Founders Day – Movie Review (2/5)

FOUNDERS DAY is a satirical political slasher. In theory, I should enjoy it a lot more than I did. In fact, I didn’t care much for it. It has some good moments, but for a horror comedy mystery, it hit very few sweet spots. Read our Founder’s Day movie review here!

FOUNDERS DAY is a horror movie of the satirical political variety. A comedy-slasher with a mystery could be another description. Of course, the mystery is simply around who the slasher is and why people are getting killed left and right. Classic slasher elements, but this one has an added political streak as it takes place during a local election.

I like the Founding Father mask and outfit worn by the slasher. And, in theory, I should enjoy this movie so much more than I did while watching it. The first victim and the final twist ruined it all for me – despite having predicted both, which says a lot.

Continue reading our  Founder’s Day movie review below. It’s out on VOD in the US on May 7, 2024 (and was released in the UK and Ireland on April 29, 2024).

Too much, too little, and too slow!

Slashers tend to be at least somewhat predictable. It’s part of the genre that a lot of heads will roll, so you quickly get an idea of who will die next.

In Founders Day, a small town suddenly has ominous killings happening in the days leading up to a mayoral election. It’s quite the battle between the two candidates, which is clearly meant to work as a small-town symbol of just how divided people are right now.

You like your own candidate and loathe the other with a vengeance. It’s sad and brutal, but not at all used enough as fuel in Founders Day. Sure, accusations fly and people blame the other candidate even more for what’s happening, but this is more of a comedy element.

The masked killer – wearing a Founding Father mask and gown – is killing people all over town and finding a method to this madness seems impossible. Possibly because it really is a rather weak core plot. One that could’ve been stronger if the focus had been on this element rather than a need for lots of twists and “surprises”.

Oh FFS, this again?! *spoilers will occur in this segment*

Yes, I have to point out a few of my main issues, so you will know to steer clear of Founding Fathers if you have the same pet peeves. That’s why the below will include spoilers, so beware of those in the below.

I did find myself almost yelling at the screen, which – to the film’s credit – means it’s hitting some spots. Not anything good, unfortunately, as I was going “Oh, for f***’s sake, this again?!” at the screen.

Not only is the first victim of the slasher a woman. And not only is she a lesbian (or queer) woman. She also just kissed her girlfriend, professed her love for her girlfriend, and asked her to stay. That is the stereotypical brutal trope textbook moment for when a lesbian (or queer woman) will get killed.

From The 100 to The Purge series and The Walking Dead, it happens constantly. I do not need this as a mystery element in my horror comedy slasher as well.

However, with Founder’s Day, it gets a bit worse. I realized we never actually saw the queer woman die. And another rule of horror is that someone is never truly dead unless you see them die. So, instead of this being another “Bury your gays” moment, it was the other terrible trope: The psychopath lesbian predator!

I am grossly oversimplifying, but right now LGBTQ series are (once again) getting canceled by the dozen, so I don’t need this crap in my horror comedies as well. You could just as easily have chosen any white man. One obvious character comes to mind, which you’ll understand if you watch the movie.

But no, it just had to be the queer female. Which means I definitely had to get miffed (to put it very mildly) about it.

You can watch Founders Day on VOD

This political slasher comes from the Bloomquist Brothers. Directed by Erik Bloomquist, who also co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Carson Bloomquist. The cast of this movie is good overall, but they cannot save the story of this movie, which I did not enjoy. I just didn’t.

Also, a horror-comedy should rarely have a runtime of 1 hour and 46 minutes. It’s too much. Especially for the storyline in this one. Rather than spend money on this, you could check out the free horror content on Tubi. There are quite a few really good original Tubi horror movies there now.

Founders Day has screened at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, Popcorn Frights Film Festival, San Sebastián Horror and Fantasy Film Festival, and had its UK Premiere at FrightFest.

I haven’t watched the previous movies from the Bloomquist Brothers, but looking at the IMDb rating for them, I don’t feel like I’ve been losing out. Am I bitter about certain elements of this particular movie? Oh yeah, I think that much is evident. However, I also just did not enjoy this movie overall. And I expected to!

Founders Day is out on VOD/Digital Platforms in the US on May 7, 2024. Also, it was released in the UK and Ireland on digital platforms on April 29, 2024.

Details

Director: Erik Bloomquist
Writers: Erik Bloomquist & Carson Bloomquist
Cast: Devin Druid, Emilia McCarthy, Naomi Grace, Olivia Nikkanen, Amy Hargreaves, Catherine Curtin, William Russ