Tokyo Horror Film Festival: ‘Black Spines’ (2024) Review

There’s an article I have coming out in August about a film called Jersey Shore Massacre. In said article, I discuss how Scream had an overall negative impact on the slasher subgenre. Also discussed is how there’s nothing wrong with a straightforward slasher film. The Scream Effect™ forced slashers into a corner where they had to be supremely meta and too smart for their own good. A title like Jersey Shore Massacre (and its accompanying cover) had set a low bar of expectation. Once the credits rolled, it reshaped how I look at, and receive, films in the slasher subgenre. Black Spines is the first slasher I have watched since Jersey Shore Massacre. And I could not have been more pleased.

Black Spines follows Cameron (Jan Luis Castellanos), a teen reeling from the recent loss of his father, Andy (Gilbert Owuor). Cameron’s loss is compounded by the excessive bullying he faces from a group of jocks (and his sister Kathryn’s (Tiana Le) boyfriend, Barcley (Cameron Wong). If that weren’t enough, the town of Page Hollow is being stalked by a masked killer named The Pill. “If you act up in this town, he’ll be your medicine.” As the dust settles after each kill, it seems more and more like Cameron is closer to the killer than he may realize. A series of VHS tapes begins to appear, leading Cameron down a dangerous road that he may not survive.

Jordon Foss’ Directorial Debut Shines

Writer/director Jordon Foss steps out of the shadowed alleys of Gotham City with his exceptional feature debut. Black Spines, while accepting certain unavoidable tropes, refuses to rest in the shadows of the slashers of yore. It’s unapologetically its own film. A slasher that doesn’t have overly snappy dialogue, takes its time, and understands its own pace is a breath of fresh air. Slashers that run the festival circuit, understandably, need to find ways to stand out from the crowd. I find a certain level of enjoyment with festival slashers like Founders Day, but it almost feels like they try a bit too hard. Seeing a film like Black Spines makes me feel like slashers are beginning to remember they can be grounded and still be impactful.

Exploring Grief in Black Spines

Foss’ script is beyond impressive with how it handles grief. One of the biggest complaints I’ve seen surrounding “elevated horror” is the frustration people feel with how grief-stricken the genre has become. Black Spines uses grief as a jumping-off point to explore the characters. Cameron and Kathryn live in their grief, and it defines them in different ways. Cameron is sullen and closed off while Kathryn bottles it up until she reaches a tipping point. There are no prolonged scenes of exaggerated keening; there are no Oscar-bait long shots of someone crying with tears streaming down their face. Foss hits the audience with genuine depictions of grief that leave you feeling slightly hollow, but hopeful overall.

A Haunting Score by Alexander Bornstein

Think of a modern slasher film. There’s a good chance a booming, guitar-riffed, drum-pounding score accompanies nearly every kill. Yes, there are some pulse-pounding moments throughout Alexander Bornstein’s score. But Bornstein’s score stands apart from others with how he handles the composition post-kill. Instead of moving on to the next tick on the kill count, we get the opportunity to sit with The Pill’s kill. Bornstein’s score ends each kill with an exclamation point of sorrow. Not only does it make the kill feel more impactful, it transports you to the scene of the crime. It’s a brutal bookend to the incredibly intense kills.

Memorable Kills and Special Effects

Speaking of kills, we all know that a slasher film is only as good as the kills. You can have a terrible story, but as long as the audience likes the kills, they will forgive abhorrent writing. On top of having an A+ story, Black Spines has some impressively effective kills. Seasoned Special Effects Makeup Artist Gary J. Tunnicliffe makes damn sure to awe the audience with his handiwork.

Minor Flaws in Black Spines

That’s not to say there aren’t some issues with Black Spines. My biggest issue with the film is the over-introduction of characters from the jump. Black Spines has a decently slow, albeit methodical, start where a plethora of characters are introduced and then forgotten about until it’s too late. Foss’ debut feels very confident in nearly every facet, but I feel he jumped the gun with the number of characters he wrote into the story. You can easily show quick transgressions here and there as a way to pad out slasher victims, without inundating the viewer with character after character. There are a few instances where a character dies, and then the film decides to go back and tell you who they were. This specific issue wasn’t enough to alter my overall appreciation of what the film does for slashers.

Overall, Black Spines is a well-crafted, silent meditation of grief that exists as a brilliant singular entity. Jordon Foss struck gold and created, what I think, one of the few capital ‘g’ ‘G’reat slashers of the 2020s. Chock full of incredible performances, a stellar script, a straightforward slasher, bloody kills, and a haunting score, Black Spines sets a new bar for modern slashers.