Slasher Season 1 | The Executioner

"[Tom] Do you regret coming back here?
 [Sarah] I thought if I could go back and face the past, I could come out the other side home. 

Instead, I'm on the run from a serial killer with a killer." - Episode 107, 'In the Pride of his Face'

Slasher is an Canadian Anthology Horror series created by Aaron Martin. The first season was produced by Shaftesbury Films and Super Channel. Originally premiering on Chiller and Super Channel in 2016 it was later picked up by Netflix who got streaming rights for its second season. The first season features the acting talents of Katie McGrath (Sarah Bennett), Brandon Jay McLaren (Dylan Bennett), Steve Byers (Cam Henry), Patrick Garrow (Tom Winston), Christopher Jacot (Robin Turner), Erin Karpluk (Heather Peterson), and Wendy Crewson(Brenda Merrit). For a Full list of Cast and Crew.

Taking a page, from the incredible popular American TV Series, American Horror Story. Each season features a stand-alone plot but with a revolving cast of actors which appear in each season. Besides the similarity in format there are several difference in the execution. Unlike traditional slasher films Martin mixes in mystery with his horror having the characters try to unmask the killer. McGrath character is depicted as a "Nancy Drew" type on a mission to understand both her parents death and the identity of the present day killer. One of the few flaws I had with AHS was their proclivity towards murdering off their minor characters near the end of the season often for fairly poor reasons. Slasher's deaths make sense to the plot and always felt personal and visceral.

The Season begins with a lovely Homage to John Carpenter's Halloween(1978) and with the birth of our main protagonist, of course most peoples births don't start with a machete caesarian and your parents bleeding out in the foyer but hey nobody's perfect. A time jump shows us Sarah all grown up, married, happy, and moving back to Waterbury to the house that her parents were killed in. She meets a few of the locals and begins to enjoy the local scenery. Into a copycat killer starts murdering town folks and she starts to realize everyone in this town has a secret and its going to get them killed.

Reminiscent of Twin Peaks(1990), Slasher presents itself as a intricate drama as the cast dwindles to a lucky few. Each character has a background and motivation and it fills realistic the way that they enter and exit the plot. Heather Peterson, the towns 'log lady' just wants to find her missing daughter, Allison Sutherland, the publisher of the local newspaper just wants the scoop on the killer by any means necessary and Verna McBride, Sarah's next-door Neighbor just want her and her husband to get a fucking room. The characters in the series are vibrant, personal and have a life that helps enrich their death. Slasher films lose value when the people being killed are simple barely sketched out charicultures but when you see a person you have spent time with, began to sympathise and like die in a horrific gruesome way it sits with you in a way that most movies with their limited run time can't compete with. Slasher succeeds in both its drama and its horror elements by giving us characters that we can relate to whether its Sarah's chain-smoking grandmother or  the friendly real estate agent whose husband hermorraiges cash.

The Slasher genre is codified by its titiler serial killer. Some motivations are based on revenge like Friday the 13th(1980) and I know what you did last summer(1997). Others are simply people being in the wrong place at the wrong time such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre(1974). The Executioner wants to kill people for their "sins". The killer bases each murder on the 7 deadly sins and while religious based serial killers are not the most originally concept (AHS:Hotel featured a 10-Commandments Killer), The Executioner distinguishes himself in two ways, the use of Medieval punishments for the 7 deadly sins and the fact that his victims are themselves guilty of taking a life. The concept of everyone in town having a dirty little secret provides depth to the murders and muddies the waters. People make mistakes, people do horrible, horrible things but do they deserve to die, like that? Of course one could say that the executioner could be following an older code than Pope Gregory 1st, Hammurabi's

Another great aspect is how the town reacts to the death, some people in their stress turn to God, or Sex, or whatever vice or virtue brings them comfort. Others such as McLaren's character sees the Money and fame to be made in the killings. Mclaren's subplot borders on intrigue as Nguyen's and Okuma's characters help sensationalize the killings.Gore and violence sells, as Okuma's characters states in episode 5

 " A picture-postcard small town.

A series of bloody murders.

One more gruesome than the next.

Is this the latest Hollywood blockbuster?

No, this is reality for the citizens of Waterbury"

The victims all have blood on their hands and for the towns people that have skeletons in their closet that puts a millstone around their neck. Episode 6 features the rise of a secondary antagonist who adds to the body count and ends with both the death of the antagonist and surprisingly, (especially in a genre that wallows in the depths of human depravity), a happy ending. The plot flows well from episode to episode and the first season plays more as a drama than the usually thriller.

The scoring is done by Shawn Pierce (music editor for Haven, the 4400, and the L word) and it is fantastic. The soundtrack is fairly sparse but giving the difference between the audiences of say the Grudge(2004) and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist(2008) the lack of Summertime bops in a show about people getting slice and diced is forgivable. Pierces use of the creepy orchestrations is however excellent. Horror movies can become straid often by the overuse of their horror elements. whether its too many jump scares or too much creepy violins. Slasher however makes its scoring work one great moment was in episode 3 when the Pierce's orchestration helped sell the moment. The instrumentation help charge what would otherwise be a fairly run-of-the-mill moment in to a intense confrontation as you feel the unease of McGraths character.

Craig David Wallace's(Todd and the Book of Pure Evil) Direction helped make the series iconic. One of my favorite scenes in the series was the ending of episode 4 was both stunning beautiful and horrifically maccabe. The shot composition is done well and close opens and closes as well as the death scenes made the show both memorable and enjoyable.

Overall, Slasher is a fantastic horror show, keeping me on the edge of my seat as the plot switched between the gruesome deaths and the intrigue and drama that came from living through the massacre. Slasher mixes a lot of great influences and shows the best qualities of Slasher, Whodunit, Drama, and Anthology. An absolute must-see for for the Horror Buff and those who want to get into slasher films but are still a little squeamish.