Top 40 Slasher Movies of All Time - The Risk Taking Cinema That Flourished Horror Genre!

[Music] top 40 slasher movies of all time creeping footsteps menacing silence the of a metal blade blood rushing through your veins as a maniacal monster corners you in a dingy run-down setting sounds familiar one of horror's most reviled and best-selling sub-genres slasher phones are an indulgence in calculated madness that sends chills down your spine through the sheer body count that only multiplies as the movie progresses over the years the silver screen has introduced countless heinous murderers and heretics to our conscience hooking us by the throat with their baffling charisma and luminously tinged convictions but the true horror of a slasher flick doesn't lay in the buckets of fake blood that pool around the victim's body or the jump scares orchestrated by the killer great slasher films are psychological thrillers turned up to 11. they disturb you to the very core mankind's morbid fascination with the act of killing itself is draped with a sickening sense of intimacy that plays on our most primal fears sure most slashers come with a formula a group of misfit teens who are super oblivious and super turned on for most of the film come into contact with a crazy killer and get picked off one by one till the final girl exacts bloody retribution or escapes the killer's grasp but the best slasher phones take that premise and twist it in such gruesome shock-inducing ways that they leave you unsure of your own sense of morality a true iconic slasher film will take you through a range of emotions it will expose your voyeuristic temptations penetrate your fear-prone psyche and drive you insane with the anticipation of death they'll push your mental resistance for traumatic observation to the brink and force you to confront yourself at what point do i turn this off and if i don't what am i if you've managed to find this video we assume you already know the answer to that question so without further ado here's our list of the top 40 slasher movies of all time before we go into our explanations we have a very small request if you like our content please support us by subscribing to our channel this is a small click for you but for us it means a lot thank you let's begin halloween 1978 we thought it would only be appropriate to start off this list with a movie that helped bring the slasher genre to the main stage halloween isn't your typical gore-fest with a threadbare plotline that showcases gratuitous violence it is an eerie silent restrained offering that plays on your heartstrings at each and every tag [Music] director john carpenter sprinkled his soul over this film writing directing and scoring it to menacing perfection with a small budget of three hundred thousand dollars nevertheless carpenter's expert manipulation of american urban myths and celtic festive traditions resulted in this 91 minute long edge of the seat thrill ride that gave america one of its most enduring horror icons we start the story through the eyes of six-year-old michael myers what looks like a tale of innocent negligence turns into bloody murder as the boy takes his own sister's life on halloween night in 1963. fifteen years later now institutionalized myers escapes captivity and returns to haddonfield illinois to embark on yet another spree of murders [Music] halloween is for all intents and purposes the proto slasher flick it sets the template tone and structure for every movie that follows the naivete of the protagonist's friends the killer's stacked body count and the lethal nature of intimacy it's all there jamie lee curtis's debut performance cemented her as one of the all-time great screamers of the genre toying the line between cheer and terror with uncanny brilliance but its true legacy lies in myers the white and expressionless mask that hides the malevolent eyes of the non-feeling entity in human skin remains a mainstay in popular culture till dates as it emphasizes the essence of a true slasher called mythological merciless and utterly sinister wrong turn 2003 not alan d mcilroy's finest moment with a pen but certainly his glorious wrong turn is director rob schmidt's homage to slasher classic the hills have eyes with a dash of the texas chainsaw massacre set against the backdrop of eerie mountainous southeastern america chris flynn a medical student is on his way to an important interview when he's forced to take a wrong turn in order to bypass traffic however his tyres blow out and he stranded alongside a group of teenage campers they soon realized that their accidents were no accidents as they are thrust into survival mode fleeing from three inbred wood dwellers whose eating habits resemble hannibal lecters on the surface this film seems unimaginative it hits the same beats as any typical slasher film the gas station warning the stranded teenagers the cabin in the woods the barbaric killers surprisingly no nudity what makes it terrifying is the brutality and the grotesque features of the mountain men horror makeup master stan winston of friday the 13th fame was pivotal in their creation and has fashioned the stuff of nightmares for this film the men are disgusting to look at emaciated skin teeth sticking out hair disheveled bodies disfigured schmidt's masterful camera gives you shock and awe cinema that manages to convey brutality without actively showing it it is not a unique offering but wrong turn is a tense rapid paced watch that gives you merely seconds to breathe before your heart like the protagonists is on the run again please god this is nightmare on elm street 1984 one two freddy's coming for you wes craven's nightmarish masterpiece rounds out the trilogy of slasher films that brought the entire genre to mainstream popularity carpenter's halloween was a sinister brooding production cunningham's friday the 13th which we'll talk about in a bit was naturally frightening and a nightmare on elm street is a literal fever dream of a movie that draws on some of the most human sources of fear nightmares tina gray has a nightmare about a disfigured man chasing her through a boiler room trying to kill her her friend nancy has the same dream it turns out they are connected and to their horrid realization their nightmares are real robert englund's freddy krueger is a cruel piece of work a near indestructible murderer who exists on the surreal plane of dreams causing unconscious experiences to result in some various serious consequences unlike other slasher antagonists though freddy's face is on the display for the whole of the world to see burnt mortified with an iconic fedora and knifed glove outfit that made him seem equal parts cartoonish and terrifying schmidt's intimate unsettling camera work and appetite for brutality seriously r.i.p glenn left a lasting impression on the slasher genre itself influencing every production since though the sequels would turn the franchise into a self-aware parody of itself craven's original a nightmare on elm street still holds up to its reputation of being one of the finest horror slasher flicks of all time child spray tom holland not that one weaves a capturing tale of murder mysticism and innocence with this iconic slasher movie that can still give kids nightmares about their dolls coming to life co-written