Slashers

 

“Please, mother”

Slasher films are the simplest form of horror.  If one is being charitable, they can be thought of as pure fables, stories of good and evil basic to our subconscious.  Less charitably, they are empty, soulless stretches of celluloid, that have no purpose but cheap scares; they are pornography with death replacing sex (do not take that as a criticism of porn).

The formula sets a human-like psychopath, often masked, after a group of pretty people who he kills in more and more elaborate ways with handheld weapons.  For the sub-sub-genre of Teen Slashers, add to the formula secluded locations where each sexually-active teen is killed until only one non-sexual female is left.  The greatest flaw of the Slasher sub-genre is how closely its films stick to the formula.  The best of them violate the structure.  My choices for the best: Psycho, Candyman, The Fog, The Silence of the Lambs, Final Destination, Red Dragon, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Sleepaway Camp.

My  Slasher reviews:

April Fool's Day Bay of Blood The Boogeyman Candyman Candyman 2 Child's Play Child's Play 2 Dressed to Kill Final Destination Final Destination 2 The Fog* Freddy Vs. Jason Friday the 13th Friday the 13th Part V Friday the 13th Part VI Halloween Halloween 2 Halloween 4

Halloween 5 Halloween 6 Halloween 7 (H2O) Halloween 8 The Hitcher The Horror Show House of 1000 Corpses I Know What You Did Last Summer Jason X Killer Party Leprechaun Leprechaun 2 Leprechaun 6 Long Time Dead Manhunter A Nightmare on Elm Street A Nightmare on Elm Street 2

A Nightmare On Elm Street 5 A Nightmare On Elm Street 7 Nine Lives Office Killer Prom Night Psycho Psycho 3 Psycho (1998) Scream Scream 2 Session 9 Sleepaway Camp Sleepaway Camp II Sleepaway Camp III Terror Train The Texas Chain Saw Massacre The Texas Chainsaw Massacre '03

 

---

 

Sorted by year:

1960s & 1970s
Psycho (1960)
Bay of Blood (1971)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Halloween (1978)
1980s
The Boogeyman (1980)
Dressed to Kill (1980)
The Fog (1980)
Friday the 13th ( 1980)
Prom Night (1980)
Terror Train (1980)
Halloween 2 (1981)
Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Friday the 13th Part V (1984)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 (1985)
April Fool's Day (1986)
Friday the 13th Part VI (1986)
The Hitcher (1986)
Killer Party (1986)
Manhunter (1986)
Psycho 3 (1986)
Child's Play (1988)
Halloween 4 (1988)
Sleepaway Camp II (1988)
Halloween 5 (1989)
The Horror Show (1989)
A Nightmare On Elm Street 5 (1989)
Sleepaway Camp III (1989)
1990s
Child's Play 2 (1990)
Candyman (1992)
Leprechaun (1993)
Leprechaun 2 (1994)
A Nightmare On Elm Street 7 (1994)
Candyman 2 (1995)
Halloween 6 (1995)
Scream (1996)
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Office Killer (1997)
Scream 2 (1997)
Halloween 7 (H2O) (1998)
Psycho (1998)
2000s
Final Destination (2000)
Jason X (2001)
Session 9 (2001)
Halloween 8 (2002)
Long Time Dead (2002)
Nine Lives (2002)
Final Destination 2 (2003)
Freddy Vs. Jason (2003)
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
Leprechaun 6 (2003)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)