Even the most hardcore of slasher fans have to admit that the sub-genre has grown very stale and boring. But, in 2006 Adam Wingard directed this fast-paced, mean as hell, star-driven indie hack-and-slash called Home Sick.

The film opens with this douche bag Ben (played by rising genre star Jeff Dylan Graham) getting killed by a mysterious hooded figure in his hotel room. We are then introduced to these weird, goth-ish people (one of which is played by Tiffany Shepis) who throw a house warming party for their friend. They all seem to have their own personal problems (EX: Shepis is a coke addict) and it sorta seems like they are not that fond of their friend. Eventually, a grinning madman known as Mr. Suitcase (played by genre veteran Bill Moseley) crashes the party. He comes with a suitcase filled with Razorblades. He forces each one of them to tell them who they hate the most (one of them says Jeff Dylan Grahams character, explaining his death at the beginning of the film), and he cuts himself. He then sings a little song (which Moseley apparently wrote himself) and then disappears.

Soon, everyone they said they hated start getting picked off by a vicious, hooded demon. This would not be THAT bad, except one of the more mean-spirited guys said he hates everyone, and now they are all targets of the demon. These kills are awesome: Guy getting split in half with an ax, then another guy gets stabbed in the back of the head and it protrudes from his mouth. My personal favorite is when this one guy is forced to bite down on a step of a wooden staircase and then has his head crushed by the demon's big foot. Beautiful.

The final act is a balls-to-the-wall insanity fest, as they turn to a chili-obsessed militia man(played by Tom Towels, HENRY : Portrait of a Serial Killer) to help them battle the evil that has set out to destroy them. But, as it always happens, they all turn against each other and the film ends in a bloodbath where only one can survive!

As I mentioned in the intro, this is a VERY fun, original slasher flick with some cool gore, great soundtrack and some great acting, especially from Towles and and Moseley. Both are more or less glorified cameos, but they manage to be funny and creepy and just steal the show. All in all, if your a Slasher fan, who wants something a little different out of your hack em up, give this a try, you'll be pleasantly surprised. My one complaint would be that maybe one or two scenes border being torture porn, which I am not a fan of at all, but those scenes are so brief, I could easily look past them. Have a good one.