by the brilliantly demented mind of don mancini child's play is as much a slasher film as it is a psychological thriller that plays with the dangerous consequences of ignorance and the idea that children don't know any better the movie plays out like a cinematic adaptation of the twilight zone's living doll episode albeit with a much bigger appetite for murder and a ghoulish sense of humor charles lee ray an occultist and murderer is gunned down by deputy mike norris but before he dies he passes his spirit into a good guy doll andy barclay's mother brings this door to him for his birthday but the boy soon discovers his talking companion has a dark secret and no batteries chuck is like fats from the anthony hopkins tara in 1978 psychological horror flick magic if it gained proper sentience and shared a jail cell with freddy krueger he is vulgar vicious and viscerally violent to the point it's comical brad duraff's maniacal obscenity spewing take on this killer doll made it a pop culture icon spawning a multi-million dollar franchise and turning chunky into one of the most recognizable horror characters of all time credit also has to be given to alex vincent who is perhaps one of the more underrated child actors of his era the sense of innocence he brought to andy barclay made chunky's bloodthirsty nature seem that much more terrifying [Applause] hatchet 2006 here's a film that's sure to find an audience at old school grindhouses splat back member alan greene made sure to turn up the gourometer to 20 for 2006's hatchet set in the swamps of new orleans the movie follows the story of a group of teenagers encountering a murderous entity in the woods ben joel moore and marcus dion richmond after attending around the mardi gras celebration decide to go on a haunted swamp tour however when their inexperienced swamp guide leaves their group stranded in the woods they are attacked by a hideous being with superhuman strength and a poncho for gruesome murders hatchet is an unabashed love letter to the golden age of slasher films as it immerses itself from everything that makes a genre so iconic a creepy setting sarcastic criticisms scantily clad women and over-the-top bone-chilling violence cain hodder has portrayed many genre-defying slasher characters in his long career which includes jason and leatherface two of the categories all-time greats but victor crowley tops his list of personal favorite kills r.i.p swamp ride lady the late great john carl buckler made sure that when the audience saw crowley there'd be no room for empathy he is grotesque monstrous looking with bestial ferocity although the titular hatchet only ever kills one person in the film two if you count mr crowley its threatening aura and tragic backstory are ever present in the film's 83-minute run time [Applause] friday the 13th 1980 the progenitor of the killer at the camp troop and the 80s slasher boom every slasher phone since 1980 has tried to imitate or pay homage to friday the 13th in script or spirit you know the story a freaky camp counselling couple gets murdered in the attic and two years later the cycle begins anew [Music] friday the 13th is by no means original in fact lead writer victor miller has admitted in interviews that director and producer sean s cunningham asked him to model the movie after john carpenter's halloween [Music] there are many shots in the film that pay direct homage to it especially the dangling upside down shot it is however unique in that it takes the premise of murder and pushes the envelope further than carpenter ever did where mike myers nefarious activities were always shrouded in shadows friday the 13th gives you gratuitous in-your-face violence with a head spinning take on motherhood and an ending that is the mother of all shock reveals till this day besides being slasher's first female antagonist betsy palmer's mrs vorges oozes eeriness and instability with her very presence that hollow dead stare an unnerving fixed grin horror icon tom savini brought cunningham's bold vision to life with immaculate makeup work just look at a young pre-footloose fame kevin bacon in this grizzly scene beautiful stuff friday the 13th is a landmark film in the history of horror resplendent in its lunacy and important because of its impacts [Music] the texas chainsaw massacre 1974 brutal sadistic macabre adjectives alone cannot do justice to this classic horror film that give audiences over the world a sizable appetite for violence based on the real-life case of the notorious wisconsin murderer and grave robber ed gien the texas chainsaw massacre manipulates the beautiful texan landscape to tell a story of grisly horrid murder and utter depravity the chainsaw wielding utterly sinister leatherface is upstaged in his depravity only by his family whose cedar masochism and thirst for blood literally in grandpa's case unlock a primal fear deep within you despite its freakishly violent plot the texas chainsaw massacre is a rare case of less gore and more terror hooper's clever use of the camera conveys the intended emotion to the audience allowing their imagination to fill in the terrible gaps iconic horror art director robert a burns personally drove around the countryside collecting bones to give the sawyer house its appalling viscerally inhuman furniture that is supposed to resemble game's own home we can only imagine that it looked like one of the seven stages of hell from dante's inferno irl the psycho-inspired soundtrack layers tension upon its already tense atmosphere creating the perfect environment for you to scream along with marilyn burns's sally at the sheer prospect of being consumed by a family of praised cannibals [Music] the cabin in the woods 2012 joss whedon and drew goddard managed to pull off references to nearly every defining horror movie in the self-aware embodiment of the slasher genre that offers up equal amounts of gags and gore dana jules curt holden and marty decide to go on a vacation in the titular cabin in the woods and be nice to them they are being manipulated by a group of underground scientists and government agents who are betting on the peculiar ways in which the teams might die what ensues is a hilarious borderline parody that is a total upheaval of every slasher trope known to us in one daring act of defiance that taunts the entire genre into growing up everything about this film works in contradiction and in conjunction with our understanding of slasher films and this oxymoronic dissonance is what makes it work the stereotypical group roles are in conflict here kurt the jock is into philosophy marty the fool is actually a smart stoner the final girl is promiscuous the list is practically endless gary and steve's organization is forcing the teams to go through the exact structure of a slasher flick betting on which kind of entity will kill them evil deads deadites hellraisers selobites the shining twins or something entirely different the cabin in the woods bolts through its story at a relentless pace building upon its last punchline with a layer of tension-tinged violence that doesn't let up until it finally crescendos and collapses into itself with a cocktail grin on its face [Music] candyman 1992 from the grossly macabre reminder british horror icon clive barker comes this ominous tale of vengeful