From Heather M. of The Televixen:
Wendy Crewson Talks Slasher and Saving Hope
“You don’t get those kinds of parts. They don’t write them, they’re not out there. In the beginning, she was a little more prim. I said I wanted to try something. ‘How about [in Brenda’s first scene], if I’ve got my back to the camera and I’m smoking?'” Continue reading.Â
From Heather M. of The Televixen:
Aaron Martin Talks Slasher’s First Season and Teases the Finale
Slasher has become a spring favorite around here, and Friday night, the eight-episode first season wraps up for U.S. audiences on Chiller. We haven’t been able to screen the episode ahead of time, so I have no spoilers, but I do have a treat. I jumped on the phone with series creator Aaron Martin, who wrote all eight episodes, to talk about turning to horror after a relatively family friendlier early career, crafting a serial killer drama, and what’s next. Continue reading.
With the Season 1 finale airing on Chiller this Friday, fans in Canada watching Slasher on Super Channel are still seven weeks behind. Sarah and Dylan have just moved to Waterbury, and Verna McBride (Mary Walsh) and Justin Faysal (Mark Ghanimé) are The Executioner’s first two victims. That is, if there is in fact just one person committing the crimes, something Police Chief Iain Vaughn (Dean McDermott) was hoping when Heather Peterson (Erin Karpluk) was arrested last week.
Clearly, as “Like As Fire Eateth Up and Burneth Wood”—Friday’s new episode—shows, the wrong person was put in jail. That’s not all we learn during the instalment; here’s a sneak peek at what’s to come.
Brenda confesses
We love Wendy Crewson in everything, but she really shines in Slasher. Creator Aaron Martin has written a sassy, cigarette smoking chick who isn’t afraid to speak her mind, especially when things get a little tense. When she and Sarah find themselves in a dangerous position, she pulls out a gun, stating:Â “You think I’d return to this shit-hole without packing a little heat?” Line of the night. There is one thing that scares Brenda, and that’s the past: her confession, revolving around an incident in 1968, threatens to ruin the relationship she’s got with Sarah.
Tropes twisted
Horror movies contain some of the most hackneyed scenes and dialogue ever. Running and hiding in a closet. Calling “Hello, is anyone there?” into a darkened room. Hitting re-dial on your phone and having it ring the killer hiding inside your house. Martin’s nods to those well-worn customs are rife, but subtle twists on them result in truly scary moments.
Shout-out to Mr. D
Booth Savage, who played Principal Callaghan on Mr. D, gets new life on Slasher as the mayor of Waterbury. It’s pretty safe to say we’ve never seen this side to him before.
The Executioner vs. Sarah
Turns out The Executioner isn’t merely killing everyone. There is method to his madness and Sarah discovers what that is during the show’s closing moments.
Slasher airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on Super Channel.
If Sarah Bennett would seem an unlikely suspect, her husband Dylan would make for the perfect killer. With all of the secrets around Waterbury, it’s more likely to suspect someone from there than outside the town. And, let’s be honest, dead folks can make a man’s newspaper career, something the industrious Dylan is certainly looking to do.
In our second instalment of interview with the cast of Slasher, the Vancouver native talks Dylan, his friendship with showrunner Aaron Martin and Harper’s Island.
Congratulations on Slasher. Before we talk about that, though, you were fantastic on Harper’s Island.
Brandon Jay McLaren: Thanks. I feel like Harper’s Island was a little ahead of its time. Now that show would kill. It’s the perfect binge-watch. We were just a little premature. That was on CBS back when live ratings numbers meant something. I think our premiere was 10 million, and then we got 7 million for the second episode and they moved us to Saturday nights.
Talk to me about Dylan and his relationship with Sarah.
We met under a very strange circumstance, and she wants to come back to her hometown where her parents were murdered and she was pulled out of her mom’s womb. It’s very gruesome. She’s grown up with this about where she’s from and her past and we decide to move back to her hometown and move back to her parent’s house and fight her fears. Let’s move back and move on, because it’s been a debilitating thing in her life. We move back and the murders start happening again in a very similar fashion.
I play a journalist from the city and I move to this small town and take over the paper. These murders are terrible, but they’re good for me because I have this huge international story on my hands, so I’m pushed and pulled. Dylan’s career is skyrocketing, we have a Nancy Grace-type character come up and I’m put on TV. That’s why I took the role, because it’s different from what I’ve done on Graceland.
What are Aaron Martin’s scripts like?
They’re different. I worked with Aaron on The Best Years and a couple of seasons of Being Erica, just in and out, and this is a complete departure from anything I’ve ever read of his. I didn’t know that he was this sick in his head and I told him that. [Laughs.] He’s very good with relationships and you have that, but it’s gruesome and terrible. It makes for some really good reading.
Because you’ve known him for so long, are you more apt to read something Aaron has written?
Oh sure. He’ll contact me. He’ll be like, ‘Hey man, I’m doing this thing up here. When are you wrapped on Graceland? I’d love for you to take a look at this.’ Anytime he calls I’m fair game if I’m available. He always lets me play something that I haven’t played before, so this was another opportunity.
Slasher airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on Super Channel.
From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:
Slasher’s Brandon Jay McLaren walks a thin line
“I think it’s pretty clear that Dylan loves his wife very much and wants what’s best for her. I think Sarah feels like what’s best for her is to go and confront her fears head on, not let the story of The Executioner run her life–take back control. It also offers an opportunity for Dylan to run his own paper, which I think he always wanted. So for Dylan it’s a win-win, obviously until people start dying.” Continue reading.Â
