Shudder has revealed the air date of Slasher: Flesh and Blood, which they announced late last year as the fourth installment in the horror series that started in 2016.

The horror streaming platform will exclusively show the series in the US as well as Australia and New Zealand on August 12th, 2021, according to Rue Morgue. The first two episodes of the new series will be premiered on the same day, with new additions each week as is becoming more frequent with streaming services who don't want people to simply binge-watch a new series and move on.

The plot of the new series is "like Knives Out done by John Carpenter", according to Shudder's Craig Engler. The story takes place on a secluded island, where the members of a wealthy but dysfunctional family have gathered for a reunion. In short order, long-forgotten rivalries and past heartaches come back to haunt them, and then, of course, there is a masked killer galumphing around the place, merrily knocking them off one at a time.

Like American Horror Story, Slasher pitches itself as an anthology series where each season is a new story but generally contains many of the same cast members in new roles. Along with Paula Brancati, Jefferson Brown, Sabrina Grdevich and Patrice Goodman returning from past seasons, The Walking Dead's Jeananne Goosen, Alex Ozerov, recently seen in The Americans, and Sydney Meyer, from Departure, will join. However, the jewel in the crown is the arrival of legendary horror director and occasional actor David Cronenberg, who appears as the head of the family.

Engler said,

"(It) takes the franchise to a new level with a gripping and scary story about family secrets, intrigue, murder and legacy. We're incredibly lucky to have David Cronenberg, an icon of the genre, giving a standout performance as the fearsome, intimidating patriarch of the Galloway family who sets the tone for the shocking twists, crazy mysteries, and total mayhem that's to come. Shudder members won't want to miss a single episode of this incredible event series."

The original outing of the Canadian-American series aired on Chiller back in March 2016 and its 80% Rotten Tomatoes score and generally positive reception was enough for Netflix to acquire the licensing rights for a second and third season. All three seasons were made available to stream via their platform in June 2020, a couple of months after they had mysteriously disappeared.

Slasher plays heavily on the horror movies of the '70's and '80's such as Halloween and Friday The 13th, taking a group of people in a certain scenario and having a mystery character slice and dice them one after the other until only a few remain to unmask the killer in a way not to dissimilar from a Scooby-Doo cartoon, just with more blood and guts. Shudder's original series' have been somewhat hit and miss, with a revival of Stephen King's Creepshow being one of its high points, so hopefully Slasher: Flesh and Blood will follow in its footsteps and not join the ranks of the forgettable.