spirits and forbidden love yes love for all of barker's work centers on the idea the dualities are in fact two halves of the same coin pain is pleasure hell is heaven and insanity is a mark of genius this chilling juxtaposition of diametrically opposing concepts is a hallmark of barker's fiction evident in his cult classic franchise hellraiser and this movie candyman is barker's take on the bloody mary myth realized as a biting commentary on deep societal issues like race and taboo subjects especially sex at first glance it feels like your typical slasher movie the ghost of a man wrongfully killed because of his race with a hooked hand and a personal vendetta is summoned when you take his name five times while looking in the mirror when you take off the veil of superficial understanding candyman reveals itself to you as a menacing romance that tantalizes your senses by mixing intimacy with intimidation the candyman's presence is hypnotic for helen literally to hear actor virginia madsen say it and draws her into the sick reenactment of his previous life where he was skilled for loving a white woman through helen his legend is both validated and propagated as we see at the end of the movie the entire movie has an art film aesthetic tinged with a healthy dose of jump scares and fascinating tension tony todd's hulking presence and a soothing baritone convey the true menace of the candyman he is mesmerizing disorienting and sinfully addictive just like the [Music] hey get that movie out here come on get it out sleep away camp 1983. three years after the genre defining friday the 13th came out robert hiltzig took us through another camp mystery albeit the shocking twist in the tale is single-handedly responsible for making sleep-away camp a contender to the top 10 camp slashers of all time which might be a separate list in itself wink wink our story follows young angela baker a shy and introverted teenage girl who has a traumatic past and lives with her aunt martha angela is troubled with a capital t she's submissive silent and gets picked on literally all of the time seriously camp arrowak is not a camping experience we'd recommend what with the bullying campers and cooks with a rather disconcerting view to its children angela's tormentors get their comeuppance though in the form of a grisly murder as a movie sleep-away camp plays out like a calculated horror film that builds layers upon layers of tension and intrigue with some truly ott death scenes that make it borderline comical it manages to rope you back in and throw your understanding of the entire story for a spin with its ending that still stands up as one of the most shocking disheartening and graphic conclusions to a horror film ever [Music] [Applause] psycho 1960 ah yes the granddaddy of all horror films ever if this was a list about movies that defined horror cinema and were closely tied to the birth of slasher films psycho would easily be on top alfred hitchcock took paramount to task for this one and he ultimately succeeded by creating a masterpiece of visual storytelling that is being dissected by film critics till this day six decades after its release psycho is a cornerstone of the genre like a game of thrones is to fantasy june 2021 is to science fiction and scream was to slasher comedies except unlike all of the aforementioned titles hitchcock manages to give this proto-slasher flick icon status with no savagery and hershey's chocolate syrup go look it up escaped fugitive marion arrives at a rundown motel to escape the law but everything goes awry when the proprietor's mother disapproves of her staying there what follows is an exercise in shock and awe theater whose frantic pacing and twist in the end catches every audience member unaware anthony perkins embodies the essence of the word unhinged with his stern in the film many have tried and failed to recreate the unwitting aura of terror that norman bates unleashed on the big screen bernard hermann's excellent score is as integral to portraying bates insanity as it is to the film's success his menacing melodies give psycho a pervading sense of doom that is hard to shake off even long after you've seen the movie eerie unnerving and utterly disturbing psycho is a timeless gem that has served as a direct inspiration for generations of filmmakers and slasher movies alike high tension 2003 this 2003 offering from splat back member alexandria is a love letter to 70s and 80s flasher flicks set against the beautiful backdrop of southern france best friends mari and alex visit the latter's parents house for the weekend to study and have a sleepover their innocent plans turn into a gig their innocent plans turn into a deadly game of survival when a serial killer attacks alex's home murdering her parents and giving chase to alex and mari alex ends up getting captured by the killer and mari pursues them trying to rescue her best friend the ending of high tension is one of the most jarring exhibitions of the unreliable protagonist being played out on screen true to his affiliation alexandra ensures that the action takes center stage in the film the gruesome death of mari's father is just the first in a string of graphic murders that fuel this gothic european gore fest the death of the gas station owner is alexandra's homage to that iconic scene from the shining with every passing minute the tension keeps rising with a stellar first tower that races by the twist in the end might be cheesy for some but the sheer terror of the reveal was enough to make us renounce love for a long long time mind-numbingly violent and sickeningly freaky high tension brings up the bloodier side of the new french extremity movement to a mortifying effect [Music] the prowler 1981 joseph zeto is remembered in horror circles as the man who helmed friday the 13th for the final chapter but his foray into the genre came with 1981's the prowler a decent by the book slasher flick that entertains with our defending aficionados the movie begins with the all too familiar setup of the first dance in dash years the spiteful serial killer in this case the titular prowler and his pitchfork of doom embark on a spree of teenage murders that showcase some of tom cevini's most blood curling horror effects to date seriously go watch that opening kill and then watch every kill because they are all so good it is pure slasher indulgence with savini himself considering it to be his best work period the premise had an inherent undercurrent of tension because the idea that a world war ii u.s war veteran could be an ethereal serial killer was a big no-no back in the 80s the commentary on the mistreatment of enlisted soldiers sets the bloody stage for savage retribution that ends with the tip of the hat to carry hello amanda you don't know me but i know you i want to play a game saw 2004 do you want to play a game these days he's directing big budget blockbusters like furious 7 and aquaman but splatback og james wan started off his career with slasher where insidious and conjuring use overtly supernatural elements to invoke fear his debut form slices away at the very fabric of morality saw centers around two men adam and lawrence trapped in a dilapidated bathroom with a dead body in their midst a bag with two hacksaws and a creepy tape recorder the recorder had