Chiller’s Slasher
Season 1, Episode 8: “Soon Your Own Eyes Will See”
Directed by Craig David Wallace
Written by Aaron Martin

* For a review of the previous episode, “In the Pride of His Face” – click here
The finale of Slasher‘s first season begins in a very Michael Myers-like way, as we follow the masked culprit up through a house, into the bedroom of two parents – Alan Henry (Rob Stewart) and his wife Suzanne . It’s little Cam Henry wearing a creepy pig mask. He’s sleepwalking, wetting the bed. While his father is more understanding, mom is a very angry, unhappy person whose shaming of her son is despicable. She berates him over and over, calling him a “baby“, until young Cam sends his mother flying down the stairs to her death. Whoa.Smash cut to adult Cam Henry (Steve Byers) hanging out with Sarah Bennett (Katie McGrath). They’re carving up a pumpkin, having fun like two old friends should. But Cam tries to lighten things up, speaking of hope, speaking to her as more than a friend. Alan shows up and things get awkward. She’s still obviously sceptical of Father Henry. Only for the wrong reasons. How much does the priest really know about his son nowadays?
At Sarah’s gallery there’s an influx of business, for Halloween and also surely due to her recent appearance in the news for all the madness in Waterbury. Robin Turner (Christopher Jacot) shows up to try convincing her to do a little partying for Halloween/her birthday. Maybe not the best idea, but who knows what is at this point.
Meanwhile, Cam and Alan have bit of father-son time. They talk of wives, mothers. Father Henry warns of rushing into anything “unseemly“, though, his boy brings up the nasty secrets nobody else knows about, which then gives way to an almost-fight. The deterioration of Cam is now evident even to his own father. So Alan goes looking, he searches and finds the box – the one with all those souvenirs of The Executioner’s killings. I wonder if Alan will do something, or if he’ll only cowardly look on in terror.Later on, Dylan (Brandon Jay McLaren) shows up at the gallery, too. She isn’t impressed immediately with his sudden change of heart, having given up his stake in the case, and so on. Not impressed at all. And neither is Cam, who watches on from across the street. He meets later with his father at the church. Alan is visibly distraught, he starts talking about Cam’s mother, then he casually starts to bring up the murders. “But you broke man‘s law, Cam,” he says. He offers to help his son. Only Cam’s not sure that’s the best option going forward. The Executioner in Cam comes out, as he then chokes his father to death in the middle of the church. A brutal, personal kill, which will only serve to knock Cam off balance even further now.
In the paper Dylan writes an editorial about losing his wife. He confesses for the sin of Pride. Uh oh. Might not be the best thing to do right now, tempting The Executioner. At the same time, Sarah hears Dylan out a little, and they start to mend their bridges. He actually seems sorry, and tries his best to make her see that. Perhaps some hope for them after all. That is, if Cam doesn’t do something terrifying first.
Sarah packs her life up to get the hell out of Waterbury. In a bag belonging to her husband, Sarah finds the little box with The Executioner’s souvenirs. A plant by Officer Henry.
So now her life is even worse. Plus, Cam starts to confess his feelings for Sarah. And then the worst: they make love against the wall. Afterwards, though, she doesn’t seem too happy about her decision.
At the station, The Executioner himself interrogates Dylan, whose situation gets worse by the second. Such dirty irony. I dig how the writing has given us this last episode to sort through things. Already there’s the realization of Cam being the killer, even prior to this episode with the revelation at the end of the previous episode. Watching everything unfold now in the finale is very fun. Everything becomes more tense when Sarah discovers some old memories, one including a picture of Cam holding up a picture of his GLUTTONY drawing. Yikes, that would be creepy even if he didn’t turn out to be a serial killer.

 

 

 

Now with a renewed mission Sarah is, typically, in the dark, looking for clues at Cam’s place. She finds a bloody sink, a large knife, as well as the remnants of Alan – a hand, his priest collar. Then instead of calling 911, Sarah sets off with the big buck knife in her own hand. Will she search out The Executioner and bring a taste of his own medicine along for the ride?
Simultaneously, Robin is throwing a big party for Halloween. He makes an emotional yet inspiring speech for everyone and gets the place pumping. When Sarah shows up she goes straight for Cam. She lures him outside with a suggestive look, some sweet eyes, et cetera, and that hooks him. She manages to stab Cam brutally, but Robin comes along and also gets knifed in the chest. This sets us on a nice slasher cat-and-mouse chase.
Down the Halloween-y streets goes Sarah, trying to stay ahead of Cam. She gets inside, tries to make a call. Except Cam is too fast. Upstairs, she makes it into a room. A big, strong Cam prepares to break down the door. Dylan comes out of nowhere to try saving the day.
But Cam overpowers Dylan, and before Sarah can make it to the door Cam grabs hold of her, planting the knife in her chest, almost right in the neck. As she bleeds, he scolds himself for ruining “everything” all the time, like a teenager. One of the creepiest scenes yet sees her bleeding out on the floor, Cam laying next to her recounting the first he saw her. So sickening, in the best sort of horror way. Managing to down him for a moment, Sarah locks the door and goes to kill Cam. Her husband tries talking her out of it, saying “You‘re not a murderer“, but she wants to be done with the legacy of The Executioner. So husband and wife set about killing him, wiping away his awful deeds. For all those sins of murder, Cam suffers through a vicious stabbing. One of the most savage stabbing scenes of any I’ve ever seen, honestly. Over and over she gives it to him. Also, a nice subverted end for a slasher to have these two do him in that way.We skip to a month later. Dylan, Sarah, and Robin stand outside the house, hoping to see someone else take the place eventually. Off to a new life head Dylan and Sarah, free of The Executioner, both the original and the copycat.
Showing off the house, Robin leads a new family around. Around the side their little girl goes to play with a cat nearby. She cracks its neck with a chilling, almost orgasmic joy. “This house feels perfect,” she tells Robin. Maybe Waterbury will be seeing another massacre, eight or ten years down the road. Awesome little finish.
I loved this series. It wasn’t always prefect, but it offered a lot. Both played into the slasher sub-genre, as well as subverted it at times. Above all, I kept guessing. Even at times where I believed I knew who The Executioner was, things kept happening to keep that ball rolling. Excited to see another season, hopefully Chiller will go ahead. It’s supposed to be a different story every year, so if that’s the case I’m hoping they’ll find an interesting way to do a Season 2.