I think that what I loved the most about the Bloomquist brothers’ new film Founders Day is how clever it is. Despite the fact that seemingly every variation of the slasher genre has been created, and then referenced, you would think that you had seen it all. “Not so!” says this filmmaking team as they tell the story of a small New England town torn apart by local partisan politics. Politics? Slasher Movie? No really it works.

We open as Mayoral candidate Harold Faulkner (Jayce Bartok) argues with his daughter Melissa (Olivia Nikkanen). She is heading out for a date with her girlfriend Allison (Naomi Grace) and the optics are rubbing Harold the wrong way. Stopping by her old job at the local movie house, Allison says hi to her former co-worker and Olivia’s brother Adam (Devin Druid). Then Allison and Olivia head off to the lover’s bridge. As the two share a kiss, headlights appear and Olivia attempts to chase them off only to be murdered. This sends the town into turmoil as sitting mayor Blair Gladwell (Amy Hargreaves) grapples with the immediate tragedy and the impending tricentennial of the town, aka Founder’s Day.

Yes, plenty of intrigue ensues. It seems that while Blair Gladwell is hoping to maintain her seat, the father of the recent murder victim Olivia, is none other than incumbent Harold Bartok. Digging deeper, we see that Mayor Gladwell’s fast daughter Lily (Emilia McCarthy) used to date Harold Bartok’s son Adam. Hovering over all of the legal proceedings is Commissioner Peterson (Catherine Curtin). She’s a sucker-sucking Columbo devotee who is merely trying to solve the mystery. Will Founders Day be held despite the murderous acts of an unknown slasher? Who will win the Mayoral election between Blair Gladwell and Harold Bartok?

The Bloomquists know exactly what they are doing and they play with the audience mercilessly, practically torturing fans of the genre. It’s so much fun. Expectations are established and then torn asunder. The casual movie watcher would just enjoy this as “Good.” Horror fans will see this as a loving homage to everything before it. There’s a uniform look here and there is a reason. While Mike Magilnick serves as Director of Photography, it’s the Bloomquists who are cutting things together with colorists Vlad Chernolyasov and Stephen Derluguian. The result is a beautiful homage to Wes Craven and the Scream Franchise, among many, that adds further to the affection for and knowledge of the genre.

Inside baseball aside, Founders Day is a classic slasher with a knowing grin. We have a cast of suspicious characters, all with a motive. We have the final girl. We have the ne’er-do-well tough guy with good looks. We even have the gloriously bloody kills that wash the screen in crimson. When all of that fades, we still have a fun story and a perplexing whodunnit. Founders Day is a well-made slasher by slasher fans who know what they are doing.

8 Out of 10