Told by Tolly Driver, a teenager trying to just get by in a desolate small town in West Texas in 1989, I Was a Teenage Slasher turns the genre upside down and tells the story from the perspective of the vengeful killer and not his victims. How does one become a slasher? How do slashers always manage to survive every weapon their victims or police throw their way? How are they fast and slow at the same time? Why are they so connected to their Final Girls? Tolly learns the hard way as he tries to fight the overwhelming urges he begins to feel after his encounter with a vengeful killer.
Anyone who enjoys slasher films will recognize the patterns and tropes so common to the genre and enjoy the inside nods to the seemingly contradictory “rules” of the genre. Graham Jones is great at fast paced action, creative kills, humor, and creating likeable, human characters, complete with flaws—sometimes fatal.
