

The Cons:

Images courtesy of Mainframe Pictures

Takes itself too seriously at times…

I personally loved the horror-comedy aspects of this film and even the trailer made it seem like this would be a campy good time. It did have moments of this, but the film also went off on several tangents and tried to be too serious. 

The first half of this film was also really slow-moving. The dialogue was painful and the acting wasn’t great, but thankfully things picked up once the evil was unleashed…

So am I in or out?

Images courtesy of Mainframe Pictures

I’m in about 75 percent…

B-movie campy horror fun with plenty of entertaining moments.

This film was far from perfect, but I think horror fans have a lot to enjoy with this one. I just wanted it to fully embrace the horror-comedy angle because that’s where the magic was, but overall I enjoyed my watch.

I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on She Came from the Woods in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

DON’T TAKE THE JOB…

It was only supposed to be temporary…but when Olivia Crewe accepts a new position that seems too good to be true, she soon discovers that twelve other girls previously had the same job as her. Only none of them lasted for more than thirty days. No notice. Nothing…right before they mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

My supernatural thriller Girl Number Thirteen is out now! I hope you enjoy!

Girl Number Thirteen is available here!

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