instructions for them lawrence must kill adam before 6 pm or his family will die lawrence immediately recognizes the man as the jigsaw killer a sadistic serial killer with a twisted sense of morality who tests his victim's wills through these games what happens next is a medley of lunacy hysteria and cold-blooded violence graphic incredibly tense and gruesome with its skills soar's originality and unique mystery thriller vibe pointedly carries you through its 103 minute run time delivers immensely on the mystery solved and gives you one of the best closing shots in a slasher flick ever [Music] the burning 1981 if halloween set down the template for slasher films then friday the 13th gave it its spiritual home filling drive-ins and grind houses with gory unhinged b-movies defiling the good name of summer camps in the name of shock and value entertainment 1981's the burning however was a cut above the rest it lures you into a sense of false security with its first half that plays out almost like a summer camp comedy complete with elaborate heart-stopping pranks that foreshadow some of the character's fates playing on real-life new york city urban legends the film's leading antagonist is tropsy a deranged burn victim who was presumed dead and has now returned to terrorize camp stonewater and his promiscuous bullish crop of campers it's a classic 80s gore fest restrained in the first act and unleashed in the second our favorite scene has to be when cropsy attacks an entire raft full of teenagers with a pair of gardening shares comical yes graphic iconic without a doubt scream 1996 do you like scurry movies an iconic line from an iconic film that single-handedly revived slasher flicks in the 90s while taking constant jabs of the genre in a sort of self-aware game of survival and ghastly teenage humor wes craven's contributions to horror are foundational so it only makes sense that he would be the one to thoroughly deconstruct them and yet at no point does scream feel anything less than a visceral symphony of violence the crossover cast features inspired performances from all players including a bitchier than monika kourtney cox the affable david r arquev and drew barrymore for the most memorable opening kill of all time the protagonists are well aware of the do's and don'ts of a horror movie and yet actively choose to engage in them anyway from drinking to getting it on to saying i'll be right back they're smug self-assurance is thrown in their faces with some of the most gut-wrenchingly bloody knife work in 90s cinema craven's ghostface killer is both a trivia question and answer for horror die hards who know what he'll do before he does it and are still left horrified by his sheer savagery smart sensual and funnier than it has any right to be scream marks a crucial turning point in the history of horror arriving at a time when the slasher genre had become stale and becoming its sole saviour my bloody valentine 1981 there's a movie for every festive occasion in existence christmas halloween and thanksgiving have a litany of horror movies attached to them but we have to admit we really love this cheesy valentine's day murder mystery not that it is much of a mystery mind you this movie is an outlandish cross between a teenage rom-com love triangle and a psychological thriller that somehow ended up in a creepy power to laced mine and we love every second of it my bloody valentine takes a lot of notes from friday the 13th the place and date that it all happened setting the raunchy teenagers the vengeful masked killer and jump scares and blood apprentice it's a shame that the miner isn't as fondly remembered as michael myers or jason voorhees because his drip was rad af and if you want a real taste of how bloody valentine's parties and valentine's bluffs can get make sure you watch the uncut version released in 2009. audiences in 1981 who thought this film was gory with all its edits would be rushing out of the theater if they saw this there's a scene where our resident maniacal miner turns a copulating couple into a rather morbid spinning top and another victim into a literal faucet yikes even the ending is queasy to watch as the miner after being exposed straight up 127 hours in his hand stumbling away and yelling out of the title of the movie incoherently as his crazed laughter drops the curtain on the movie [Music] you're next 2011 no not the catchphrase of the famous pro wrestling goldberg although to be fair the killers in this movie do use it as their calling card your next is an oddball in the horror pantheon it's a heart racing thriller that is based at bret neck speed and manages to subvert the biggest trope in slasher films in the most clever way we've seen so far erin accompanies her boyfriend crispin to his home for a family reunion and things seem fishy from the get-go matters take a turn for the worse when the family is attacked in what seems like a home invasion it quickly reveals itself as a far more sinister plot if the story seems familiar to you hardcore slasher fans that's because it's modeled after the infamous 1971 yellow a bay of blood from the gory deaths to the murderer's motive right down to the ending of the phone the erratic impactful camera work conveys brutality in its rawest form director adam wingard is truly indie at heart and lets his actors improvise a lot of the dialogue in his movies which ended up giving us exceptional moments of black comedy like the crossbow exchange between crispian and kelly crispian what do your shoulders have to do with your legs and the fastest kelly he has a arrow in his back crispin stop yelling at me kelly sensational stuff your next's final girl is actually the best equipped one out of the entire lot specifically trained in survival tactics to really drive home her unique trope subverting existence dark bloody and comically effective your next is essential viewing i know what you did last summer 1997 kevin williamson pulled off the one-two punch of his life with this film where 1996's scream saw his pen systematically deconstruct the slasher genre with a sarcastic satirical grin 1997's i know what you did last summer is a full-fledged slasher movie that evokes the spirit of prom night in more ways than one set in the town of southport north carolina the movie follows the story of four rowdy teenagers as usual who are trying to keep a terrible secret hidden from the entire town that very secret comes back to haunt them in the form of a vengeful hook-wielding killer whose death threats inspired the movie's title this movie is memorable for two things featuring two of the mystery gang and all of the screams ever props to jennifer love hewitt and sarah michelle gellar for likely bruising their vocal cords delivering some of the most ott screams to ever grace the horror genre simple yet sadistic i know what you did last summer capitalizes off on the buzz generated by scream in glorious fashion capping off williamson's duology of modern slasher icons that pushed the genre into yet another boom period intruder 1989 released at a time when enthusiasm for slasher films was warning intruder sees director scott spiegel capture the gory essence of the genre and distill it within a singularly odd location the supermarket as a long-time associate of horror comedy icon sam