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Slasher film

March 18, 2023

A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc.[1] Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic term for any horror film involving murder, film analysts cite an established set of characteristics which set slasher films apart from other horror subgenres, such as monster movies, splatter films, supernatural and psychological horror films.[2]

Critics cite the Italian giallo films and psychological horror films such as Peeping Tom (1960) and Psycho (1960) as early influences.[3][4] The genre hit its peak between 1978 and 1984 in an era referred to as the "Golden Age" of slasher films. Notable slasher films include The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Black Christmas (1974), Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th (1980), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Child's Play (1988), Candyman (1992), Scream (1996) and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). Many slasher films released decades ago continue to attract cult followings.[5] The slasher canon can be divided into three eras: the classical (1974–1993), the self-referential (1994–2000) and the neoslasher cycle (2001–2013).[6]

Definition

Slasher films typically adhere to a specific formula: a past wrongful action causes severe trauma that is reinforced by a commemoration or anniversary that reactivates or re-inspires the killer.[7][8] Built around stalk-and-murder sequences, the films draw upon the audience's feelings of catharsis, recreation, and displacement, as related to sexual pleasure.[9] Paste magazine's definition notes that, "slasher villains are human beings, or were human beings at some point ... Slasher villains are human killers whose actions are objectively evil, because they’re meant to be bound by human morality. That’s part of the fear that the genre is meant to prey upon, the idea that killers walk among us."[10] Films with similar structures that have non-human antagonists lacking a conscience, such as Alien or The Terminator, are not traditionally considered slasher films.[11]

Common tropes

The final girl trope is discussed in film studies as being a young woman (occasionally a young man) left alone to face the killer's advances in the movie's end.[7] Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), the heroine in Halloween, is an example of a typical final girl.[8] Final girls are often, like Laurie Strode, virgins among sexually active teens.[12]

Several slasher film villains grew to take on villain protagonist characteristics, with the series following the continued efforts of a villain, rather than the killer's victims (for example, Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Chucky and Leatherface).[13] The Scream film series is a rarity that follows its heroine Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) rather than masked killer Ghostface, whose identity changes from film to film, and is only revealed in each entry's finale.[14]

Origins

 
A scene from the Grand Guignol, a format some critics have cited as an influence on the slasher film

The appeal of watching people inflict violence upon each other dates back thousands of years to Ancient Rome,[15] though fictionalized accounts became marketable with late 19th century horror plays produced at the Grand Guignol.[16] Maurice Tourneur's The Lunatics (1912) used visceral violence to attract the Guignol's audience. In the United States, public outcry over films like this eventually led to the passage of the Hays Code in 1930.[17] The Hays Code is one of the entertainment industry's earliest set of guidelines restricting sexuality and violence deemed unacceptable.[17][18]

Crime writer Mary Roberts Rinehart influenced horror literature with her novel The Circular Staircase (1908),[19] adapted into the silent film The Bat (1926), about guests in a remote mansion menaced by a killer in a grotesque mask.[20] Its success led to a series of "old dark house" films including The Cat and the Canary (1927), based on John Willard's 1922 stage play, and Universal Pictures' The Old Dark House (1932), based on the novel by J.B. Priestley.[20] In both films, the town dwellers are pitted against strange country folk, a recurring theme in later horror films. Along with the "madman on the loose" plotline, these films employed several influences upon the slasher genre, such as lengthy point of view shots and a "sins of the father" catalyst to propel the plot's mayhem.[21]

Early film influences

George Archainbaud's Thirteen Women (1932) tells the story of a sorority whose former members are set against one another by a vengeful peer who crosses out their yearbook photos, a device used in subsequent films Prom Night (1980) and Graduation Day (1981).[22] Early examples include a maniac seeking revenge in The Terror (1928), based on the play by Edgar Wallace.

B-movie mogul Val Lewton produced The Leopard Man (1943), about a murderer framing his crimes against women on an escaped show leopard.[23] Basil Rathbone's The Scarlet Claw (1944) sees Sherlock Holmes investigate murders committed with a five-pronged garden weeder that the killer would raise in the air and bring down on the victim repeatedly, an editing technique that became familiar in the genre.[24] Robert Siodmak's The Spiral Staircase (1946), based on Ethel White's novel Some Must Watch, stars Ethel Barrymore as a sympathetic woman trying to survive black-gloved killers. The Spiral Staircase also features an early use of jump scares.[25]

British writer Agatha Christie's particularly influential 1939 novel Ten Little Indians (adapted in 1945 as And Then There Were None), centers on a group of people with secret pasts who are killed one-by-one on an isolated island. Each of the murders mirrors a verse from a nursery rhyme, merging the themes of childhood innocence and vengeful murder.[26][27][28] House of Wax (1953), The Bad Seed (1956), Screaming Mimi (1958), Jack the Ripper (1959), and Cover Girl Killer (1959) all incorporated Christie's literary themes.[29]

1960s horror-thrillers

 
Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) was a huge success on release, and a critical influence on the slasher genre

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) used visuals that had been deemed unacceptable by movie studios, including scenes of violence, sexuality, and even the shot of a toilet flushing. The film featured an iconic score by Bernard Herrmann that has been frequently imitated in slasher and horror films.[30] That same year, Michael Powell released Peeping Tom, showing the killer's perspective as he murders women to photograph their dying expressions.[3][31]

Psycho was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins garnering universal acclaim for his role as Norman Bates.[32][30] This notice drew bankable movie stars to horror films.[33] Joan Crawford starred in William Castle's Strait-Jacket (1964)[34] and in Jim O'Connolly's Berserk! (1967),[35] while Albert Finney starred in MGM's Night Must Fall (1964) (a remake of the 1937 British film)[36] and Peter Cushing starred in Corruption (1968).[37]

Hammer Studios, a London-based company, followed Psycho's success with Taste of Fear (1961), Maniac (1963), Paranoiac (1963), Nightmare (1964), Fanatic (1965), The Nanny (1965), and Hysteria (1965).[38][39] Hammer's rival Amicus had Robert Bloch, author of 1959 Psycho novel, write the script for Psychopath (1968).[40]

Francis Ford Coppola's debut, Dementia 13 (1963), takes place in an Irish castle where relatives gather to commemorate a family death but are murdered one-by-one.[24] William Castle's Homicidal (1961) features gore in its murder scenes, something both Psycho and Peeping Tom had edited out.[41][42] Richard Hillard's Violent Midnight (1963) showed a black-gloved killer's point of view as they pull down a branch to watch a victim and also featured a skinny-dipping scene.[43] Crown International's Terrified (1963) features a masked killer.[44] Spain's The House That Screamed (1969) features violent murders and preempted later campus-based slashers.[45]

Splatter, Krimi and giallo films

See also: Splatter film, Krimi, and Giallo

Subgenres that influenced slasher films include splatter films, Krimi films, and giallo films.[24][46]

Splatter films focus on gratuitous gore. Herschell Gordon Lewis's Blood Feast (1963) was a hit at drive-in theaters and is often considered the first splatter film.[47] Lewis followed with gory films Two-Thousand Maniacs! (1964), Color Me Blood Red (1965), The Gruesome Twosome (1967) and The Wizard of Gore (1971). This grotesque style translated to Andy Milligan's The Ghastly Ones (1969), Twisted Nerve (1968), Night After Night After Night (1969) as well as The Haunted House of Horror (1969).[48]

Post-World War II Germany adapted British writer Edgar Wallace's crime novels into a subgenre of their own called Krimi films.[49] The Krimi films were released in the late 1950s through the early 1970s and featured villains in bold costumes accompanied by jazz scores from composers such as Martin Böttcher and Peter Thomas.[24][50] Fellowship of the Frog (1959), about a murderer terrorizing London, was successful in America, leading to similar adaptations like The Green Archer (1961) and Dead Eyes of London (1961). The Rialto Studio produced 32 Krimi films between 1959 and 1970.[51]

 
The masked killer in Mario Bava's giallo film, Blood and Black Lace (1964)

Italy's giallo thrillers are crime procedurals or murder mysteries interlaced with eroticism and psychological horror.[46] Giallo films feature unidentified killers murdering in grand fashions.[46] Unlike most American slasher films the protagonists of gialli are frequently (but not always) jet-setting adults sporting the most stylish Milan fashions.[24] These protagonists are often outsiders reluctantly brought into the mystery through extenuating circumstances, like witnessing a murder or being suspected of the crimes themselves.[52] Much like Krimi films, gialli plots tended to be outlandish and improbable, occasionally employing supernatural elements.[24][46] Sergio Martino's Torso (1973) featured a masked killer preying upon beautiful and promiscuous co-eds in retribution for a past misdeed. Torso's edge-of-your-seat climax finds a "final girl" facing off with the killer in an isolated villa.[53][54] Mario Bava's A Bay of Blood (1971) is a whodunit depicting creative death sequences on a lakeside setting, and greatly inspired Friday the 13th (1980) and its 1981 sequel.[55] Gialli were popular in American cinemas and drive-in theaters. Thriller Assault (1971) and Spanish mystery A Dragonfly for Each Corpse (1974) share many traits with Italian gialli.[56] Death Steps in the Dark (1977) spoofed the familiar conventions found in giallo films.[57] Despite successes from Deep Red (1975) and The Blood-Stained Shadow (1978), giallo films gradually fell out of fashion by the mid-1970s as diminishing returns forced budget cuts.[46] Films such as Play Motel (1979) and Giallo a Venezia (1979) exploited their low-budgets with shocking hardcore pornography.[58]

Exploitation films

Main article: Exploitation film

The early 1970s saw an increase in exploitation films that lured audiences to grindhouses and drive-ins by advertising of sex and violence. Robert Fuest's And Soon the Darkness (1970) set off the '70s exploitation wave by maximizing its small budget and taking place in daylight. The Jekyll and Hyde Portfolio (1971) follows an insane killer who stalks and murders victims at a nursing academy.[59][60] Hands of the Ripper (1971) depicts the psychological trauma suffered by Jack the Ripper's daughter, who continues the murderous reign of her father.[61] Fright (1971) is based on the "babysitter and the man upstairs" urban legend while Tower of Evil (1972) features careless partying teens murdered in a remote island lighthouse.[62] Pete Walker broke taboos by advertising his films' negative reviews to attract viewers looking for the depraved, using a "no press is bad press" mantra with The Flesh and Blood Show (1972), Frightmare (1974), House of Mortal Sin (1976), Schizo (1976) and The Comeback (1978).[63] Other filmmakers followed Walker's lead, as posters dubbed Blood and Lace (1971) as "sickest PG-rated movie ever made!", while Scream Bloody Murder (1973) called itself as "gore-nography."[64]

By 1974 the exploitation film battled political correctness and their popularity waned, and while films like The Love Butcher (1975) and The Redeemer: Son of Satan (1976) were accused of promoting bigotry, the low-budget independent film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) became a major hit and the most commercially successful horror film since The Exorcist. The story concerns a violent clash of cultures and ideals between the counter-culture and traditional conservative values, with the film's squealing antagonist Leatherface carrying a chainsaw and wearing the faces of victims he and his family eat. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre spawned imitators and its false "based on a true story" advertisements gave way to reenactments of true crime. The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976), based on the Phantom Killer case, and Another Son of Sam (1977), based on the Son of Sam slayings, cashed-in on headlines and public fascination. Wes Craven modernized the Sawney Bean legend in The Hills Have Eyes (1977) by building upon themes presented in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The Hills Have Eyes was another huge financial success, relaunching Craven's career after it had been damaged by controversy surrounding his previous film, The Last House on the Left (1972).[65]

Following holiday-themed exploitation films Home for the Holidays (1972), All Through the House (1972) and Silent Night, Bloody Night (1973), Black Christmas (1974) uses horror as a board to debate social topics of its time, including feminism, abortion, and alcoholism. Using the "killer calling from inside the house" gimmick, Black Christmas is visually and thematically a precursor to John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), as young women are terrorized in a previously safe environment during an iconic holiday. Like Halloween, Clark's film opens with a lengthy point-of-view, but it differs in the treatment of the killer's identity. Despite making $4,053,000 on a $620,000 budget, Black Christmas was initially criticized, with Variety complaining that it was a "bloody, senseless kill-for-kicks" flick that exploited unnecessary violence. Despite its modest initial box office run, the film has garnered critical reappraisal, with film historians noting its importance in the horror film genre and some even citing it as the original slasher film.[66]

