The most killer horror movies that slay their competition are those that serve as a terrifying love letter to autumnal mischief and the formative slashers of the filmmakers’ youth. That’s certainly the case for the new political thriller, ‘Founders Day,’ which is the first feature the Bloomquist brothers ever wanted to make together.

The mystery drama started as an idea in the laundry room of a college dormitory in 2011. The feature, which was ultimately a project in the making for over a decade by the filmmaking brothers, was directed by Erik Bloomquist. He also wrote the script for, and produced, the movie with his brother, Carson. ‘Founders Day’ marks a reunion for the brothers in the horror genre, after they previously co-penned and produced, and Erik helmed, the 2021 vampire feature, ‘Ten Minutes to Midnight.’

Besides co-scribing, directing and producing ‘Founders Day,’ Erik also starred in the project. The thriller’s ensemble cast also includes Devin Druid (‘13 Reasons Why’), Emilia McCarthy (‘SkyMed’), Amy Hargreaves (‘13 Reasons Why’), Catherine Curtin (‘Stranger Things’), William Russ (‘Boy Meets World’), Naomi Grace (‘NCIS’), Olivia Nikkanen (‘The Society’), Jayce Bartok (‘When They See Us’) and Andrew Stewart Jones (‘Gotham’).

‘Founders Day’ shows that a series of ominous killings in the days leading up to a small town’s heated mayoral election, accusations fly and the threat of a masked killer darkens every street corner. As their paranoia grows, the residents must race to uncover the truth before fear consumes the town.

The highly-anticipated ‘Founders Day’ had its World Premiere this past summer at the Popcorn Frights Film Festival on Friday, August 18 in the Horror Collective Screening Room at the O Cinema South Beach. After the Bloomquists attended the film’s Popcorn Frights screening in Miami, they’ll next be attending the project’s Canadian Premiere during the Toronto After Dark Film Festival (TADFF). The feature’s TADFF screening will be held this Friday, October 20 at 9:45pm at the Scotiabank Theatre in Toronto.

The Bloomquist brothers generously took the time before ‘Founders Day’s World Premiere at Popcorn Frights in August to talk about making the project during an exclusive Zoom interview. The interview with the filmmakers, during which they discussed topics as why they were influenced to write the script and produce the drama together; how they created the look of the killer’s mask and costumes; and what it means that they were able to premiere the feature at the Florida-based festival and bring the project to other festivals around the world; can be viewed in the above video.