raimi who stars in a brief cameo in the movie alongside his brother spiegel has more experience drawing laughs with his ingenuity than scream he was the co-writer of evil dead 2 after all and responsible for some of bruce campbell's most iconic dialogues from it fun fact he's also in the movie in a blink and you'll miss it cameo towards the end that perception quickly faded away after intruder hit the screens the night shift employees of a soon to be closed supermarket are tasked with marking down all their stock in a single night cashier jennifer's ex-boyfriend craig heckles the employees in his attempts to win her back but after he relents they start getting killed one by one intruder runs the risk of coming off as a cheap limitation with a half-hearted attempt at conjuring a sense of mystery and obvious red herrings plaguing it but what it lacks in sincerity it more than makes up with its goal it's not baffling to think that this movie has an r rating considering it has perhaps one of the most graphic slasher scenes of all time each kill escalates the stakes of violence and we are left peeping through our fingers nauseous at the sight unfolding in front of us it's a particularly squeamish watch that is made all the more queasy by its immaculate practical effects [Music] terrifier 2016 if you ever needed proof that pennywise the clown isn't actually all that bad clarifier is your evidence director damian leone brings his original creation to the big screen in this 2016 slasher that has all you can take buffet a brutal death after brutal death the movie begins with a chilling suit up scene that makes arthur fleck look sane in comparison we see the man watching an interview on his tv that features the survivor of a mutilating attack two friends tara and dawn leave a halloween party and head to a pincerio where they encountered a jury clown who seems to be into my mart and has a very voyeuristic vibe about him that unsettles terror the pair is left stranded when they find their tyres slashed and are soon thrust into a cat and mouse chase with that crazy clown terrifier is a deliciously malevolent slasher that makes up for its lack of any serious plot motivations with shocking violence and the efforts of a single cast member david howard thornton's performance as art will knock the wind out of you and stuff it back in with a chainsaw as it stares in your eyes his animated cartoonish body language only serves to intensify art's menacing aura as he hacks and slashes his way through the cast with a demented grin stuck on his face the fact that art is a mime is never forgotten he expresses all of his emotions without saying a single word which has a hypnotizing effect on the viewer and then there are the kills gory somehow fails to do justice to the sheer savagery perpetrated by art seriously this movie has changed the channel's level of depraved and does not give us the courtesy of hiding it unsettling bloody and oh so compelling art the clown is a modern slasher icon and will be remembered as one of the genre's standout villains for years to come [Music] the fun house 1981 there's something supremely unsettling about toby hooper's funhouse that carries the entire movie's shock factor through simple aesthetic great performances and masterful camera work hooper exposes the cd underbelly of a travelling circus or carnival as is the case in the movie and manipulates the environment to weave a deeply unnerving narrative where it's difficult to gauge where the freak show ends and the carnival begins our story follows a gaggle of teenagers brimming with chaotic energy who enter the dark ride called the fun house after the carnival has closed down it turns out the darkness is hiding more than just scary exhibits as their night of adventure turns into a quest for survival it's as if the protagonists have stepped into a literal fever dream and the doobie they sparked up before hitting the show didn't exactly help things the cinematography of this movie juxtaposes the cheerful nature of a carnivore with a macabre backdrop of the film the magician's star attraction is a gruesome sword act the fun house is a spooky ride filled with witches and skeletons and so on the only thing that outclasses the horribly disfigured face of the deformed creature is actor wayne doba's portrayal of it his frenetic hyper-kinetic energy invoking a deep-set primal fear of the unnatural the fun house is a fun watch no pun intended that takes its audience on a thrill ride and often goes overlooked for some head-scratching reasons who lives in these ones waiting for newcastle the final girls 2015 the best way to describe this 2015 meta slasher flick is if david from pleasantville was a fan of scream had romantic notions like tom from purple rose of cairo and a loving relationship with his mother allah terms of endearment the final girls focuses on the titular final girls of this 2015 offering max cartwright and her scream queen mom amanda the movie begins with a failed audition where amanda muses to her daughter that she seems to be destined to be relegated to slasher movies fast forward 3 years and max is mourning her now dead mother she goes to watch her mom's cult classic movie camp bloodbath and its sequel with her friends but the movie theater is set ablaze and the group escapes by tearing through the screen only they have somehow been transported into the movie itself over the course of its events the teenagers tried to apprehend the movie's antagonist billy while trying to keep all other characters alive through extreme and often hilarious means despite its fourth wall shattering narrative the final girl retains enough elements of the slasher genre to qualify it as one especially the countless outrageous tripping scenes that attempt to lure the killer towards our self-aware protagonists funny gruesome and oddly heartwarming at the same time this movie will remind you that though the source material might be intense most slasher flicks aren't to be taken as seriously as they make themselves out to be or perhaps they are maniac 1980 the trick to make a movie play out as intended isn't as contingent on the background score or the acting it's the atmosphere that it generates with its visual aesthetic that sells it to the audience by that metric maniac is an ugly voyeuristic watch whose creepy stalker-like aura captivates and reviles us simultaneously shot entirely in gorilla style and without permits the movie has this air of unsettling sleaze about it that carefully builds itself into the narrative and the character's backstories not since 1960 psycho have you met a man so grotesquely hung up on his mom's transgressions and the comparisons with norman bates do not end there joe spinells frank zuto is a violent enigma a greasy schizophrenic man whose perversions are too mortifying for mere mortals to behold we see the movie through him and are forced to ask in his gruesome lunacy as he debases women and dresses mannequins with their hairs talking to these inanimate ladies like he's at daycare and in need of a hot chocolate it is possibly spinel's greatest performance as a leading man and that alone makes it worth a watch of course no slasher classic is complete without gore and horror icon tom savini executes yet another masterpiece of splatter effects