Golden Age (1978–1984)

Jumpstarted by the massive success of John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), the era commonly cited as the Golden Age of slasher films is 1978–1984, with some scholars citing over 100 similar films released over the six-year period.[24][9] Despite most films receiving negative reviews, many Golden Age slasher films were extremely profitable and have established cult followings.[5] Many films reused Halloween's template of a murderous figure stalking teens, though they escalated the gore and nudity from Carpenter's restrained film. Golden Age slasher films exploited dangers lurking in American institutions such as high schools, colleges, summer camps, and hospitals.[67]

1978

Cashing in on the drive-in success of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), The Toolbox Murders was quickly and cheaply shot but did not generate the interest of the former films. Exploitative Killer's Delight is a San Francisco-set serial killer story claiming to take inspiration from Ted Bundy and the Zodiac Killer.[68] Leading up to Halloween's October release were August's gialli-inspired Eyes of Laura Mars (written by John Carpenter) and September's "babysitter in peril" TV Movie Are You in the House Alone? Of them, The Eyes of Laura Mars grossed $20 million against a $7 million budget.[69]

Influenced by the French New Wave's Eyes Without a Face (1960), science fiction thriller Westworld (1973) and Black Christmas (1974), Halloween was directed, composed and co-written by Carpenter, who co-wrote it with his then-girlfriend and producing partner Debra Hill on a budget of $300,000 provided by Syrian-American producer Moustapha Akkad. To minimize costs, locations were reduced and time took place over a brief period.[70] Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter of Janet Leigh, was cast as the heroine Laurie Strode while veteran actor Donald Pleasence was cast as Dr. Sam Loomis, an homage to John Gavin's character in Psycho.[70] Halloween's opening tracks a six-year-old's point-of-view as he kills his older sister, a scene emulated in numerous films such as Blow Out (1981) and The Funhouse (1981). Carpenter denies writing sexually active teens to be victims in favor of a virginal "final girl" survivor, though subsequent filmmakers copied what appeared to be a "sex-equals-death" mantra.

When shown an early cut of Halloween without a musical score, all major American studios declined to distribute it, one executive even remarking that it was not scary. Carpenter added music himself, and the film was distributed locally in four Kansas City theaters through Akkad's Compass International Pictures in October 1978. Word-of-mouth made the movie a sleeper hit that was selected to screen at the November 1978 Chicago Film Festival, where the country's major critics acclaimed it. Halloween grew into a major box office success, grossing over $70 million worldwide and selling over 20 million tickets in North America, becoming the most profitable independent film until being surpassed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990).[70]

1979

Though the telekinesis-themed slasher Tourist Trap was initially unsuccessful, it has undergone a reappraisal by fans. 1979's most successful slasher was Fred Walton's When a Stranger Calls, which sold 8.5 million tickets in North America. Its success has largely been credited to its opening scene, in which a babysitter (Carol Kane) is taunted by a caller who repeatedly asks, "Have you checked the children?"[71] Less successful were Ray Dennis Steckler's burlesque slasher The Hollywood Strangler Meets the Skid Row Slasher and Abel Ferrara's The Driller Killer, both of which featured gratuitous on-screen violence against vagrant people.

1980

The election of Ronald Reagan as the 40th president of the United States drew in a new age of conservatism that ushered concern of rising violence on film.[1][24] The slasher film, at the height of its commercial power, also became the center of a political and cultural maelstrom. Sean S. Cunningham's sleeper hit Friday the 13th was the year's most commercially successful slasher film, grossing more than $59.7 million and selling nearly 15 million tickets in North America.[72] Despite a financial success, distributor Paramount Pictures was criticized for "lowering" itself to release a violent exploitation film, with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert famously despising the film. Siskel, in his Chicago Tribune review, revealed the identity and fate of the film's killer in an attempt to hurt its box office, and provided the address of the chairman of Paramount Pictures for viewers to complain.[73] The MPAA was criticized for allowing Friday the 13th an R rating, but its violence would inspire gorier films to follow, as it set a new bar for acceptable levels of on-screen violence. The criticisms that began with Friday the 13th would lead to the genre's eventual decline in subsequent years.[74]

The small-budget thrillers Silent Scream and Prom Night were box office hits with $7.9 and $14.8 million, respectively.[75] Jamie Lee Curtis starred in the independent Prom Night, as well studio films Terror Train and The Fog to earn her "scream queen" title.[8] MGM's the Halloween-clone He Knows You're Alone sold nearly 2 million tickets, though Paramount Pictures John Huston-directed Phobia only sold an estimated 22,000 tickets.[75] Two high-profile slasher-thrillers were met with protest, William Friedkin's Cruising and Gordon Willis' Windows, both of which equate homosexuality with psychosis. Cruising drew protests from gay rights groups, and though it pre-dates the AIDS crisis, the film's portrayal of the gay community fueled subsequent backlash once the virus became an epidemic.[24][76]

Low budget exploitative films New Year's Evil, Don't Go in the House and Don't Answer the Phone! were called-out for misogyny that dwelled on the suffering of females exclusively.[7] Acclaimed filmmaker Brian De Palma's Psycho-homage Dressed to Kill drew a wave of protest from the National Organization for Women (NOW), who picketed the film's screening on the University of Iowa campus.[77] The year's most controversial slashers was William Lustig's Maniac, about a schizophrenic serial killer in New York. Maniac was maligned by critics. Vincent Canby of The New York Times said that watching the film was like "watching someone else throw up."[78] Lustig released the film unrated on American screens, sidestepping the MPAA to still bring in $6 million at the box office.[79][75]

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho's influence was felt two decades later in Funeral Home[80] and The Unseen.[81] Joe D'Amato's gruesome Italian horror film Antropophagus and the Australian slasher Nightmares showed that the genre was spreading internationally.[82]

1981

Slasher films reached a saturation point in 1981, as heavily promoted movies like My Bloody Valentine and The Burning were box office failures.[24][9][75] After the success of Friday the 13th, Paramount Pictures picked up My Bloody Valentine with hopes to achieve similar success. The film became the subject of intense scrutiny in the wake of John Lennon's murder, and was released heavily edited; lacking the draw of gore, My Bloody Valentine barely sold 2 million tickets in North America, much less than the 15 million sold by Friday the 13th the year beforehand.[75] Thematically similar to My Bloody Valentine, The Prowler hoped to lure an audience with gore effects by Friday the 13th's Tom Savini but large MPAA edits contributed to its failure to find a nationwide distributor.[24] Suffering similar censorship was The Burning, which also employed Savini's special effects, though it does mark the feature film debuts of Brad Grey, Holly Hunter, Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens, Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein.

Profits of Halloween and Friday the 13th drew studio interest, to varying success. Warner Bros.'s Eyes of a Stranger ($1.1 million) and Night School ($1.2 million), Paramount Pictures' The Fan ($3 million), Universal Pictures' The Funhouse ($8 million), and Columbia Pictures' Happy Birthday to Me ($10 million).[75] CBS' TV movie, Dark Night of the Scarecrow brought the genre to the small screen.[24] Two sequels had bigger body counts and more gore than their predecessors, but not higher box office intakes. Friday the 13th Part 2 sold 7.8 million tickets and Halloween II sold 9.2 million. Both sequels sold around half of their original film's tickets, though they were still very popular (Halloween II was the second highest-grossing horror film of the year behind An American Werewolf in London).[75]

Independent companies churned out slasher films Final Exam, Bloody Birthday, Hell Night, Don't Go in the Woods... Alone!, Wes Craven's Deadly Blessing and Graduation Day.[75] Fantasy and sci-fi genres continued to blend with the slasher film in Strange Behavior, Ghostkeeper and Evilspeak. The international market found Italy's Absurd and Madhouse and Germany's Bloody Moon.

1982

Straight-to-video productions cut costs to maximize profit. The independent horror film Madman opened in New York City's top 10, according to Variety, but soon fell out of theaters for a much healthier life on home video.[24] The Dorm That Dripped Blood and Honeymoon Horror, each made for between $50–90,000, became successful in the early days of VHS.[75] Because of this change, independent productions began having difficulties finding theatrical distribution. Girls Nite Out had a very limited release in 1982 but was re-released in 1983 in more theaters until finally finding a home on VHS. Paul Lynch's Humongous was released through AVCO Embassy Pictures, but a change in management severely limited the film's theatrical release. Films such as Hospital massacre and Night Warning enjoyed strong home rentals from video stores, though Dark Sanity, The Forest, Unhinged, Trick or Treats, and Island of Blood fell into obscurity with little theatrical releases and only sub-par video transfers.[83]

Supernatural slasher films continued to build in popularity with The Slayer, The Incubus, Blood Song, Don't Go to Sleep and Superstition (the supernatural-themed Halloween III: Season of the Witch, though part of the Halloween franchise, does not adhere to the slasher film formula). Alone in the Dark was New Line Cinema's first feature film, released to little revenue and initially dismissed by critics, though the film has gained critical reappraisal. Director Amy Holden Jones and writer Rita Mae Brown gender-swapped to showcase exploitative violence against men in The Slumber Party Massacre,[83] while Visiting Hours pitted liberal feminism against macho right-wing bigotry with exploitative results.

Friday the 13th Part III, the first slasher trilogy, was an enormous success, selling 12 million tickets and dethroning E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial from the top of the box office.[75] The film's iconic hockey mask has grown to pop-culture iconography. Universal Pictures had a tiny release for Death Valley, while Columbia Pictures found modest success with Silent Rage. Independent distributor Embassy Pictures released The Seduction to a surprising $11 million, an erotic slasher-thriller that predates blockbusters Fatal Attraction (1987) and Basic Instinct (1992) by several years.[75]

Internationally, Australia released Next of Kin while Puerto Rico's Pieces was filmed in Boston and Madrid by an Italian-American producer with a Spanish director. Italian gialli saw slasher film influences in their releases for Sergio Martino's The Scorpion with Two Tails, Lucio Fulci's The New York Ripper and Dario Argento's Tenebrae.[83]

1983

Traditional slasher films saw less frequent output. The House on Sorority Row followed the same general plot as Prom Night (1980) with guilty teens stalked and punished for a terrible secret. The Final Terror borrows visual and thematic elements from Just Before Dawn (1981), as Sweet Sixteen borrows from Happy Birthday to Me (1981). The most successful slasher of the year was Psycho II, which grossed over $34 million at the box office. The film also reunited original Psycho (1960) cast members Anthony Perkins and Vera Miles.[84] 10 to Midnight, inspired by the real-life crimes of Richard Speck, promoted star Charles Bronson's justice-for-all character above its horror themes.[84] Robert Hiltzik's Sleepaway Camp was a home video hit, being unique for its pubescent victims and themes of paedophilia and transvestism. Sleepaway Camp featured homosexual scenes, which were taboo at the time.[84][85]

In Canada, whodunit Curtains had a brief theatrical life before finding new life on VHS, while criticism toward American Nightmare's portrayal of prostitutes, drug addicts, and pornography addicts hurt its video rentals.[84] Sledgehammer was shot-on-video for just $40,000, with a gender-reversal climax showing Playgirl model Ted Prior as a "final guy."[24][75] Other home video slashers from the year include Blood Beat, Double Exposure, and Scalps, the latter claiming to be one of the most censored films in history.[84] Releases began to distance from the genre. The poster for Mortuary features a hand is bursting from the grave, though the undead have nothing to do with the film. Distributors were aware of fading box office profits, and they were attempting to hoodwink audiences into thinking long-shelved releases like Mortuary were different.

