Slashening: The Final Beginning – Troma Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 2021
Director: Brandon Bassham
Writer: Brandon Bassham
Cast: Lloyd Kaufman, Addie Weyrich, Jean Louise O'Sullivan, Lindsay-Elizabeth Hand, Billy Bob Thompson, Rasheda Crockett, Justin James Lang, Jack Frederick, Colin O'Brien

Release Date: February 20th, 2024
Approximate Running Time: 80 Minutes 33 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: R
Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $19.95

"Five years after "The Slashening," 22-year-old Madison Santangeli moves to Brooklyn to start a new life in the wake of her father's suicide." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5

Slashening: The Final Beginning comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 31.4 GB

Feature: 17.6 GB

Flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity and black levels are strong, and outside of a few moments, compression looks very good.

Audio: 3.75/5

This release comes with one audio option, a Dolby Digital stereo mix in English with removable English SDH. The audio sounds clear, balanced, and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a trailer for The Slashening (1 minute 45 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a trailer for Slashening: The Final Beginning (1 minute 10 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a trailer for Fear Town USA (2 minutes 16 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Bring on the Damned! teaser trailer (2 minutes 18 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), The Night he Killed ! (2 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), The Annum Triple Feature (7 minutes 23 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Blu-ray intro (2 minutes 16 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Count Drahoon Sinks his Teeth into Brandon Bassham (46 minutes 56 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and an audio commentary with director Brandon Bassham.

Other extras include The Troma Fairy Brings Troma Now! (1 minute 37 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), "Radiation March" short film directed by Lloyd Kaufman (56 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), The American Cinematheque Honors 40 Years of Troma (2 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and trailers for The Toxic Avenger, Class of Nuke ‘Em High, Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D., Tromeo and Juliet, Troma’s War, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, Return to Nuke ‘Em High: Vol. 1, and Return to Nuke ‘Em High: Vol. 2, Shakespeare's Shitstorm, Divide & Conquer, and Eating Miss Campbell.

Summary:

By now, anyone who is familiar with Troma knows that they have formulas, and even when they acquire films, these films always fall within said formula. The core ingredients of a Troma film are excessive gore, politically incorrect humor, and absurd premises. In all three of these areas, Slashening: The Final Beginning delivers in spades.

Despite not bringing anything new to the table, Slashening: The Final Beginning does a good job holding your attention. And though the front and back ends of the narrative are where most of the killings happen, that is not to say that what lies in between is not a lot of fun. It is during these other moments that the humor takes center stage. That said, be warned that it is filled with content that may trigger some. The humor targets things that are part of present-day culture wars, like the patriarch, cis-gender white males, the working class versus the educated, and male feminists, to name just a few of the targets of the humor.

At 80 minutes in length, the narrative never overstays its welcome; in fact, it moves along at a brisk pace. And though none of the performances really stand out, it is hard to fault any of them because the entire cast delivers enthusiastic performances. And when it comes to the kill scenes, there is an ample amount of gore. Ultimately, Slashening: The Final Beginning is a good mix of humor and horror that fans of Troma should enjoy.

Slashening: The Final Beginning gets a strong audio/video presentation from Troma Films.

Written by Michael Den Boer