with maniac using a point-blank sawed-off shotgun blast for a particularly grisly scene that even he thinks might have been taking things too far [Applause] black christmas 1974 bob clark's beloved a christmas story is a staple of our annual christmas block over on tbs and given the heartwarming journey that the film is it absolutely baffles us that the same man who gave us the oh fudge moment created the formative slasher form the ultimate prototype that came to define an entire genre and still stands up almost 50 years later black christmas john carpenter must have been taking detailed notes when he watched this film because a lot of its storytelling elements verbal and visual would inspire halloween clark introduces the concept of the killer's point of view here which lends an air of surreal malevolence to the movie after all if you're seeing it through the killer's eyes surely you must feel their actions just as well as they play it out black christmas is like a guidebook for slasher films the deranged murderer who's out to write the perceived wrong the group of hormonal teenagers a sorority house in this case the proverbial final go it all started here another thing that directly found its way into halloween is the phone call scene where our final girl's friend gets killed on call hello olivia hussey and jamie lee curtis clark does a wonderful job of building suspense revealing only parts of the killer's physical appearance and never disclosing his identity or intentions thus feeding into the most human instinct there is the fear of the unknown who can forget the sheer terror they felt when hassie's jess gets a call from the police station informing her that the obscene calls she's been getting are from inside the house black christmas keeps you locked in your seats transfixed as you try to figure out the mystery of the killer's identity all the while squirming in your seats because of all the tension and deaths that take place in front of your eyes [Music] happy death day 2017. imagine if phil connors was being pursued by ghostface in his time loop you'd basically be watching a gender reversed version of what unfolds in this christopher landon directed 2017 slasher comedy an eclectic mashup of scream and groundhog day happy death day sees us following a day in the life of theresa tree klebman except at the end of a raunchy profanity-laced day she is killed by a masked murderer things get bizarre when tree wakes up and finds herself back in the bed of a one night stand from the previous day she's stuck in a time loop and the only thing she can do is die repeatedly in an increasingly funnier and more frustrating fashion now she must figure out how to escape the loop and trap her assailant all the while reliving her past transmissions towards various people and trying to reinvent herself granted as far as slashers go it's kind of tame not too gory not over the top violence in fact if anything the deaths escalate into a parody of the genre almost what makes this movie so god damn addicted is jessica roth's lee wild uninhibited vulnerable and confident at the same time tree's multifaceted personality makes you genuinely feel for her so much so that you actively root for her towards the end happy death day breezes through its 96 minute run time with enough sass and chick-flick-esque montages that keep you entertained while satiating your bloodlust well kind of anyway freaky 2020 now this by christopher london is a slasher movie while his last slasher comedy was more of the latter with freaky landon doubles down on his unique brand of franchise mashups and brings all the gold our story is set in the fictional town of blissfield with a serial killer who has done his slasher homework seriously in the opening scene itself he is able to reference halloween friday the 13th and to scream while coming up with perhaps the most original opening kill we've seen so far remind us not to drink directly from a bottle ever again things go all freaky friday when the same killer stabs young millie kessler with an enchanted knife that causes them to swap bodies now stuck in the butcher's body milly must figure out a way to get her body back while trying to thwart this mad murderer's rampage despite its comical premise freaky gets a lot of things right the gender dysphoric experience that milly goes through is a real expression of landon's closeted childhood and the movie handles the subjects of gender fluidity and sexuality with exceptional grace and sensitivity not to say it's devoid of massive sassy gay energy looking at you josh vince vaughn and catherine newton deliver stellar performances as the butcher and milli respectively effortlessly channeling each other's mannerisms while poking fun at their own physical limitations and newfound abilities and as we've mentioned before london really brings the goal in this film especially in mr bernardi's death scene where he recalls fake blood shooting up to the ceiling of the set during filming which was at least 50 feet high funny endearing and garishly brutal freaky is perhaps the most millennial slasher flick of all time and that is a great thing stage fright aka aquarius 1987. try as you might you won't find any gallery out there that is as american as michael sawavi's directorial debut before stage fright suavi had been the protege of giallo and horror icon dario argento whose gory contributions to cinema inspired an entire genre across the ocean as it turns out the master taught his student well stitch fright has all the shocking violence of a classic argento production with a fresh script and an intimate setting that allowed swarvey's movie to supersede his mentors through sheer suspense and claustrophobia the movie is set in one location for most of its runtime a dark eerie theater where a troop is getting ready to perform the night out conducting night rehearsals to perfect their performances unbeknow is to them a psychotic killer has broken in and is planning to turn their production a tad bloodier than expected the owl masked killer irving wallace is genuinely unsettling showing early yellow levels of enthusiasm for gleeful brutality swave's fluid camera work and unique set-piece designs lend an aura of surreal terror to the movie that makes you wish it were phantasmagoric though slow-paced at first stage fright turns downright frantic after the first kill occurs that visual of the cast members lifeless bodies being set up around stage is bone chilling and just one bead on the string of horrors that is stage fright [Laughter] behind the mask the rise of leslie vernon 2006. if the daily show existed in a universe where mainstream horror icons were real this movie might have been one of their best field pieces and they've had some doozies over the years there have been many attempts to replicate screams genre deconstructing hilarity but this mockumentary style howler directed by scott glossaman leaps beyond those comparisons and creates a trope exposing monolith that has genuinely some of the best black comedy bits ever seen in a slasher movie in glosso man's universe notorious serial killers jason jorge and freddy krueger are legends and not the urban kind it turns out they were real and their activities directly led to serial killing becoming a famous occupation in the eyes of