1984

The public had largely lost interest in theatrical released slashers, drawing a close to the Golden Age.[1][12] Production rates plummeted and major studios all but abandoned the genre that, only a few years earlier, had been very profitable. Many 1984 slasher films with brief theatrical runs found varying degrees of success on home video, such as Splatter University, Satan's Blade, Blood Theatre, Rocktober Blood and Fatal Games. Movies like The Prey and Evil Judgement were filmed years prior and finally were given small theatrical releases. Silent Madness used 3D to ride the success of Friday the 13th Part III (1982), though the effect did not translate to the VHS format.[24]

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter brought the saga of Jason Voorhees to a close, with his demise the main marketing tool. It worked, with The Final Chapter selling 10 million tickets in North America, hinting the series would continue even if Jason's demise marked a shift in the genre.[75] This shift was emphasized by the controversy from Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984): Protesters picketed theaters playing the film with placards reading, "Deck the hall with holly – not bodies!" Despite other Christmas-themed horror films, including the same year's Don't Open till Christmas, promotional material for Silent Night, Deadly Night featured a killer Santa with the tagline: "He knows when you've been naughty!" Released in November 1984 by TriStar Pictures, persistent carol-singers forced one Bronx cinema to pull Silent Night, Deadly Night a week into its run. Soon widespread outrage led to the film's removal, with only 741,500 tickets sold.[86][75]

As interest in the Golden Age slasher waned, Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street revitalized the genre by mixing fantasy and the supernatural in a cost-effective way. Craven had toyed with slasher films before in Deadly Blessing (1981), though he was frustrated that the genre he had helped create with The Last House on the Left (1972) and The Hills Have Eyes (1977) had not benefited him financially. Developing A Nightmare on Elm Street since 1981, Craven recognized time running out due to declining revenues from theatrical slasher film releases.[87] A Nightmare on Elm Street and especially its villain Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) became cultural phenomenons.[88] On a budget of just $1.8 million, the film was a commercial success, grossing more than $25.5 million in North America and launched one of the most successful film series in history.[75][88] A Nightmare on Elm Street provided the success that New Line Cinema needed to become a major Hollywood company. To this day, New Line is referred to as "The House That Freddy Built".[89] The final slasher film released during the Golden Age, The Initiation, was greatly overshadowed by A Nightmare on Elm Street (though both films feature dreams as plot points and a horribly burned "nightmare man").[24] The success of A Nightmare on Elm Street welcomed in a new wave of horror films that relied on special effects, almost completely silencing the smaller low-budget Golden Age features.[1][90]

Direct-to-video and series "The Silver Age" (1985–1995)

Despite A Nightmare on Elm Street's success, fatigue hit the slasher genre, and its popularity had declined substantially. The home video revolution, fueled by the popularity of VHS, provided a new outlet for low-budget filmmaking. Without major studio backing for theatrical release, slasher films became second only to pornography in the home video market. The drop in budgets to accommodate a more economic approach was usually met with a decline in quality. Holdovers filmed during the Golden Age such as Too Scared to Scream (1985), The Mutilator (1985), Blood Rage (1987), Killer Party (1986) and Mountaintop Motel Massacre (1986) found video distribution. Mirroring the punk rock movement, novice filmmakers proved anyone could make a movie on home video, resulting in shot-on-video slashers Blood Cult (1985), The Ripper (1985), Spine (1986), Truth or Dare? (1986), Killer Workout (1987), and Death Spa (1989).[91] Lesser-known horror properties Sleepaway Camp, The Slumber Party Massacre and Silent Night, Deadly Night became series on home video. The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 (1985) and Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) were theatrically released but neither film was embraced like A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985), a sequel rushed into production. Distinguished by overtly homoerotic undertones, Freddy's Revenge became the highest grossing horror film of 1985 and inspired "dream" slashes Dreamaniac (1986), Bad Dreams (1988), Deadly Dreams (1988), and Dream Demon (1988).

Paramount Pictures released the parody April Fool's Day (1986) with hopes to start a sister series to its Friday the 13th property, though the film's modest box office run never led to a series. Three other spoofs, Evil Laugh (1986), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986), were box office disappointments; Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 sold just 2 million tickets while Jason Lives sold 5.2 million, both significantly down from their predecessors.[92] Trying to cater the public of adult action thrillers that were popular in the 1980s, Sylvester Stallone's cop-thriller Cobra (1986) is a thinly-veiled slasher film advertised as an action movie, and sold 13.2 million tickets. The home video market made stars out of character actors such as Terry O'Quinn and Bruce Campbell, whose respective independent horror-thrillers The Stepfather (1987) and Maniac Cop (1988) found more support on home video than in theaters. Quinn returned for Stepfather II (1989) but chose not to reprise his role in Stepfather III (1992), Destroyer (1988), while Campbell followed a similar route with a cameo in Maniac Cop 2 (1990) and no participation in Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence (1993).

The Nightmare on Elm Street series dominated the late 1980s horror wave, with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) selling 11.5 million tickets in North America, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) following another 12 million tickets. By comparison, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) and Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) sold approximately 4.5 million tickets each, less than half of the Elm Street films. The personality-driven appeal of Freddy Krueger was not lost on filmmakers, as characters like Chucky and Candyman were given ample dialogue and placed in urban settings that had largely been ignored by the Golden Age. Chucky's Child's Play (1988) and its 1990 sequel sold over 14.7 million tickets combined, while Candyman (1992) sold a healthy 6.2 million. Both series fell out rather quickly, when Child's Play 3 (1991) selling only 3.5 million tickets in North America and Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) selling only 3.2 million.[93]

Internationally, the slasher film remained profitable. Mexico released Zombie Apocalypse (1985), Don't Panic (1988), Grave Robbers (1990) and Hell's Trap (1990). Europe saw releases from Sweden's Blood Tracks (1985), The United Kingdom's Lucifer (1987), Spain's Anguish (1987) and Italy's StageFright (1987) and BodyCount (1987). In the Pacific, Australia released Symphony of Evil (1987), Houseboat Horror (1989), and Bloodmoon (1990), while Japan released Evil Dead Trap (1988).[94]

By 1989 the major series had faded from public interest, resulting in box office failures from Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989), A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989).[13] The Dream Child's 5.6 million tickets were a sharp decline, while Jason Takes Manhattan and The Revenge of Michael Myers each sold only about 3 million tickets. Due to the declining ticket sales, rights to the Friday the 13th and Halloween series were sold to New Line Cinema and Miramax Films, respectively. Now owning both the Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger characters, New Line would look into a series-crossover event film. Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991) and Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993) began this crossover series, but profit losses from both films stalled the project for a decade. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) was released under Miramax's Dimension Films banner to negative fan reaction and a weak box office.[95]

Post-modern slashers (1996–present)

Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) used characters from his original Elm Street film in self-referential and ironic ways, as the actors played versions of their true personas targeted by a Freddy Krueger-inspired demon. New Nightmare sold 2.3 million tickets the North American box office. The slasher film's surprising resurrection came in the form of Scream (1996), a box office smash and redefined the genre's rules. Directed by Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, Scream juggled postmodern humor with visceral horror. The film played on nostalgia for the Golden Age, but appealed to a younger audience with contemporary young actors and popular music. Williamson, a self-confessed fan of Halloween (1978), Prom Night (1980), and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986), wrote the characters as well-versed in horror film lore and knowing all the clichés that the audience were aware of. The film grossed $173 million worldwide, it became both the highest grossing slasher film of all time and the first one to cross $100 million at the domestic box office, and the most successful horror film since The Silence of the Lambs (1991). The marketing for Scream distanced itself from the slasher subgenre as it passed itself as a "new thriller" that showcased the celebrity of its stars, promoting the appearances of then-popular stars Drew Barrymore, Courteney Cox and Neve Campbell over its violence.

Williamson's follow-up, I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), was heavily inspired by Prom Night and The House on Sorority Row (1983). Released less than a year after Scream to "critic proof" success, the film sold nearly 16 million tickets at the North American box office. Two months later Dimension Films released Scream 2 (1997) to the highest grossing opening weekend of any R-rated film at the time; the sequel sold 22 million tickets and was a critical hit. Taking note from the marketing success of Scream, the promotional materials for I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream 2 relied heavily on the recognizability of cast-members Rebecca Gayheart, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Joshua Jackson, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O'Connell, Ryan Phillippe, Jada Pinkett, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Liev Schreiber.

Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer were internationally popular. In Asia, Hong Kong released The Deadly Camp (1999) and South Korea released Bloody Beach (2000), The Record (2001), and Nightmare (2000). Australia's postmodern Cut (2000) cast American actress Molly Ringwald as its heroine. Britain released Lighthouse (1999) and the Netherlands had two teen slashers, School's Out (1999) and The Pool (2001). Bollywood produced the first musical-slasher hybrid with Kucch To Hai (2003), as well as the more straightforward Dhund: The Fog (2003).

Scream 2 marked a high-point for interest in the 1990s slasher film. Urban Legend (1998) was a modest hit, selling 8 million tickets, though slasher sales were already starting to drop. The sequels Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), Bride of Chucky (1998) and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) were each box office successes, again marketing on the appeal their casts, which included Adam Arkin, Jack Black, LL Cool J, Jamie Lee Curtis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Hartnett, Katherine Heigl, Brandy Norwood, Jodi Lynn O'Keefe, Mekhi Phifer, John Ritter, Jennifer Tilly, and Michelle Williams. Low-budget slasher films The Clown at Midnight (1998) and Cherry Falls (2000) had trouble competing with big-budget horror films that could afford then-bankable actors.

Scream 3 (2000), the first entry in the Scream series not written by Kevin Williamson, was another huge success with 16.5 million tickets sold, though poor word-of-mouth prevented it from reaching the heights of its predecessors. Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000) sold a meager 4 million tickets, less than half of what its predecessor had sold just two years earlier. Both the I Know What You Did Last Summer and Urban Legend sequels were relegated to the direct-to-video market. The genre continued to fall apart with box office bombs Valentine (2001) and Jason X (2002), as well as the critically maligned Halloween: Resurrection (2002), a sequel that sold less than half its predecessor's tickets. New Line Cinema's highly anticipated Freddy vs. Jason (2003), in development since 1986, took note from Scream, and mixed nostalgia with recognizable actors. It sold a massive 14 million tickets at the domestic box office, acting as a symbolic love-letter to slasher films of the Golden Age.

Films like Final Destination (2000), Jeepers Creepers (2001) and American Psycho (2000) added slasher film values in mainstream movies, but they deviated from the standard formula set forth by movies such as Halloween (1978), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Scream (1996). The filmmakers behind Make a Wish (2002) and HellBent (2004) diversified their stories to appeal to their gay and lesbian audiences. African American filmmakers with largely black casts took stabs at the genre in Killjoy (2000), Holla If I Kill You (2003), Holla (2006), and Somebody Help Me (2007).

With 2.5 million tickets sold on a low-budget, Wrong Turn (2003) launched a series of straight-to-video sequels. Filmmakers around the world tested the levels of on-screen violence an audience would accept. Musician-filmmaker Rob Zombie strove to bring the horror genre away from pop-culture and back to its exploitative roots in House of 1000 Corpses (2003) and The Devil's Rejects (2005). New French Extremity violence was influential in High Tension (2003), Them (2006), Inside (2007), Frontier(s) (2007) and Martyrs (2008), which became worldwide hits. Other European slasher films of the time included Austria's Dead in 3 Days (2006), Norway's Cold Prey (2006) and its 2008 sequel, as well as a number of British thrillers: Long Time Dead (2002), Creep (2004), Severance (2006), Wilderness (2008), ThanksKilling (2008), The Children (2008), Eden Lake (2008) The Gingerdead Man (2005), and Tormented (2009). In Asia, Taiwan released Invitation Only (2009), Scared (2005), and Slice (2009), while South Korea's released Bloody Reunion (2006) and Someone Behind You (2007) another extremely violent psychological supernatural slasher thriller based on a 2005 comic book "Two Will Come" and deals with the issue of family killings.

Low-budget North American slasher films received limited theatrical releases before the DVD releases (which had replaced the obsolete VHS format). Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006), Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust (2008), All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006), Dark Ride (2006), Hatchet (2006), Simon Says (2006), The Tripper (2006), See No Evil (2006), and Gutterballs (2008) each reference early 1980s slasher films, though they were sidelined to limited distribution in a market crowded by splatter films in the wake of Saw (2004) and its sequels. Wes Craven, one of the biggest names in horror for over three decades, directed box office disappointments My Soul to Take (2011) and Scream 4 (2011), which sold only 1.8 million and 4.7 million tickets, respectively. The Strangers (2008) and You're Next (2011) were applauded for their craftsmanship and post-9/11 twist on the home invasion genre, though neither film generated much interest beyond horror fans. 1980s homages Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010) and The Final Girls (2015) add thematic and emotional subtexts (i.e. stereotyping and grief), bringing praise for effectively mixing horror with heart.[96][97] Meta-horror sleeper-hit The Cabin in the Woods (2012) was a financial and critical success that shook preconceived notions, and twisted them unexpected ways that marked a conscious-turning point for the whole horror genre, not just slasher films: audiences wanted surprising and original thrillers that were not strict throwbacks. These small but noticeable changes would come to affect the genre in the coming decade.

