'The Lashman' - an homage to 80's slashers
I love slasher films, with 80's slashers being my absolute favorite. They are my comfort food. So when I hear of a film that is labeled as an 80's throwback or an homage to 80's slashers, I am immediately interested. I have seen a large number of horror films in my time and I can be a tough judge of films that try to capture the magic of my favorite sub-genre and time era.
The Lashman (Lee Vervoort, "Last Kind Words"), the title character of the film, was an early settler who worked as a leather-smith. He moved in to the town and tried to set up a business. But of course, the locals were not too friendly towards outsiders. Not long after the man opened his business, the man was ambushed outside his shop. Outnumbered, the Lashman was beaten and left for dead. An old spirit healer (Reba Jo Boley) found him on deaths door. She did what she could for his wounds and spoke an incantation over his body. Supposedly the Lashman died but made a deal with the devil and he now wanders between the real world and spirit world.
The film opens with a couple by the lake looking to have a little romantic rendezvous. Their fun is soon spoiled and the two meet their untimely demise. Now, the scene gave me a good reminder that this is a low budget indie horror film. The woman seemed to be running in slow motion or at least not making a fair attempt to get away from the traditional stalking killer. Yet even without having a wow factor or being one of those opening scenes that make you say, okay, this is going to be good, it still showed promise. As we move forward and meet our cast of characters, my favorite was Bobby (Shawn C. Phillips, "Grave Encounters 2"), who seemed to really like mustard. Bobby made me laugh with some of his lines and I couldn't help but laugh as some characters said his name in a way that made me wonder, are they saying it like that because they're supposed to be drunk, they are drunk or they're being a bit mean spirited and are mocking him since at least one character made it clear that he wasn't happy Bobby was joining them. Either way, I found it humorous. Stacy (Stacey Dixson, "Monster Cruise"), Billy (David Vaughn, "Chloe"), Daniel (Jeremy Jones, "Lukewarm") and Jan (Kaylee Williams, "Porkchop 3D") are among our other ill-fated party goers who set out looking to have a fun weekend, but instead meet the fabled Lashman.
A few other things I liked about the film were the opening title and credit sequences. They had a vintage look to them that was a nice touch. The music that accompanied them was a nice fit as well. Actually I enjoyed the music throughout the film. I found the acting to be okay overall. It was a bit wooden in some scenes, but I really did not have a problem with it.
My two biggest complaints were the pacing and camera work. After the opening scene kills, it felt like a very long time until the next time someone was killed off. Sadly, most of the death scenes occur in the approximately, final 15-20 minutes. I think the film would have greatly benefited if a couple of the deaths had happened a bit earlier so there was not such a long gap between kills. The camera work was quite shaky at times, particularly in some close up shots where it is very noticeable.
Indie horror fans should check out "The Lashman" since despite its short comings, it fares better than a number of other independent slashers. I felt that it was a solid effort by director and writer, Cameron McCasland, and while watching the movie, you get the feeling that the cast had a fun time making this film.
RATING: 2.5 / 5
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