one leslie vernon to help immortalize his legend he allows journalists tayla gentry and her documentary crew to film him in the days leading up to his final showdown what follows is a gut-wrenchingly hilarious series of interviews complete with a training montage that answers some of the most obvious questions one might have after watching a slasher film such as how do they always catch up with their victim why does the killer never ever seem to die and are there head scratchers that receive straightforward answers which inadvertently evoke peels of laughter nathan basil's commitment to the charming aloof yet magically impulsive leslie saves this movie from feeling like a complete parody of the genre the intensity he shows in certain scenes is pure slash of fear from start to finish behind the mask is a biting commentary on copycat murderers and slasher movies while being an exceptionally effective one itself alice sweet alice 1976 immediately chilling with his religious iconography alice sweet alice follows the story of the titular alice the older of two siblings in a family deeply entrenched in catholicism alice is a troubled child who often pranks her sibling because she feels underappreciated but her harmless play seemingly turns sinister as her younger sister karen turns up dead at her communion what follows is a classic whodunnit that casts doubt over children's innocence and touches upon the dangers of fervent religiosity as well as familial dysfunction in terms of structure alone director alfred soule has effectively created the most galio west american movie to date both in terms of its mystery and shocking violence at many points in the film we are forced to ask ourselves is alice really mentally unstable or is something larger at play here in terms of its moody gothic aesthetic and recurring motives soul stated that he drew inspiration from don't look now specifically citing the yellow raincoat of our plastic masked killer with a cast of thoroughly debossed characters blade 270s perfection alice sweetalis functions as a commentary on fanaticism and a gratifying early slasher flick that doesn't have a single frame of disappointment pieces pieces it's exactly what you think it is just the kind of advertising that drive-in and grindhouse regulators love seeing and believe you us the movie delivers on this brutally honest tagline we can't decide if this movie is a sly parody of slasher movies or a superlative expression of one either way director human picker simon certainly knows how to deliver the gore we start our story with a rather perverted young man assembling a naughty puzzle his mother reprimands him rightly so and we the audience prepare to watch this child get the ass whooping of his life imagine our horror then when the little psycho gives the monty python black knight treatment to his own mother with decidedly fewer laughs years later he re-emerges to terrorize the teenage women of his town what follows is a disconcerting bloodbath complete with lost limbs statutous violence and a jigsaw puzzle that is involved in one of the most viscerally disgusting chakras in slasher history filthy and over-animated in every sense of the term bruce ploitation legend bruce lee's hilarious take on a cool fruit professor is one of the most cartoonish things ever pieces will give you a slice of what old school american grind houses were about in all their gory glory [Music] the slumber party massacre 1982 what started off as a parody of the slasher genre evolved into an earnest blood soaked power drill wielding tail that chips away at your defenses with every kill that occurs amy holden jones and rita mae brown helmed perhaps the first female directed slasher movie till that point with pose and purpose using the antagonist as an allegory for virgin women's fear of intimacy and violence against women from an aesthetic standpoint the movie is a total 80s cheese fest what with the hipster chicks horny jocks and shocking amounts of nudity but beyond the skin show lies a very real threat to the girls lives in the form of michael vilella's rust thorne whose sinister voyeuristic cage draws out a disgusting sense of violation from your being as he follows his lovers with a weasel-like grin on his face and watery eyes lit up with malice what brief lines he does have takes the tension that already exists to disturbing places despite its fairly predictable plot don't get it twisted this movie is fine chillingly unsettling a thriller ride from start to finish with a bittersweet ending that is rather uncommon in slasher movies [Music] the hills have eyes 1977. we've talked a lot about wes craven on this list and that's with good reason the man who's practically synonymous with horror and slasher movies in particular having created two of his most iconic franchises in a nightmare on elm street and stream but neither film is able to build the tension quite like the hills have eyes bob carter and his suburban family are on a road trip vacation to los angeles when they stop at fred's oasis to refuel the aging thread urges them to stick to the road but bob ignores his ramblings as if on cue the trailer crashes in a ditch which leaves the family stranded in the cold nevada desert with something evil lurking in the hills craven was directly influenced by the texas chainsaw massacre when writing this film which is evident in its premise and set designs ttcm art director robert a burns helmed this project as well and recycled several props from the film that's about where the comparisons end though the hills have eyes isn't as much a slasher as it is a philosophical treatise on societal isolation and the innate savagery of mankind craven took the scottish legend of sony bean and spun it to ask the audience the question where is the line between civilized life and primal barbarity how thin is it throughout the film we see the carter stopped like easy prey they are toyed with ridiculed and violated at such an unrestrained pace that it's hard to think of them as anything but gore fodder and yet by the time the movie ends we can't really say that the good guys did the right thing we are not sure and that is the beauty of this film it throws morality out of the window and makes you question your very conscience which is a nuance you once you repeated a lot over the years a scintillating slow burner that escalates into a morbid crescendo the hills of eyes is yet another foundational project that helped cement craven's legacy as a master of horror [Music] tenebrae 1982 does brutal violence require a reason or is violence itself a sort of primal instinct that needs to be satisfied in order to maintain our senate tenebre opens with a narration about finding freedom in taking life a morbid prospect but one that has found frequent mention in gallo legend dario argento's movies and tenebre is no exception peter neal an american horror novelist is visiting italy to promote his latest work the titular novel tenebre neon stories are rife with graphic violence and misogyny that sell them based on shock value alone before they land in rome however a murder occurs that mirrors one of the kills from neil's novel over the course of the movie we see a gruesome mystery unfold with lives taken limbs scattered and blood splattered all over the walls in the case