Remakes and reboots

As 1990s Scream-inspired slasher films dwindled in popularity, the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) became a sleeper hit by playing on public's familiarity of the 1974 original but promising updated thrills and suspense. Like Gus Van Sant's Psycho (1998), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre dilute the original film's controversial aspects for maximum commercial appeal. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake sold over 13.5 million tickets in North America and was followed by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006), which sold a respectable 6-million tickets, though it was still struck by diminishing returns.

Riding on the success of the 21st Century's Chainsaw Massacre remake was House of Wax (2005), Black Christmas (2006), April Fool's Day (2008), Train (2008). Remakes of The Fog (2005), When a Stranger Calls (2006) and Prom Night (2008) were watered down, and released with PG-13 ratings to pull in the largest teenage audience possible, though only Prom Night sold more tickets than its original counterpart. Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007) took the simplicity of the original 1978 film but added an extreme vision that, according to critics, replaced everything that made the first film a success. Despite these criticisms, Zombie's Halloween sold nearly 8.5 million tickets, but its negative reception hurt its violent sequel Halloween II (2009), which could not sell 4.5 million tickets just two years after its predecessor. Extreme violence in the Halloween or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remakes hit its peak with The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and its less-well received sequel, The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007).

The remake-era peaked in 2009 under releases of My Bloody Valentine, Friday the 13th, The Last House on the Left, Sorority Row, The Stepfather and Halloween II. Of those, Friday the 13th was most successful selling 8.7 million tickets and Sorority Row was least successful with under 1.6 million tickets sold. The following year A Nightmare on Elm Street remake, like the Friday the 13th remake, had a large opening weekend but quickly fell off the box office charts after. Straight-to-video remakes Mother's Day (2010), Silent Night (2012) and Silent Night, Bloody Night: The Homecoming (2013) were met with little reception or praise. Curse of Chucky (2013), a sequel (with elements of a reboot) of the Child's Play series and the first entry not released in theaters, was well-received and given a sequel of its own in 2017. The reboot Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013) acts as a sequel to the 1974 original film, but lackluster box office profits led to its prequel Leatherface (2017) to a direct-to-download release (Leatherface was filmed in 2015 but shelved for two years).

Recent works

A decline in theatrical profits encouraged film producers to creatively translate the horror film genre to a television audience. The success of FX's American Horror Story and AMC's The Walking Dead green-lit a number of networks to develop horror series, several structured or based on slasher films. A&E's Bates Motel and former MTV and now, VH1's Scream offered creative deaths and cathartic suspense, while Freeform's Pretty Little Liars and The CW's Riverdale took more restrained approaches to the young adult demographic. Netflix's Slasher and Fox's Scream Queens are/were intended to be anthologies with new settings and mysteries every season. A TV remake of The Bad Seed aired on Lifetime in fall 2018.[98] In June 2018 Child's Play creator Don Mancini tweeted that he is shopping a TV series with Brad Dourif as Chucky. The series, simply titled Chucky began airing on the Sci-Fi network in October 2021.[99][100] In 2022, writer Ryan J. Brown debuted his comedy-horror series Wreck on BBC Three which took inspiration from the slasher and horror fiction and was advertised as a British interpretation of the genre.[101][102]

It Follows (2014) was a critical success, mixing slasher film style with demonic fantasy and metaphorical subtext. The Guest (2014) and Don't Breathe (2016) twisted conventional tropes into unexpected takes on the horror genre. Bodom (2016) is inspired but not based on a real 1960s murder case attempt trying to reconstruct events by potential victims.[103]

Blumhouse Productions, founded by Jason Blum on his successful Paranormal Activity and Insidious series, released slasher films Happy Death Day (2017) and Truth or Dare (2018). Three sequels and a television series followed The Purge, while Happy Death Day 2U found modest success in February 2019. Blumhouse released meta-sequels The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014) and Halloween (2018), which retconned their predecessors to begin a new continuity.[104] Halloween, in particular, was a huge success for Blumhouse and Universal Pictures. Released 40 years after the original, and reuniting star Jamie Lee Curtis with producer John Carpenter, the film opened to record-breaking numbers: The largest debut for Blumhouse, the largest debut for a slasher film, the largest debut of a female-led horror film and the largest debut for a film starring a woman over 55-years-old.[105] Two back-to-back sequels, Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends, were released in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

In October 2018 and after Halloween's massive box-office and strong critical reviews,[106] Roy Lee’s Vertigo Entertainment and LeBron James’ SpringHill Entertainment acquired the rights to a thirteenth Friday the 13th film.[107] On June 19, 2019, the co-producers of It released Child's Play, a reimagining that turns Chucky into an out-of-control artificially intelligent toy.[108] On September 13, 2019, the film Haunt was released by Momentum Pictures.[109] Blumhouse and Universal Pictures re-teamed to release a second remake of Black Christmas on December 13, 2019, which was poorly received and bombed at the box office.[110] Christopher Landon's slasher comedy Freaky which released on November 13, 2020, was produced by Blumhouse with distribution rights held by Universal Pictures.[111][112]

Jordan Peele produced Candyman for Universal Pictures and MGM.[113] The film's release was delayed to August 27, 2021, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[114][115][116]

James Wan and Shawn Levy partnered as producers with Netflix through their production companies, 21 Laps Entertainment and Atomic Monster Productions to create the slasher film There's Someone Inside Your House.[117][118][119] It was directed by Patrick Brice from a screenplay by Henry Gayden based on the 2017 eponymous novel by Stephanie Perkins.[120] The film was released on October 6, 2021.[121][122][123][124]

A fifth film in the popular slasher series Scream was announced to be in development.[125][126][127][128][129] Filming began on September 22, 2020.[130][131] The film was released on January 14, 2022.[132][133]

A new genre of slasher movies centred around killer animatronics was largely inspired by the success of the Five Nights at Freddy's videogame franchise. Whilst a film adaptation of the franchise has been in development since as early as 2015, several roadblocks have prevented it's creation and released, with series creator Scott Cawthon announcing in 2018 that the script had been scrapped.[134][135] Several other films were created to cash-in on the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise, such as The Banana Splits Movie (2019) and the Nicholas Cage film Willy's Wonderland (2021).[136][137]

