‘He’s Watching You’ review: A fun if flawed slasher

He’s Watching You stumbles in the execution but shines a light on a new, burgeoning talent.

It’s pretty tricky to breathe new life into the slasher genre these days, and part of that is baked into the genre: a strong mystery is essential to maintaining suspense. In He’s Watching You, formerly titled Black Spines, writer/director Jordan Foss crafts a slasher that plays around with the psychological and keeps the mystery going until the film’s final act, when all is revealed. There are pacing issues that drag down the overall momentum, and a stronger tie-in to ‘The Pill’ could have made the inevitable slasher villain shine more, especially in light of what arises in the end. Still, He’s Watching You has a solid foundation, making this a decent viewing experience.

Opening with a kill that underscores its slasher killer’s strength, He’s Watching You focuses on Cameron (Jan Luis Castellanos), an awkward teenager struggling after his father’s death. Playing against type, Castellanos relies on his physicality to convey that sense of smallness and weakness that Cameron feels. This particularly comes across well when he’s up against his bullies, who are one-dimensionally evil and hateful, which later works to Foss’s storytelling advantage.

As kills start to mount up, Foss (and Cameron’s community) start painting the teen as a plausible suspect. Little behavioral quirks don’t help matters. Lapses in his mental state depicted onscreen help lend credence to the argument. It is this playing around in the psychological that proves both a blessing and a curse for He’s Watching You, as the inevitable reveal of the slasher’s identity leaves unanswered questions. With some more finesse and editing, the connective tissue between varying elements could have made this psychological play stronger upon impact.

He’s Watching You understands the necessity of bloodshed in slashers.

Yet, with the inclusion of ‘The Pill’ and the story surrounding the urban legend, the integration in He’s Watching You reads more tacked on than seamless. This legend means to punish misbehaving children. But there’s no real tell about the selection of the victims, or why the supposed legend has returned, stronger. An inciting incident or more play with the legend could have made this clearer and possibly produced a more memorable slasher villain.

What isn’t lacking in strength are the kills in He’s Watching You. Choosing simplicity over grandiose flourish, the execution of the kills is brutal in force. Each one reveals a subtle aspect of the killer. Yet across all of them, one thing becomes clear: Cameron is always within proximity. This further intensifies the suspicious surroundings him. You can almost see the metaphorical arrows pointing toward the poor teen. And, even with a rather extensive cast of characters to pull from, it isn’t easy to deduce who might be an alternative suspect.

Exploring Cameron’s connection to the characters around him is a mixed bag, if only because it draws out what could have been a tighter story. Yet each character is essential in fleshing out Cameron’s world. And, more importantly, his relationship with his sister, Kathryn (Tiana Le). While much of the story focuses on Cameron and his journey through grief, Kathryn is also struggling in her own way. There is a complex array of emotions that follows Le’s performance. Her relationship with their father was much different than what Cameron had. This allows the film to show a different side of grieving parents through the sibling dynamic.

The bottom line.

With a grieving family at its center and bodies brutally dropping (or, occasionally, being skewered) within a small town, He’s Watching You has enough to get slasher fans interested in tuning in. It does have pacing issues: the middle drags once the VHS element is introduced, and the third act leaves the viewer hanging at the film’s end. The overall experience, though, has me wondering what Jordan Foss will be doing next, and I look forward to seeing it.

He’s Watching You is now playing in select theaters and is available to stream on Apple TV and Prime Video. Watch the trailer below.

Images courtesy of Vertical. 

Sarah Musnicky