of one particular scene quite literally neil and his companions must figure out a way to stop the killings from taking place this is one of those rare cases where publicity will fail to live up to its reputation of being great all the time they are left with a grim twist in the tail when they realize apprehending their apparent killer didn't stop the killings amidst its gory carnage and buckets of fake arterial spray tenebre tells a chilling tale of psychological breakdowns and how one bad day can shatter your very understanding of life morality isn't as black and white as we might tend to think it's a full-fledged monochrome chart with varying shades of gray we just happen to swing from one end of the spectrum to the other but the decision is hours and hours alone and argento captures those moral crises with a lens that lends an art house vibe to this dialogue classic [Music] torso 1973 created in the same vein as an argento obara production albeit with much more restraint torso sees director sergio martino deliver a more classic canyon peppered with elements that would go on to define the slasher genre following the deaths of several university students in perugia jane and her friends are thrown into the line of fire when the killer decides to come for them next he seems to have a particularly gruesome sign off removing the movie's namesake from the bodies of young women torso is as exploitative as the title sounds with plenty of nudity and a hedonistic bohemian attitude that gives it an undeniable aura of captivating tension martino manages to give even the most lurid of his scenes a certain artistic flair enough to keep your attention as he lures you in for a thoroughly disturbing ride the killer's stocking wrapped face with its dead soulless eyes reaches into your throat and pulls fear out of your mouth he's got this feral intensity that is as unhinged as a shark that smelled blood in its waters one particular scene stands out as an early freeze frame moment in slasher history where our final girl helplessly watches her friends die at the hands of the killer transfixed in horror and unable to even respond it is by no means perfect martino does need help to step up his foreshadowing game real quick but torso is an important watch for any self-respecting slasher stand worth their sword [Music] april fool's day 1986. you can either call this movie the greatest practical joke of all time or the worst attempt at parodying slasher movies to date and honestly we won't blame you as the name of the movie might suggest the teenagers of this screamer are on a vacation during the weekend leading up to first april they arrive at their destination a private island and are given the traditional april fools greeting by muffy skip's cousin and the heiress of the island muffy plays out a string of practical jokes of the group some hilarious some slightly harmful but as they settle in they start getting attacked one after the other and the guests wonder if their host is keeping a dark secret from them until the movie ends and then you face the dilemma we mentioned at the start of this entry another thing that sets it apart is the goal or lack thereof walton was extremely careful not to turn the movie into a snuff fest which resulted in it being run multiple times on late night cable blocks and developing a healthy cult following regardless of what you might think about the plot twist go watch it now if you can it cannot be denied that april fool's day has a certain eclectic charm to it that makes it worth watching night 1980 while most slashers forced michael myers tended to commit bloody murder for nothing more than kicks it wasn't always that way many early 80s slasher flicks had a touching story of retribution at its score which ended up making them all the more disturbing after all what does it say about you if you end up sympathizing with the killer nowhere is this question more pressing than in this 1980 film that features the original scream queen jamie lee curtis venturing out into yet another blood soaked journey that influenced the genre for almost two decades all the way up to 1997's i know what you did last summer four adolescent friends unwittingly caused the death of one of their friends and vow to never talk about it six years later their past catches up with them as they are systematically marked for death by an unseen killer who proceeds to exact brutal retribution prom night is a flawed film no doubt about that some of the segments in this movie play out with robotic monotony that is due in part to the repetitive structure of most slashers but where the film is good it's great eddie benton's wendy gives the genre one of its most iconic chase scenes till dates an eight-minute stretch that sees wendy running for her life through the dingy corridors of a dark rumesque high school and putting curtis to shame with her hysterical screaming prom night is marked by exhilarating highs and deflating lows luckily for us it has enough of the former to bulldoze the latter and give you an entertaining package of surprisingly meaningful carnage silent night deadly night 1984 and we round out this list with what isn't perhaps the most memorable christmas murder movie of all time but it should be because it gave kids the unvarnished truth about christmas santa ain't real and even if he is you should definitely stay away from his naughty list five-year-old billy chapman is visiting his catatonic grandfather with his parents when the old man suddenly springs into action and warns billy to be good or else he'll be punished by santa she's santa claus tonight you better run boy you better run for your life hours later his father and mother are gunned down in cold blood by a man in a santa costume leaving billy with deep-seated trauma three years later eight-year-old billy's horrifying christmas drawing prompts orphanage handler sister margaret to petition mother superior for help which she delivers in the form of drooling punishments reinforced with puritanical beliefs of good and evil fast forward 10 years and a now adult billy works at a cheer-filled toy store but christmas week and an infatuation with his co-worker kick his ptsd into overdrive the events that take place next are equal parts gut-wrenching and heart-rending for 45 minutes director charles e cellier jr makes us empathize with billy and his hardships after that 45th minute mark he flips the narrative at head spinning rate to create one of the most iconic slasher villains of all time billy chaplin is ruthless psychotic absolutely primal with his brutality and worst of all he is relatable when it first came out network executives and critics alike lost their absolute minds over the prospect that santa claus could be depicted as something evil but here we are almost 40 years after it was released and silent night deadly night still stands up to its reputation as one of the finest slasher movies of all time the same can't be said about the sequels though and that is a damn shame and if you liked our content don't forget to leave a like and subscribe to us if you haven't already have a good one and be safe thanks everyone [Music] you

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Length: 62min 5sec (3725 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 24 2022