See also

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Works cited

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March 18, 2023
slasher, film, slasher, film, genre, horror, films, involving, killer, stalking, murdering, group, people, usually, bladed, sharp, tools, like, knife, chainsaw, scalpel, although, term, slasher, occasionally, used, informally, generic, term, horror, film, invo. A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife chainsaw scalpel etc 1 Although the term slasher may occasionally be used informally as a generic term for any horror film involving murder film analysts cite an established set of characteristics which set slasher films apart from other horror subgenres such as monster movies splatter films supernatural and psychological horror films 2 Critics cite the Italian giallo films and psychological horror films such as Peeping Tom 1960 and Psycho 1960 as early influences 3 4 The genre hit its peak between 1978 and 1984 in an era referred to as the Golden Age of slasher films Notable slasher films include The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1974 Black Christmas 1974 Halloween 1978 Friday the 13th 1980 A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984 Child s Play 1988 Candyman 1992 Scream 1996 and I Know What You Did Last Summer 1997 Many slasher films released decades ago continue to attract cult followings 5 The slasher canon can be divided into three eras the classical 1974 1993 the self referential 1994 2000 and the neoslasher cycle 2001 2013 6 Contents 1 Definition 1 1 Common tropes 2 Origins 2 1 Early film influences 2 2 1960s horror thrillers 2 3 Splatter Krimi and giallo films 2 4 Exploitation films 3 Golden Age 1978 1984 3 1 1978 3 2 1979 3 3 1980 3 4 1981 3 5 1982 3 6 1983 3 7 1984 4 Direct to video and series The Silver Age 1985 1995 5 Post modern slashers 1996 present 5 1 Remakes and reboots 5 2 Recent works 6 See also 7 References 8 Works citedDefinition EditSlasher films typically adhere to a specific formula a past wrongful action causes severe trauma that is reinforced by a commemoration or anniversary that reactivates or re inspires the killer 7 8 Built around stalk and murder sequences the films draw upon the audience s feelings of catharsis recreation and displacement as related to sexual pleasure 9 Paste magazine s definition notes that slasher villains are human beings or were human beings at some point Slasher villains are human killers whose actions are objectively evil because they re meant to be bound by human morality That s part of the fear that the genre is meant to prey upon the idea that killers walk among us 10 Films with similar structures that have non human antagonists lacking a conscience such as Alien or The Terminator are not traditionally considered slasher films 11 Common tropes Edit The final girl trope is discussed in film studies as being a young woman occasionally a young man left alone to face the killer s advances in the movie s end 7 Laurie Strode Jamie Lee Curtis the heroine in Halloween is an example of a typical final girl 8 Final girls are often like Laurie Strode virgins among sexually active teens 12 Several slasher film villains grew to take on villain protagonist characteristics with the series following the continued efforts of a villain rather than the killer s victims for example Michael Myers Freddy Krueger Jason Voorhees Chucky and Leatherface 13 The Scream film series is a rarity that follows its heroine Sidney Prescott Neve Campbell rather than masked killer Ghostface whose identity changes from film to film and is only revealed in each entry s finale 14 Origins Edit A scene from the Grand Guignol a format some critics have cited as an influence on the slasher film The appeal of watching people inflict violence upon each other dates back thousands of years to Ancient Rome 15 though fictionalized accounts became marketable with late 19th century horror plays produced at the Grand Guignol 16 Maurice Tourneur s The Lunatics 1912 used visceral violence to attract the Guignol s audience In the United States public outcry over films like this eventually led to the passage of the Hays Code in 1930 17 The Hays Code is one of the entertainment industry s earliest set of guidelines restricting sexuality and violence deemed unacceptable 17 18 Crime writer Mary Roberts Rinehart influenced horror literature with her novel The Circular Staircase 1908 19 adapted into the silent film The Bat 1926 about guests in a remote mansion menaced by a killer in a grotesque mask 20 Its success led to a series of old dark house films including The Cat and the Canary 1927 based on John Willard s 1922 stage play and Universal Pictures The Old Dark House 1932 based on the novel by J B Priestley 20 In both films the town dwellers are pitted against strange country folk a recurring theme in later horror films Along with the madman on the loose plotline these films employed several influences upon the slasher genre such as lengthy point of view shots and a sins of the father catalyst to propel the plot s mayhem 21 Early film influences Edit Dorothy McGuire in The Spiral Staircase 1946 George Archainbaud s Thirteen Women 1932 tells the story of a sorority whose former members are set against one another by a vengeful peer who crosses out their yearbook photos a device used in subsequent films Prom Night 1980 and Graduation Day 1981 22 Early examples include a maniac seeking revenge in The Terror 1928 based on the play by Edgar Wallace B movie mogul Val Lewton produced The Leopard Man 1943 about a murderer framing his crimes against women on an escaped show leopard 23 Basil Rathbone s The Scarlet Claw 1944 sees Sherlock Holmes investigate murders committed with a five pronged garden weeder that the killer would raise in the air and bring down on the victim repeatedly an editing technique that became familiar in the genre 24 Robert Siodmak s The Spiral Staircase 1946 based on Ethel White s novel Some Must Watch stars Ethel Barrymore as a sympathetic woman trying to survive black gloved killers The Spiral Staircase also features an early use of jump scares 25 British writer Agatha Christie s particularly influential 1939 novel Ten Little Indians adapted in 1945 as And Then There Were None centers on a group of people with secret pasts who are killed one by one on an isolated island Each of the murders mirrors a verse from a nursery rhyme merging the themes of childhood innocence and vengeful murder 26 27 28 House of Wax 1953 The Bad Seed 1956 Screaming Mimi 1958 Jack the Ripper 1959 and Cover Girl Killer 1959 all incorporated Christie s literary themes 29 1960s horror thrillers Edit Alfred Hitchcock s Psycho 1960 was a huge success on release and a critical influence on the slasher genre Alfred Hitchcock s Psycho 1960 used visuals that had been deemed unacceptable by movie studios including scenes of violence sexuality and even the shot of a toilet flushing The film featured an iconic score by Bernard Herrmann that has been frequently imitated in slasher and horror films 30 That same year Michael Powell released Peeping Tom showing the killer s perspective as he murders women to photograph their dying expressions 3 31 Psycho was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Supporting Actress for Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins garnering universal acclaim for his role as Norman Bates 32 30 This notice drew bankable movie stars to horror films 33 Joan Crawford starred in William Castle s Strait Jacket 1964 34 and in Jim O Connolly s Berserk 1967 35 while Albert Finney starred in MGM s Night Must Fall 1964 a remake of the 1937 British film 36 and Peter Cushing starred in Corruption 1968 37 Hammer Studios a London based company followed Psycho s success with Taste of Fear 1961 Maniac 1963 Paranoiac 1963 Nightmare 1964 Fanatic 1965 The Nanny 1965 and Hysteria 1965 38 39 Hammer s rival Amicus had Robert Bloch author of 1959 Psycho novel write the script for Psychopath 1968 40 Francis Ford Coppola s debut Dementia 13 1963 takes place in an Irish castle where relatives gather to commemorate a family death but are murdered one by one 24 William Castle s Homicidal 1961 features gore in its murder scenes something both Psycho and Peeping Tom had edited out 41 42 Richard Hillard s Violent Midnight 1963 showed a black gloved killer s point of view as they pull down a branch to watch a victim and also featured a skinny dipping scene 43 Crown International s Terrified 1963 features a masked killer 44 Spain s The House That Screamed 1969 features violent murders and preempted later campus based slashers 45 Splatter Krimi and giallo films Edit See also Splatter film Krimi and Giallo Subgenres that influenced slasher films include splatter films Krimi films and giallo films 24 46 Splatter films focus on gratuitous gore Herschell Gordon Lewis s Blood Feast 1963 was a hit at drive in theaters and is often considered the first splatter film 47 Lewis followed with gory films Two Thousand Maniacs 1964 Color Me Blood Red 1965 The Gruesome Twosome 1967 and The Wizard of Gore 1971 This grotesque style translated to Andy Milligan s The Ghastly Ones 1969 Twisted Nerve 1968 Night After Night After Night 1969 as well as The Haunted House of Horror 1969 48 Post World War II Germany adapted British writer Edgar Wallace s crime novels into a subgenre of their own called Krimi films 49 The Krimi films were released in the late 1950s through the early 1970s and featured villains in bold costumes accompanied by jazz scores from composers such as Martin Bottcher and Peter Thomas 24 50 Fellowship of the Frog 1959 about a murderer terrorizing London was successful in America leading to similar adaptations like The Green Archer 1961 and Dead Eyes of London 1961 The Rialto Studio produced 32 Krimi films between 1959 and 1970 51 The masked killer in Mario Bava s giallo film Blood and Black Lace 1964 Italy s giallo thrillers are crime procedurals or murder mysteries interlaced with eroticism and psychological horror 46 Giallo films feature unidentified killers murdering in grand fashions 46 Unlike most American slasher films the protagonists of gialli are frequently but not always jet setting adults sporting the most stylish Milan fashions 24 These protagonists are often outsiders reluctantly brought into the mystery through extenuating circumstances like witnessing a murder or being suspected of the crimes themselves 52 Much like Krimi films gialli plots tended to be outlandish and improbable occasionally employing supernatural elements 24 46 Sergio Martino s Torso 1973 featured a masked killer preying upon beautiful and promiscuous co eds in retribution for a past misdeed Torso s edge of your seat climax finds a final girl facing off with the killer in an isolated villa 53 54 Mario Bava s A Bay of Blood 1971 is a whodunit depicting creative death sequences on a lakeside setting and greatly inspired Friday the 13th 1980 and its 1981 sequel 55 Gialli were popular in American cinemas and drive in theaters Thriller Assault 1971 and Spanish mystery A Dragonfly for Each Corpse 1974 share many traits with Italian gialli 56 Death Steps in the Dark 1977 spoofed the familiar conventions found in giallo films 57 Despite successes from Deep Red 1975 and The Blood Stained Shadow 1978 giallo films gradually fell out of fashion by the mid 1970s as diminishing returns forced budget cuts 46 Films such as Play Motel 1979 and Giallo a Venezia 1979 exploited their low budgets with shocking hardcore pornography 58 Exploitation films Edit Main article Exploitation film The early 1970s saw an increase in exploitation films that lured audiences to grindhouses and drive ins by advertising of sex and violence Robert Fuest s And Soon the Darkness 1970 set off the 70s exploitation wave by maximizing its small budget and taking place in daylight The Jekyll and Hyde Portfolio 1971 follows an insane killer who stalks and murders victims at a nursing academy 59 60 Hands of the Ripper 1971 depicts the psychological trauma suffered by Jack the Ripper s daughter who continues the murderous reign of her father 61 Fright 1971 is based on the babysitter and the man upstairs urban legend while Tower of Evil 1972 features careless partying teens murdered in a remote island lighthouse 62 Pete Walker broke taboos by advertising his films negative reviews to attract viewers looking for the depraved using a no press is bad press mantra with The Flesh and Blood Show 1972 Frightmare 1974 House of Mortal Sin 1976 Schizo 1976 and The Comeback 1978 63 Other filmmakers followed Walker s lead as posters dubbed Blood and Lace 1971 as sickest PG rated movie ever made while Scream Bloody Murder 1973 called itself as gore nography 64 By 1974 the exploitation film battled political correctness and their popularity waned and while films like The Love Butcher 1975 and The Redeemer Son of Satan 1976 were accused of promoting bigotry the low budget independent film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1974 became a major hit and the most commercially successful horror film since The Exorcist The story concerns a violent clash of cultures and ideals between the counter culture and traditional conservative values with the film s squealing antagonist Leatherface carrying a chainsaw and wearing the faces of victims he and his family eat The Texas Chain Saw Massacre spawned imitators and its false based on a true story advertisements gave way to reenactments of true crime The Town That Dreaded Sundown 1976 based on the Phantom Killer case and Another Son of Sam 1977 based on the Son of Sam slayings cashed in on headlines and public fascination Wes Craven modernized the Sawney Bean legend in The Hills Have Eyes 1977 by building upon themes presented in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre The Hills Have Eyes was another huge financial success relaunching Craven s career after it had been damaged by controversy surrounding his previous film The Last House on the Left 1972 65 Following holiday themed exploitation films Home for the Holidays 1972 All Through the House 1972 and Silent Night Bloody Night 1973 Black Christmas 1974 uses horror as a board to debate social topics of its time including feminism abortion and alcoholism Using the killer calling from inside the house gimmick Black Christmas is visually and thematically a precursor to John Carpenter s Halloween 1978 as young women are terrorized in a previously safe environment during an iconic holiday Like Halloween Clark s film opens with a lengthy point of view but it differs in the treatment of the killer s identity Despite making 4 053 000 on a 620 000 budget Black Christmas was initially criticized with Variety complaining that it was a bloody senseless kill for kicks flick that exploited unnecessary violence Despite its modest initial box office run the film has garnered critical reappraisal with film historians noting its importance in the horror film genre and some even citing it as the original slasher film 66 Golden Age 1978 1984 EditJumpstarted by the massive success of John Carpenter s Halloween 1978 the era commonly cited as the Golden Age of slasher films is 