I haven’t seen a good slasher flick in a while and I’ve been waiting to see The Lashman for a couple years now. So, not only did it carry the burden of being my first slasher flick viewing of 2014, but it also had to live up to my pent up anticipation. The big question is: did The Lashman quench my thirst for blood and live up to the hype I built around it? Read my review of this Kentucky made, bullwhip slinging, hot dog eating horror film below.
The Lashman is written and directed by Cameron McCasland, who was previously nominated for an Emmy Award for his “Go Green With Dr. Gangrene” PSAs. It stars Stacey Dixon (Shudder, Monster Cruise), David Vaughn (10 Commandments of Chloe), Kaylee Williams (Zombie Babies, Porkchop 3D), Shawn C. Phillips (Haunted High, Ghost Shark), Jeremy Jones (Country Strong), Tim Emery (The Truck), David Chattam, Lee Vervoort, Todd Bush, and Larry Underwood (The Dreadful Hallowgreen Special).
“The Lashman is a tale of terror. Five friends set out for a weekend camping excursion to find that their camp fire tales have turned into their worst nightmares.”
To kick things off, I want to confirm that The Lashman is expertly developed and stylized after pre-80s horror flicks. The clothes, the cars, the low gas prices, the lack of technology, the way the plot develops; Hell, even the topless chase scene in the beginning all harken back to The Golden Age of Horror. It’s a nostalgic, bloody good time set in the backwoods of Kentucky and I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere of the movie. There’s a very specific build up in The Lashman that resembles those of Black Christmas and Halloween, two very popular indie titles that pre-date the 80s. Sure, characters aren’t being brutally butchered every five minutes like common Hollywood horror titles today, but fans of cult classics and historic horror films are going to appreciate the character progressing, slow and steady build up to the climactic blood bath at the end. I know I did.
Next, I would like to say that The Lashman is a perfect take on an imperfect subgenre. Keeping up with my last sentiments, The Lashman is an indie title inspired by pre-80s horror flicks, and it comes with all the drawbacks of those films. I’m talking mostly about production errors. This feature has at least three bloopers that I caught on the first go and two that I caught after the fact. That being said, loads of underground, cult movies have bloopers in them so again The Lashman is in good company. When you’re filming in the middle of the woods and have minimal access to locations and electricity, errors are bound to happen. But, how often do you remember popping a VHS in your VHS player and seeing a box office bump riddled with errors? For the older crowd, do you remember watching those horrible B-movies at the drive-in theater and wondering how that slipped through the floor of the editing room? I look at it as: what was the director supposed to do? Not release The Lashman because it has a few production errors? The Hell with that. I say buy a cheap bottle of vodka and drink every time you think you see a mistake. Add some extra excitement to your viewing.
Creating an original serial killer – who uses a bullwhip, by the way – and one that has a supernatural and vengeful background is so nice to see in a genre that relies on reused story or just not developing their characters. And since I can’t think of any killers primarily from Kentucky, I think it’s neat to see the state have a legend of its very own. Maybe The Lashman will be the newest mass murderer to look for on the back roads of America. And when heavy horror hitters such as Dixon, Williams, and Phillips collide with him, it results in a very fun movie where you were hope that your favorite characters survive and that The Lashman offs the ones that you didn’t.
All in all, The Lashman was a pretty solid effort. It was nostalgic and well acted with a brand new serial killer idea featured across beautiful set locations. To be fair, the only big drawback was the production errors. Those are really the only thing I can harp on, despite trying to make light of them earlier. Bloopers, bad lighting, some mixed audio problems, oh, it must have been a roof time on set even without the glaring sun. Cicadas, blood, and good looking women…The Lashman is the perfect backwoods slasher flick. I rate it 7.5 out of 10 stars.
