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So lately, I’ve been getting back into the motions of watching horror films again. I’ve always been fan of the horror genre, especially 80’s horror. I was pretty much raised on it. A few years back, I could recite the stats of just about any major horror movie figure… Especially the Slashers. Micheal Meyers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kruger, Leatherface, The Tall Man, Chucky… The list goes on. So imagine my delight, when I came across, “Hack/Slash” by Tim Seeley, a few years ago. A bunch of one-shots that eventually earned its way into a monthly series, about a girl and her hulking masked partner who go out and kill unstoppable themed serial killers.

The story goes something like this; Cassandra Hack, daughter of the notorious Delilah Hack aka The Lunch Lady, grew up an outcast and attended the same school her mother worked at as a Cafeteria Server. As life went on, Cassie’s mother would poison the food of the those who would tease her daughter, eventually being confronted by the police, where Delilah Hack would commit suicide in front of her daughter. Cassie would then be sent to live with super-religious foster parents, as her birth father had run out on the family shortly after she was born. During her time in the foster home, she trained in various martial arts and fighting disciplines, hardening both her body and mind. About two years later, teenagers started to die in the same fashion as those who were killed by her mother. Turns out, the killer was her mother, back from the dead, continuing to “avenge” her daughter, in the same sense that Jason Voorhees kills for his mother. Cassie felt responsible this set of events and as a result, she went out to save anyone else from the terror that comes from Supernatural Slashers.

While on the hunt, she ends up hunting, who would later become her partner and care taker, the masked giant known only as Vlad. Together they’ve traveled the country, killing Slashers and befriending the would-be victims, who become vital assets and contacts for the duo. However, the thing that stands out between these comic “heroes” and their movie “hero” counterparts is that the stakes are always high for them, and when things go south, there’s no magic plot device to save them from danger… At least, not often. And sometimes, they just can’t save the day, as was the case when they came across Chucky and Herbert West. You may remember Chucky as Charles Lee Ray, the man trapped in a self-imposed voodoo curse inside of a Good Guy Doll… Otherwise, the killer doll from the “Child’s Play” films. And Herbert West, the Lovecraft character who developed a serum to raise the dead. He’s also the “protagonist” of the “Re-Animator” films. But this isn’t to say that only licensed characters escape Cassie’s judgement. There are reoccurring entities that seem like they just refuse to stay down… You could call them the Slashers that get sequels.

And I think that’s part of the reason why I like this series so much. Cassie and Vlad are just special guests in the “movies” of these killers. They’re pretty much just jerks who show up in the movie and end it prematurely. So the characters who would end up becoming the hero of their “movie” never do. It would be like, if Tommy Jarvis never killed Jason in Friday the 13th part 4 or if Laurie Strode never stopped Micheal Meyers in Halloween 2 or if Nancy Thompson never stopped Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street. Those various series would’ve ended the second Cassie and Vlad showed up. Which to some would be a good thing, but for me, my childhood would be destroyed. So in that regard, Hack/Slash is sort of a guilty pleasure. But… The kicker about all of that stuff about ending the movies is that Hack/Slash is getting a movie… Eventually. It’s been about 3 or 4 years since that was announced as a plan. I think the idea was that a major motion picture would’ve been released back in 2008. Obviously, that didn’t happen. But the last I read, Megan Fox of Transformers fame, and the upcoming “Jennifer’s Body”, really wanted the role of Cassie Hack. I don’t really know how I feel about that. She doesn’t really come across as a Suicide Girl to me, and seeing as a major influence to the character is a Suicide Girl… I don’t know. But I do know that Hack/Slash has a fairly large fan base, and the amount of cosplay and fanart dedicated towards the series amazes me. So yeah, if you get a chance, check out Hack/Slash. And in case you didn’t gather from this read, the book is violent. Very violent. There’s a lot of adult content too… Not for kids…It’s a lot like an 80’s horror film, actually. Except with better wardrobe and dialogue.

-Fleet

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