1978 1984 with some scholars citing over 100 similar films released over the six year period 24 9 Despite most films receiving negative reviews many Golden Age slasher films were extremely profitable and have established cult followings 5 Many films reused Halloween s template of a murderous figure stalking teens though they escalated the gore and nudity from Carpenter s restrained film Golden Age slasher films exploited dangers lurking in American institutions such as high schools colleges summer camps and hospitals 67 1978 Edit Cashing in on the drive in success of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1974 The Toolbox Murders was quickly and cheaply shot but did not generate the interest of the former films Exploitative Killer s Delight is a San Francisco set serial killer story claiming to take inspiration from Ted Bundy and the Zodiac Killer 68 Leading up to Halloween s October release were August s gialli inspired Eyes of Laura Mars written by John Carpenter and September s babysitter in peril TV Movie Are You in the House Alone Of them The Eyes of Laura Mars grossed 20 million against a 7 million budget 69 Influenced by the French New Wave s Eyes Without a Face 1960 science fiction thriller Westworld 1973 and Black Christmas 1974 Halloween was directed composed and co written by Carpenter who co wrote it with his then girlfriend and producing partner Debra Hill on a budget of 300 000 provided by Syrian American producer Moustapha Akkad To minimize costs locations were reduced and time took place over a brief period 70 Jamie Lee Curtis daughter of Janet Leigh was cast as the heroine Laurie Strode while veteran actor Donald Pleasence was cast as Dr Sam Loomis an homage to John Gavin s character in Psycho 70 Halloween s opening tracks a six year old s point of view as he kills his older sister a scene emulated in numerous films such as Blow Out 1981 and The Funhouse 1981 Carpenter denies writing sexually active teens to be victims in favor of a virginal final girl survivor though subsequent filmmakers copied what appeared to be a sex equals death mantra When shown an early cut of Halloween without a musical score all major American studios declined to distribute it one executive even remarking that it was not scary Carpenter added music himself and the film was distributed locally in four Kansas City theaters through Akkad s Compass International Pictures in October 1978 Word of mouth made the movie a sleeper hit that was selected to screen at the November 1978 Chicago Film Festival where the country s major critics acclaimed it Halloween grew into a major box office success grossing over 70 million worldwide and selling over 20 million tickets in North America becoming the most profitable independent film until being surpassed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1990 70 1979 Edit Though the telekinesis themed slasher Tourist Trap was initially unsuccessful it has undergone a reappraisal by fans 1979 s most successful slasher was Fred Walton s When a Stranger Calls which sold 8 5 million tickets in North America Its success has largely been credited to its opening scene in which a babysitter Carol Kane is taunted by a caller who repeatedly asks Have you checked the children 71 Less successful were Ray Dennis Steckler s burlesque slasher The Hollywood Strangler Meets the Skid Row Slasher and Abel Ferrara s The Driller Killer both of which featured gratuitous on screen violence against vagrant people 1980 Edit The election of Ronald Reagan as the 40th president of the United States drew in a new age of conservatism that ushered concern of rising violence on film 1 24 The slasher film at the height of its commercial power also became the center of a political and cultural maelstrom Sean S Cunningham s sleeper hit Friday the 13th was the year s most commercially successful slasher film grossing more than 59 7 million and selling nearly 15 million tickets in North America 72 Despite a financial success distributor Paramount Pictures was criticized for lowering itself to release a violent exploitation film with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert famously despising the film Siskel in his Chicago Tribune review revealed the identity and fate of the film s killer in an attempt to hurt its box office and provided the address of the chairman of Paramount Pictures for viewers to complain 73 The MPAA was criticized for allowing Friday the 13th an R rating but its violence would inspire gorier films to follow as it set a new bar for acceptable levels of on screen violence The criticisms that began with Friday the 13th would lead to the genre s eventual decline in subsequent years 74 The small budget thrillers Silent Scream and Prom Night were box office hits with 7 9 and 14 8 million respectively 75 Jamie Lee Curtis starred in the independent Prom Night as well studio films Terror Train and The Fog to earn her scream queen title 8 MGM s the Halloween clone He Knows You re Alone sold nearly 2 million tickets though Paramount Pictures John Huston directed Phobia only sold an estimated 22 000 tickets 75 Two high profile slasher thrillers were met with protest William Friedkin s Cruising and Gordon Willis Windows both of which equate homosexuality with psychosis Cruising drew protests from gay rights groups and though it pre dates the AIDS crisis the film s portrayal of the gay community fueled subsequent backlash once the virus became an epidemic 24 76 Low budget exploitative films New Year s Evil Don t Go in the House and Don t Answer the Phone were called out for misogyny that dwelled on the suffering of females exclusively 7 Acclaimed filmmaker Brian De Palma s Psycho homage Dressed to Kill drew a wave of protest from the National Organization for Women NOW who picketed the film s screening on the University of Iowa campus 77 The year s most controversial slashers was William Lustig s Maniac about a schizophrenic serial killer in New York Maniac was maligned by critics Vincent Canby of The New York Times said that watching the film was like watching someone else throw up 78 Lustig released the film unrated on American screens sidestepping the MPAA to still bring in 6 million at the box office 79 75 Alfred Hitchcock s Psycho s influence was felt two decades later in Funeral Home 80 and The Unseen 81 Joe D Amato s gruesome Italian horror film Antropophagus and the Australian slasher Nightmares showed that the genre was spreading internationally 82 1981 Edit Slasher films reached a saturation point in 1981 as heavily promoted movies like My Bloody Valentine and The Burning were box office failures 24 9 75 After the success of Friday the 13th Paramount Pictures picked up My Bloody Valentine with hopes to achieve similar success The film became the subject of intense scrutiny in the wake of John Lennon s murder and was released heavily edited lacking the draw of gore My Bloody Valentine barely sold 2 million tickets in North America much less than the 15 million sold by Friday the 13th the year beforehand 75 Thematically similar to My Bloody Valentine The Prowler hoped to lure an audience with gore effects by Friday the 13th s Tom Savini but large MPAA edits contributed to its failure to find a nationwide distributor 24 Suffering similar censorship was The Burning which also employed Savini s special effects though it does mark the feature film debuts of Brad Grey Holly Hunter Jason Alexander Fisher Stevens Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein Profits of Halloween and Friday the 13th drew studio interest to varying success Warner Bros s Eyes of a Stranger 1 1 million and Night School 1 2 million Paramount Pictures The Fan 3 million Universal Pictures The Funhouse 8 million and Columbia Pictures Happy Birthday to Me 10 million 75 CBS TV movie Dark Night of the Scarecrow brought the genre to the small screen 24 Two sequels had bigger body counts and more gore than their predecessors but not higher box office intakes Friday the 13th Part 2 sold 7 8 million tickets and Halloween II sold 9 2 million Both sequels sold around half of their original film s tickets though they were still very popular Halloween II was the second highest grossing horror film of the year behind An American Werewolf in London 75 Independent companies churned out slasher films Final Exam Bloody Birthday Hell Night Don t Go in the Woods Alone Wes Craven s Deadly Blessing and Graduation Day 75 Fantasy and sci fi genres continued to blend with the slasher film in Strange Behavior Ghostkeeper and Evilspeak The international market found Italy s Absurd and Madhouse and Germany s Bloody Moon 1982 Edit Straight to video productions cut costs to maximize profit The independent horror film Madman opened in New York City s top 10 according to Variety but soon fell out of theaters for a much healthier life on home video 24 The Dorm That Dripped Blood and Honeymoon Horror each made for between 50 90 000 became successful in the early days of VHS 75 Because of this change independent productions began having difficulties finding theatrical distribution Girls Nite Out had a very limited release in 1982 but was re released in 1983 in more theaters until finally finding a home on VHS Paul Lynch s Humongous was released through AVCO Embassy Pictures but a change in management severely limited the film s theatrical release Films such as Hospital massacre and Night Warning enjoyed strong home rentals from video stores though Dark Sanity The Forest Unhinged Trick or Treats and Island of Blood fell into obscurity with little theatrical releases and only sub par video transfers 83 Supernatural slasher films continued to build in popularity with The Slayer The Incubus Blood Song Don t Go to Sleep and Superstition the supernatural themed Halloween III Season of the Witch though part of the Halloween franchise does not adhere to the slasher film formula Alone in the Dark was New Line Cinema s first feature film released to little revenue and initially dismissed by critics though the film has gained critical reappraisal Director Amy Holden Jones and writer Rita Mae Brown gender swapped to showcase exploitative violence against men in The Slumber Party Massacre 83 while Visiting Hours pitted liberal feminism against macho right wing bigotry with exploitative results Friday the 13th Part III the first slasher trilogy was an enormous success selling 12 million tickets and dethroning E T The Extra Terrestrial from the top of the box office 75 The film s iconic hockey mask has grown to pop culture iconography Universal Pictures had a tiny release for Death Valley while Columbia Pictures found modest success with Silent Rage Independent distributor Embassy Pictures released The Seduction to a surprising 11 million an erotic slasher thriller that predates blockbusters Fatal Attraction 1987 and Basic Instinct 1992 by several years 75 Internationally Australia released Next of Kin while Puerto Rico s Pieces was filmed in Boston and Madrid by an Italian American producer with a Spanish director Italian gialli saw slasher film influences in their releases for Sergio Martino s The Scorpion with Two Tails Lucio Fulci s The New York Ripper and Dario Argento s Tenebrae 83 1983 Edit Traditional slasher films saw less frequent output The House on Sorority Row followed the same general plot as Prom Night 1980 with guilty teens stalked and punished for a terrible secret The Final Terror borrows visual and thematic elements from Just Before Dawn 1981 as Sweet Sixteen borrows from Happy Birthday to Me 1981 The most successful slasher of the year was Psycho II which grossed over 34 million at the box office The film also reunited original Psycho 1960 cast members Anthony Perkins and Vera Miles 84 10 to Midnight inspired by the real life crimes of Richard Speck promoted star Charles Bronson s justice for all character above its horror themes 84 Robert Hiltzik s Sleepaway Camp was a home video hit being unique for its pubescent victims and themes of paedophilia and transvestism Sleepaway Camp featured homosexual scenes which were taboo at the time 84 85 In Canada whodunit Curtains had a brief theatrical life before finding new life on VHS while criticism toward American Nightmare s portrayal of prostitutes drug addicts and pornography addicts hurt its video rentals 84 Sledgehammer was shot on video for just 40 000 with a gender reversal climax showing Playgirl model Ted Prior as a final guy 24 75 Other home video slashers from the year include Blood Beat Double Exposure and Scalps the latter claiming to be one of the most censored films in history 84 Releases began to distance from the genre The poster for Mortuary features a hand is bursting from the grave though the undead have nothing to do with the film Distributors were aware of fading box office profits and they were attempting to hoodwink audiences into thinking long shelved releases like Mortuary were different 1984 Edit The public had largely lost interest in theatrical released slashers drawing a close to the Golden Age 1 12 Production rates plummeted and major studios all but abandoned the genre that only a few years earlier had been very profitable Many 1984 slasher films with brief theatrical runs found varying degrees of success on home video such as Splatter University Satan s Blade Blood Theatre Rocktober Blood and Fatal Games Movies like The Prey and Evil Judgement were filmed years prior and finally were given small theatrical releases Silent Madness used 3D to ride the success of Friday the 13th Part III 1982 though the effect did not translate to the VHS format 24 Friday the 13th The Final Chapter brought the saga of Jason Voorhees to a close with his demise the main marketing tool It worked with The Final Chapter selling 10 million tickets in North America hinting the series would continue even if Jason s demise marked a shift in the genre 75 This shift was emphasized by the controversy from Silent Night Deadly Night 1984 Protesters picketed theaters playing the film with placards reading Deck the hall with holly not bodies Despite other Christmas themed horror films including the same year s Don t Open till Christmas promotional material for Silent Night Deadly Night featured a killer Santa with the tagline He knows when you ve been naughty Released in November 1984 by TriStar Pictures persistent carol singers forced one Bronx cinema to pull Silent Night Deadly Night a week into its run Soon widespread outrage led to the film s removal with only 741 500 tickets sold 86 75 As interest in the Golden Age slasher waned Wes Craven s A Nightmare on Elm Street revitalized the genre by mixing fantasy and the supernatural in a cost effective way Craven had toyed with slasher films before in Deadly Blessing 1981 though he was frustrated that the genre he had helped create with The Last House on the Left 1972 and The Hills Have Eyes 1977 had not benefited him financially Developing A Nightmare on Elm Street since 1981 Craven recognized time running out due to declining revenues from theatrical slasher film releases 87 A Nightmare on Elm Street and especially its villain Freddy Krueger Robert Englund became cultural phenomenons 88 On a budget of