Post by ItsMeBilly on May 16, 2019 8:38:11 GMT
SEASON ONE: THE EXECUTIONER (2016)
SEASON TWO: GUILTY PARTY (2017)
SEASON THREE: SOLSTICE (2019)
Slasher's 8-episode third season centers around a killer disguised as a druid hunting down the witnesses who did nothing while a young man was killed in front of their apartment complex.
Now that the trailer for season 3 has been released, it's time to make this thread. I want to like this show. I really do. We haven't been getting much in the way of new material in the slasher vein lately; it feels almost like the subgenre has been relegated to straight-to-video-or-Netflix hell such as the awful Victor Crowley or Thriller (2019) or mediocre TV shows such as MTV's Scream, Scream Queens, or Slasher. There are a few exceptions to be found, like 2018's Halloween, but as a general rule it seems audiences have lost interest. I'm thrilled that Netflix is continuing to put this out, but I just can't get behind it creatively.
There's a lot of religious undercurrents here that just do not work (due to both the show's execution - no pun intended - and my personal lack of interest in seeing the subject explored in horror). The acting is near-universally terrible, most likely due in large part to groan-worthy dialogue and characterization. The killers don't tend to look interesting or frightening, and season 2's killer is a direct copy of the costume worn in Urban Legend (though at least the show had the good sense to set the season in the winter to make better use of the getup). Season 2 in particular had some great inventive kills and some solid practical effects, which is great, but the storylines are so filled to the brim with unnecessary filler that it's hard to keep watching until you get to the next murder.
Maybe slasher TV series just don't work. The notably brief running-times of most slasher films just aren't meant to be stretched this far. A TV season is exponentially longer than a 90-minute movie, resulting in the addition of either melodrama (Slasher, Harper's Island, Scream), too many characters (Harper's Island, Scream Queens), or unnecessary subplots that muddy the waters so much that you lose sight of the central mystery (all of the aforementioned).
This show in particular also feels incredibly cheap, but not in a fun nostalgic way like so many of the 80s slashers that have become cult classics over the years. There's none of the charm that those entries possess. The atmosphere is just too depressing (not in a scary way) and melodramatic. Based on the just-released trailer for season 3 (above), "Solstice" doesn't appear to be remedying the situation at all. With that said, it doesn't look notably worse than seasons 1 or 2, so I'll probably hate-watch it eventually because I don't love myself enough.
Years after her parents were both murdered, Sarah Bennett returns to her hometown. Sarah's return to Waterbury is greeted with the start of a series of copycat murders, all appearing to be at the hands of "The Executioner."
SEASON TWO: GUILTY PARTY (2017)
A group of former camp counselors return to the summer camp where they used to work - and where tragedy struck years earlier. Once there, a parka-wearing assailant kills them off one by one.
SEASON THREE: SOLSTICE (2019)
Slasher's 8-episode third season centers around a killer disguised as a druid hunting down the witnesses who did nothing while a young man was killed in front of their apartment complex.
Now that the trailer for season 3 has been released, it's time to make this thread. I want to like this show. I really do. We haven't been getting much in the way of new material in the slasher vein lately; it feels almost like the subgenre has been relegated to straight-to-video-or-Netflix hell such as the awful Victor Crowley or Thriller (2019) or mediocre TV shows such as MTV's Scream, Scream Queens, or Slasher. There are a few exceptions to be found, like 2018's Halloween, but as a general rule it seems audiences have lost interest. I'm thrilled that Netflix is continuing to put this out, but I just can't get behind it creatively.
There's a lot of religious undercurrents here that just do not work (due to both the show's execution - no pun intended - and my personal lack of interest in seeing the subject explored in horror). The acting is near-universally terrible, most likely due in large part to groan-worthy dialogue and characterization. The killers don't tend to look interesting or frightening, and season 2's killer is a direct copy of the costume worn in Urban Legend (though at least the show had the good sense to set the season in the winter to make better use of the getup). Season 2 in particular had some great inventive kills and some solid practical effects, which is great, but the storylines are so filled to the brim with unnecessary filler that it's hard to keep watching until you get to the next murder.
Maybe slasher TV series just don't work. The notably brief running-times of most slasher films just aren't meant to be stretched this far. A TV season is exponentially longer than a 90-minute movie, resulting in the addition of either melodrama (Slasher, Harper's Island, Scream), too many characters (Harper's Island, Scream Queens), or unnecessary subplots that muddy the waters so much that you lose sight of the central mystery (all of the aforementioned).
This show in particular also feels incredibly cheap, but not in a fun nostalgic way like so many of the 80s slashers that have become cult classics over the years. There's none of the charm that those entries possess. The atmosphere is just too depressing (not in a scary way) and melodramatic. Based on the just-released trailer for season 3 (above), "Solstice" doesn't appear to be remedying the situation at all. With that said, it doesn't look notably worse than seasons 1 or 2, so I'll probably hate-watch it eventually because I don't love myself enough.