just 1 8 million the film was a commercial success grossing more than 25 5 million in North America and launched one of the most successful film series in history 75 88 A Nightmare on Elm Street provided the success that New Line Cinema needed to become a major Hollywood company To this day New Line is referred to as The House That Freddy Built 89 The final slasher film released during the Golden Age The Initiation was greatly overshadowed by A Nightmare on Elm Street though both films feature dreams as plot points and a horribly burned nightmare man 24 The success of A Nightmare on Elm Street welcomed in a new wave of horror films that relied on special effects almost completely silencing the smaller low budget Golden Age features 1 90 Direct to video and series The Silver Age 1985 1995 EditDespite A Nightmare on Elm Street s success fatigue hit the slasher genre and its popularity had declined substantially The home video revolution fueled by the popularity of VHS provided a new outlet for low budget filmmaking Without major studio backing for theatrical release slasher films became second only to pornography in the home video market The drop in budgets to accommodate a more economic approach was usually met with a decline in quality Holdovers filmed during the Golden Age such as Too Scared to Scream 1985 The Mutilator 1985 Blood Rage 1987 Killer Party 1986 and Mountaintop Motel Massacre 1986 found video distribution Mirroring the punk rock movement novice filmmakers proved anyone could make a movie on home video resulting in shot on video slashers Blood Cult 1985 The Ripper 1985 Spine 1986 Truth or Dare 1986 Killer Workout 1987 and Death Spa 1989 91 Lesser known horror properties Sleepaway Camp The Slumber Party Massacre and Silent Night Deadly Night became series on home video The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 1985 and Friday the 13th A New Beginning 1985 were theatrically released but neither film was embraced like A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2 Freddy s Revenge 1985 a sequel rushed into production Distinguished by overtly homoerotic undertones Freddy s Revenge became the highest grossing horror film of 1985 and inspired dream slashes Dreamaniac 1986 Bad Dreams 1988 Deadly Dreams 1988 and Dream Demon 1988 Paramount Pictures released the parody April Fool s Day 1986 with hopes to start a sister series to its Friday the 13th property though the film s modest box office run never led to a series Three other spoofs Evil Laugh 1986 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 1986 and Friday the 13th Part VI Jason Lives 1986 were box office disappointments Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 sold just 2 million tickets while Jason Lives sold 5 2 million both significantly down from their predecessors 92 Trying to cater the public of adult action thrillers that were popular in the 1980s Sylvester Stallone s cop thriller Cobra 1986 is a thinly veiled slasher film advertised as an action movie and sold 13 2 million tickets The home video market made stars out of character actors such as Terry O Quinn and Bruce Campbell whose respective independent horror thrillers The Stepfather 1987 and Maniac Cop 1988 found more support on home video than in theaters Quinn returned for Stepfather II 1989 but chose not to reprise his role in Stepfather III 1992 Destroyer 1988 while Campbell followed a similar route with a cameo in Maniac Cop 2 1990 and no participation in Maniac Cop III Badge of Silence 1993 The Nightmare on Elm Street series dominated the late 1980s horror wave with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 Dream Warriors 1987 selling 11 5 million tickets in North America and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 The Dream Master 1988 following another 12 million tickets By comparison Friday the 13th Part VII The New Blood 1988 and Halloween 4 The Return of Michael Myers 1988 sold approximately 4 5 million tickets each less than half of the Elm Street films The personality driven appeal of Freddy Krueger was not lost on filmmakers as characters like Chucky and Candyman were given ample dialogue and placed in urban settings that had largely been ignored by the Golden Age Chucky s Child s Play 1988 and its 1990 sequel sold over 14 7 million tickets combined while Candyman 1992 sold a healthy 6 2 million Both series fell out rather quickly when Child s Play 3 1991 selling only 3 5 million tickets in North America and Candyman Farewell to the Flesh 1995 selling only 3 2 million 93 Internationally the slasher film remained profitable Mexico released Zombie Apocalypse 1985 Don t Panic 1988 Grave Robbers 1990 and Hell s Trap 1990 Europe saw releases from Sweden s Blood Tracks 1985 The United Kingdom s Lucifer 1987 Spain s Anguish 1987 and Italy s StageFright 1987 and BodyCount 1987 In the Pacific Australia released Symphony of Evil 1987 Houseboat Horror 1989 and Bloodmoon 1990 while Japan released Evil Dead Trap 1988 94 By 1989 the major series had faded from public interest resulting in box office failures from Friday the 13th Part VIII Jason Takes Manhattan 1989 A Nightmare on Elm Street 5 The Dream Child 1989 and Halloween 5 The Revenge of Michael Myers 1989 13 The Dream Child s 5 6 million tickets were a sharp decline while Jason Takes Manhattan and The Revenge of Michael Myers each sold only about 3 million tickets Due to the declining ticket sales rights to the Friday the 13th and Halloween series were sold to New Line Cinema and Miramax Films respectively Now owning both the Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger characters New Line would look into a series crossover event film Freddy s Dead The Final Nightmare 1991 and Jason Goes to Hell The Final Friday 1993 began this crossover series but profit losses from both films stalled the project for a decade Halloween The Curse of Michael Myers 1995 was released under Miramax s Dimension Films banner to negative fan reaction and a weak box office 95 Post modern slashers 1996 present EditWes Craven s New Nightmare 1994 used characters from his original Elm Street film in self referential and ironic ways as the actors played versions of their true personas targeted by a Freddy Krueger inspired demon New Nightmare sold 2 3 million tickets the North American box office The slasher film s surprising resurrection came in the form of Scream 1996 a box office smash and redefined the genre s rules Directed by Craven and written by Kevin Williamson Scream juggled postmodern humor with visceral horror The film played on nostalgia for the Golden Age but appealed to a younger audience with contemporary young actors and popular music Williamson a self confessed fan of Halloween 1978 Prom Night 1980 and Friday the 13th Part VI Jason Lives 1986 wrote the characters as well versed in horror film lore and knowing all the cliches that the audience were aware of The film grossed 173 million worldwide it became both the highest grossing slasher film of all time and the first one to cross 100 million at the domestic box office and the most successful horror film since The Silence of the Lambs 1991 The marketing for Scream distanced itself from the slasher subgenre as it passed itself as a new thriller that showcased the celebrity of its stars promoting the appearances of then popular stars Drew Barrymore Courteney Cox and Neve Campbell over its violence Williamson s follow up I Know What You Did Last Summer 1997 was heavily inspired by Prom Night and The House on Sorority Row 1983 Released less than a year after Scream to critic proof success the film sold nearly 16 million tickets at the North American box office Two months later Dimension Films released Scream 2 1997 to the highest grossing opening weekend of any R rated film at the time the sequel sold 22 million tickets and was a critical hit Taking note from the marketing success of Scream the promotional materials for I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream 2 relied heavily on the recognizability of cast members Rebecca Gayheart Sarah Michelle Gellar Jennifer Love Hewitt Joshua Jackson Laurie Metcalf Jerry O Connell Ryan Phillippe Jada Pinkett Freddie Prinze Jr and Liev Schreiber Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer were internationally popular In Asia Hong Kong released The Deadly Camp 1999 and South Korea released Bloody Beach 2000 The Record 2001 and Nightmare 2000 Australia s postmodern Cut 2000 cast American actress Molly Ringwald as its heroine Britain released Lighthouse 1999 and the Netherlands had two teen slashers School s Out 1999 and The Pool 2001 Bollywood produced the first musical slasher hybrid with Kucch To Hai 2003 as well as the more straightforward Dhund The Fog 2003 Scream 2 marked a high point for interest in the 1990s slasher film Urban Legend 1998 was a modest hit selling 8 million tickets though slasher sales were already starting to drop The sequels Halloween H20 20 Years Later 1998 Bride of Chucky 1998 and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer 1998 were each box office successes again marketing on the appeal their casts which included Adam Arkin Jack Black LL Cool J Jamie Lee Curtis Joseph Gordon Levitt Josh Hartnett Katherine Heigl Brandy Norwood Jodi Lynn O Keefe Mekhi Phifer John Ritter Jennifer Tilly and Michelle Williams Low budget slasher films The Clown at Midnight 1998 and Cherry Falls 2000 had trouble competing with big budget horror films that could afford then bankable actors Scream 3 2000 the first entry in the Scream series not written by Kevin Williamson was another huge success with 16 5 million tickets sold though poor word of mouth prevented it from reaching the heights of its predecessors Urban Legends Final Cut 2000 sold a meager 4 million tickets less than half of what its predecessor had sold just two years earlier Both the I Know What You Did Last Summer and Urban Legend sequels were relegated to the direct to video market The genre continued to fall apart with box office bombs Valentine 2001 and Jason X 2002 as well as the critically maligned Halloween Resurrection 2002 a sequel that sold less than half its predecessor s tickets New Line Cinema s highly anticipated Freddy vs Jason 2003 in development since 1986 took note from Scream and mixed nostalgia with recognizable actors It sold a massive 14 million tickets at the domestic box office acting as a symbolic love letter to slasher films of the Golden Age Films like Final Destination 2000 Jeepers Creepers 2001 and American Psycho 2000 added slasher film values in mainstream movies but they deviated from the standard formula set forth by movies such as Halloween 1978 A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984 and Scream 1996 The filmmakers behind Make a Wish 2002 and HellBent 2004 diversified their stories to appeal to their gay and lesbian audiences African American filmmakers with largely black casts took stabs at the genre in Killjoy 2000 Holla If I Kill You 2003 Holla 2006 and Somebody Help Me 2007 With 2 5 million tickets sold on a low budget Wrong Turn 2003 launched a series of straight to video sequels Filmmakers around the world tested the levels of on screen violence an audience would accept Musician filmmaker Rob Zombie strove to bring the horror genre away from pop culture and back to its exploitative roots in House of 1000 Corpses 2003 and The Devil s Rejects 2005 New French Extremity violence was influential in High Tension 2003 Them 2006 Inside 2007 Frontier s 2007 and Martyrs 2008 which became worldwide hits Other European slasher films of the time included Austria s Dead in 3 Days 2006 Norway s Cold Prey 2006 and its 2008 sequel as well as a number of British thrillers Long Time Dead 2002 Creep 2004 Severance 2006 Wilderness 2008 ThanksKilling 2008 The Children 2008 Eden Lake 2008 The Gingerdead Man 2005 and Tormented 2009 In Asia Taiwan released Invitation Only 2009 Scared 2005 and Slice 2009 while South Korea s released Bloody Reunion 2006 and Someone Behind You 2007 another extremely violent psychological supernatural slasher thriller based on a 2005 comic book Two Will Come and deals with the issue of family killings Low budget North American slasher films received limited theatrical releases before the DVD releases which had replaced the obsolete VHS format Behind the Mask The Rise of Leslie Vernon 2006 Gingerdead Man 2 Passion of the Crust 2008 All the Boys Love Mandy Lane 2006 Dark Ride 2006 Hatchet 2006 Simon Says 2006 The Tripper 2006 See No Evil 2006 and Gutterballs 2008 each reference early 1980s slasher films though they were sidelined to limited distribution in a market crowded by splatter films in the wake of Saw 2004 and its sequels Wes Craven one of the biggest names in horror for over three decades directed box office disappointments My Soul to Take 2011 and Scream 4 2011 which sold only 1 8 million and 4 7 million tickets respectively The Strangers 2008 and You re Next 2011 were applauded for their craftsmanship and post 9 11 twist on the home invasion genre though neither film generated much interest beyond horror fans 1980s homages Tucker amp Dale vs Evil 2010 and The Final Girls 2015 add thematic and emotional subtexts i e stereotyping and grief bringing praise for effectively mixing horror with heart 96 97 Meta horror sleeper hit The Cabin in the Woods 2012 was a financial and critical success that shook preconceived notions and twisted them unexpected ways that marked a conscious turning point for the whole horror genre not just slasher films audiences wanted surprising and original thrillers that were not strict throwbacks These small but noticeable changes would come to affect the genre in the coming decade Remakes and reboots Edit As 1990s Scream inspired slasher films dwindled in popularity the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003 became a sleeper hit by playing on public s familiarity of the 1974 original but promising updated thrills and suspense Like Gus Van Sant s Psycho 1998 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre dilute the original film s controversial aspects for maximum commercial appeal The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake sold over 13 5 million tickets in North America and was followed by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Beginning 2006 which sold a respectable 6 million tickets though it was still struck by diminishing returns Riding on the success of the 21st Century s Chainsaw Massacre remake was House of Wax 2005 Black Christmas 2006 April Fool s Day 2008 Train 2008 Remakes of The Fog 2005 When a Stranger Calls 2006 and Prom Night 2008 were watered down and released with PG 13 ratings to pull in the largest teenage audience possible though only Prom Night sold more tickets than its original counterpart Rob Zombie s Halloween 2007 took the simplicity of the original 1978 film but added an extreme vision that according to critics replaced everything that made the first film a success Despite these criticisms Zombie s Halloween sold nearly 8 5 million tickets but its negative reception hurt its violent sequel Halloween II 2009 which could not sell 4 5 million tickets just two years after its predecessor Extreme violence in the Halloween or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remakes hit its peak with The Hills Have Eyes 2006 and its less well received sequel The Hills Have Eyes 2 2007 The remake era peaked in 2009 under releases of My Bloody Valentine Friday the 13th The Last House on the Left Sorority Row The Stepfather and Halloween II Of those Friday the 13th was most successful selling 8 7 million tickets and Sorority Row was least successful with under 1 6 million tickets sold The following year A Nightmare on Elm Street remake like the Friday the 13th remake had a large opening weekend but quickly fell off the box office charts after Straight to video remakes Mother s Day 2010 Silent Night 2012 and Silent Night Bloody Night The Homecoming 2013 were met with little reception or praise Curse of Chucky 2013 a sequel with elements of a reboot of the Child s Play series and the first entry not released in theaters was well received and given a sequel of its own in 2017 The reboot Texas Chainsaw 3D 2013 acts as a sequel to the 1974 original film but lackluster box office profits led to its prequel Leatherface 2017 to a direct to download release Leatherface was filmed in 2015 but shelved for two years Recent works Edit A decline in theatrical profits encouraged film producers to creatively translate the horror film genre to a television audience The success of FX s American Horror Story and AMC s The Walking Dead green lit a number of networks to develop horror series several structured or based on slasher films A amp E s Bates Motel and former MTV and now VH1 s Scream offered creative deaths and cathartic suspense while Freeform s Pretty Little Liars and The CW s Riverdale took more restrained approaches to the young adult demographic Netflix s Slasher and Fox s Scream Queens are were intended to be anthologies with new settings and mysteries every season A TV remake of The Bad Seed aired on Lifetime in fall 2018 98 In June 2018 Child s Play creator Don Mancini tweeted that he is shopping a TV series with Brad Dourif as Chucky The series simply titled Chucky began airing on the Sci Fi network in October 2021 99 100 In 2022 writer Ryan J Brown debuted his comedy horror series Wreck on BBC Three which took inspiration from the slasher and horror fiction and was advertised as a British interpretation of the genre 101 102 It Follows 2014 was a critical success mixing slasher film style with demonic fantasy and metaphorical subtext The Guest 2014 and Don t Breathe 2016 twisted conventional tropes into unexpected takes on the horror genre Bodom 2016 is inspired but not based on a real 1960s murder case attempt trying to reconstruct events by potential victims 103 Blumhouse Productions founded by Jason Blum on his successful Paranormal Activity and Insidious series released slasher films Happy Death Day 2017 and Truth or Dare 2018 Three sequels and a television series followed The Purge while Happy Death Day 2U found modest success in February 2019 Blumhouse released meta sequels The Town That Dreaded Sundown 2014 and Halloween 2018 which retconned their predecessors to begin a new continuity 104 Halloween in particular was a huge success for Blumhouse and Universal Pictures Released 40 years after the original and reuniting star Jamie Lee Curtis with producer John Carpenter the film opened to record breaking numbers The largest debut for Blumhouse the largest debut for a slasher film the largest debut of a female led horror film and the largest debut for a film starring a woman over 55 years old 105 Two back to back sequels Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends were released in 2021 and 2022 respectively In October 2018 and after Halloween s massive box office and strong critical reviews 106 Roy Lee s Vertigo Entertainment and LeBron James SpringHill Entertainment acquired the rights to a thirteenth Friday the 13th film 107 On June 19 2019 the co producers of It released Child s Play a reimagining that turns Chucky into an out of control artificially intelligent toy 108 On September 13 2019 the film Haunt was released by Momentum Pictures 109 Blumhouse and Universal Pictures re teamed to release a second remake of Black Christmas on December 13 2019 which was poorly received and bombed at the box office 110 Christopher Landon s slasher comedy Freaky which released on November 13 2020 was produced by Blumhouse with distribution rights held by Universal Pictures 111 112 Jordan Peele produced Candyman for Universal Pictures and MGM 113 The film s release was delayed to August 27 2021 due to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic 114 115 116 James Wan and Shawn Levy partnered as producers with Netflix through their production companies 21 Laps Entertainment and Atomic Monster Productions to create the slasher film There s Someone Inside Your House 117 118 119 It was directed by Patrick Brice from a screenplay by Henry Gayden based on the 2017 eponymous novel by Stephanie Perkins 120 The film was released on October 6 2021 121 122 123 124 A fifth film in the popular slasher series Scream was announced to be in development 125 126 127 128 129 Filming began on September 22 2020 130 131 The film was released on January 14 2022 132 133 A new genre of slasher movies centred around killer animatronics was largely inspired by the success of the Five Nights at Freddy s videogame franchise Whilst a film adaptation of the franchise has been in development since as early as 2015 several roadblocks have prevented it s creation and released with series creator Scott Cawthon announcing in 2018 that the script had been scrapped 134 135 Several other films were created to cash in on the Five Nights at Freddy s franchise such as The Banana Splits Movie 2019 and the Nicholas Cage film Willy s Wonderland 2021 136 137 See also EditList of horror film villains List of horror films set in academic institutions List of American slasher films List of slasher films Hack and slashReferences Edit a b c d Clayton Wickham 2015 Style and form in the Hollywood slasher film Basingstoke Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 9781137496478 OCLC 927961472 Petridis Sotiris 2014 A Historical Approach to the Slasher Film Film International 12 1 76 84 a b Celebrating The Impact amp Influence Of Michael Powell s Peeping Tom Top 10 Films www top10films co uk December 18 2016 Retrieved 2018 05 14 Mark D Eckel 2014 When the Lights Go Down p 167 WestBow Press a b The History of Horror s Cult Following Film School Rejects October 24 2017 Retrieved 2018 05 14 Petridis Sotiris 2019 Anatomy of the Slasher Film A Theoretical Analysis North Carolina McFarland ISBN 978 1476674315 a b c Clover Carol J Fall 1987 Her Body Himself Gender in the Slasher Film PDF Representations 20 187 228 doi 10 2307 2928507 JSTOR 2928507 a b c Grant Catherine May 20 2009 Film Studies For Free Final Girl Studies Film Studies For Free Retrieved 2018 05 14 a b c Vera Dika 1990 Games of Terror Halloween Friday the 13th and the Films of the Stalker Cycle Fairleigh Dickinson University Press ISBN 978 0 8386 3364 9 What Truly Was the First Slasher Film A Paste Investigation pastemagazine com July 20 2020 Retrieved 2023 01 18 on Brent Dunham October 31 2019 The Best Slasher Movies That Aren t Slasher Movies StudioBinder Retrieved 2022 12 24 a b Jim Harper 2004 Legacy of Blood A Comprehensive Guide to Slasher Movies Critical Vision p 34 ISBN 9781900486392 Retrieved 2015 08 25 a b Kerswell 2012 p 161 Sidney Prescott More than a Final Girl Cinefilles Retrieved 2018 05 14 Could You Stomach the Horrors of Halftime in Ancient Rome Live Science Retrieved 2018 05 14 Penny Dreadful How The Grand Guignol Gave Birth to Horror Den of Geek Retrieved 2018 05 14 a b Remembering Hollywood s Hays Code 40 Years On NPR org Retrieved 2018 05 14 Marla Brooks March 30 2005 The American Family on Television A Chronology of 121 Shows 1948 2004 McFarland pp 75 ISBN 978 0 7864 2074 2 Mary Roberts Rinehart americanliterature com Retrieved 2018 05 14 a b The Bat 1926 A Silent Film Review Movies Silently March 18 2015 Retrieved 2018 05 14 Kerswell 2012 pp 20 21 Dawn Keetley August 12 2016 Thirteen Women 1932 The Slasher that Started it All Horror Homeroom Retrieved 2018 05 14 The Leopard Man Turner Classic Movies Retrieved 2018 05 14 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Kerswell 2012 p page needed The Spiral Staircase 1946 Turner Classic Movies Retrieved 2018 05 14 The Birth and Evolution of the Slasher Film Classic Film Haven November 1 2013 Retrieved 2018 05 14 Dawn Keetley July 11 2016 And Then There Were None The Agatha Christie Revival Horror Homeroom Retrieved 2018 05 14 Kerswell 2012 pp 23 25 Kerswell 2012 pp 25 28 a b 14 Crazy Facts About Psycho September 7 2015 Retrieved 2018 05 14 Kerswell 2012 pp 28 29 The Oscars Top 10 greatest best picture snubs of all time March 2 2018 Retrieved 2018 05 14 Psycho The horror movie that changed the genre EW com Retrieved 2018 05 14 Strait Jacket Turner Classic Movies Retrieved 2018 05 14 Berserk www joancrawfordbest com Retrieved 2018 05 14 Night Must Fall 1964 www warnerbros com Retrieved 2018 05 14 Corruption Turner Classic Movies Retrieved 2018 05 14 About Hammer Hammer Films Retrieved 2018 05 14 THE HISTORY OF HAMMER STUDIOS prezi com Retrieved 2018 05 14 HAMMER WHO SEVERIN S THE AMICUS COLLECTION IS SIMPLY SMASHING Rue Morgue February 8 2018 Retrieved 2018 05 14 Kerswell 2012 p 33 Homicidal Turner Classic Movies Retrieved 2018 05 15 Violent Midnight Lets You Watch From the Killer s Point of View AMC Archived from the original on 2018 05 15 Retrieved 2018 05 15 Kerswell 2012 p 34 Kerswell 2012 pp 33 36 a b c d e Troy Howarth 2015 So deadly so perverse 50 years of Italian giallo films Baltimore Midnight Marquee Press ISBN 9781936168507 OCLC 923061416 Abrams Simon Happy birthday Blood Feast digging into the guts of the very first splatter film RogerEbert com Retrieved 2018 05 15 Kerswell 2012 pp 34 36 Phil Nobile Jr October 11 2015 A Genre Between Genres The Shadow World Of German Krimi Films Birth Movies Death Retrieved 2018 05 15 Katharina Hall March 3 2016 Crime fiction in german Der Krimi Cardiff ISBN 9781783168187 OCLC 944186492 Kerswell 2012 pp 38 43 Alexia Kannas July 2013 No Place Like Home The Late Modern World of the Italian giallo Film Senses of Cinema Retrieved 2018 05 15 Torso GialloScore Archived from the original on 2019 01 13 Retrieved 2018 05 15 Kerswell 2012 pp 49 51 Kerswell 2012 pp 51 54 A Dragonfly for Each Corpse GialloScore Archived from the original on 2018 07 30 Retrieved 2018 05 15 The Giallo Files Death Steps in the Dark The Giallo Files Retrieved 2018 05 15 Kerswell 2012 pp 54 55 The Jekyll and Hyde Portfolio A Clockwork Blue Vinegar Syndrome Retrieved 2020 01 09 Stine Scott Aaron 2001 The Gorehound s Guide to Splatter Films of the 1960s and 1970s McFarland amp Company p 154 ISBN 978 0786409242 Powers Gabe April 8 2019 Proto Slashers A Brief History Genre Grinders Retrieved 2022 10 14 Kerswell 2012 pp 56 60 Kerswell 2012 pp 57 58 Kerswell 2012 pp 59 64 Kerswell 2012 pp 66 68 Kerswell 2012 pp 60 61 Kerswell 2012 pp 70 71 Kerswell 2012 p 80 Eyes of Laura Mars 1978 Box Office Mojo Retrieved 2018 05 14 a b c Kerswell 2012 pp 72 80 Kerswell 2012 pp 82 83 Friday the 13th 1980 Box Office Mojo Retrieved 2018 05 14 Gene Siskel s Original Friday The 13th Mini Review For The Chicago Tribune Retrieved 2014 06 15 Kerswell 2012 pp 89 90 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Nowell 2011 p page needed Chelsea McCracken April 14 2017 The Controversy of CRUISING Cinematheque Retrieved 2018 05 14 Kerswell 2012 pp 87 88 93 Canby Vincent January 31 1981 HOMICIDAL MANIAC The New York Times Retrieved 2018 05 14 Kerswell 2012 p 100 Jon Wamsley December 9 2015 What s In The Basement Funeral Home 30 Years Later Cryptic Rock Retrieved 2018 05 14 The Unseen 1981 AFI Catalog Retrieved 2018 05 14 Kerswell 2012 pp 86 100 a b c Kerswell 2012 pp 118 130 a b c d e Kerswell 2012 pp 132 144 Seibold Witney February 13 2017 The Sexual Politics of Sleepaway Camp New Beverly Cinema Retrieved 2018 05 14 Kerswell 2012 pp 142 152 Master Class How Wes Craven Reinvented the Horror Genre Three Decades in a Row Tribeca Retrieved 2018 05 14 a b Behind the 10 Most Shocking Nightmare on Elm Street Scenes Rolling Stone October 30 2014 Retrieved 2018 05 14 How New Line Cinema Is Making a Killing in Horror The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 2018 05 14 Kerswell 2012 pp 150 152 Kerswell 2012 pp 156 157 Kerswell 2012 pp 158 159 Kerswell 2012 pp 159 161 Kerswell 2012 pp 166 168 Kerswell 2012 p 165 Tucker and Dale vs Evil retrieved 2018 05 31 The Final Girls retrieved 2018 05 31 Andreeva Nellie December 15 2017 Rob Lowe Stars In The Bad Seed Remake With A Gender Switch Eyed By Lifetime Deadline Retrieved 2018 06 23 Haring Bruce June 23 2018 Child s Play Series May Be Headed To TV After Creator Twitter Tease Deadline Retrieved 2018 06 23 Chucky first look Get a killer tease of horror icon s TV show Entertainment Weekly Wreck release date trailer cast plot episode guide first looks interviews and all about the cruise ship comedy horror October 9 2022 BBC Orders Comedy Horror Series Wrecked from The Sister Producer Euston Films EXCLUSIVE March 30 2021 Kirssi Elina Bodom ohjaaja Taneli Mustonen Elokuva valmistui vasta eilen illalla Iltalehti Retrieved 2016 11 02 N Duka Amanda April 25 2018 Halloween Jamie Lee Curtis Unmasks First Trailer At CinemaCon Deadline Retrieved 2018 06 23 Mendelson Scott All The Box Office Records Halloween Broke In Its 76M Debut Weekend Forbes Retrieved 2018 10 24 Halloween 2018 retrieved 2018 10 26 Kroll Justin October 22 2018 LeBron James to Produce Friday the 13th Reboot Variety Retrieved 2018 10 24 Child s Play Reboot In the Works at MGM From It Producers Collider July 3 2018 Retrieved 2018 07 16 Harvey Dennis September 11 2019 Film Review Haunt Variety Retrieved 2020 01 23 Jeff Sneider June 14 2019 Blumhouse to Remake Black Christmas with Director Sophia Takal Collider Archived from the original on 2019 06 14 Retrieved 2019 06 15 Cavanaugh Patrick August 14 2019 Happy Death Day Director Offers an Update on His Upcoming Blumhouse Project ComicBook Retrieved 2019 10 24 D Alessandro Anthony September 10 2020 Universal Sets Blumhouse Body Swap Movie Freaky For Fall Theatrical Release Deadline Hollywood Retrieved 2020 09 10 Kroll Justin February 26 2019 Jordan Peele s Candyman Finds Its Star EXCLUSIVE Variety Retrieved 2019 06 15 Couch Aaron October 21 2020 Universal s Candyman Finds 2021 Release Date The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 2020 10 27 D Alessandro Anthony July 8 2020 Blumhouse amp Universal Move Halloween Kills Forever Purge amp More To Later Release Dates Deadline Hollywood Retrieved 2020 07 08 Rubin Rebecca September 11 2020 Nia DaCosta s Candyman Release Delayed to 2021 Variety Retrieved 2020 09 11 Wiseman Andreas March 15 2018 Netflix Boards Coming Of Age Slasher Movie With Stranger Things Outfit 21 Laps And James Wan s Atomic Monster Deadline Retrieved 2018 11 06 Miska Brad March 15 2018 Netflix and James Wan Joining Forces for Slasher There s Someone Inside Your House BloodyDisgusting Retrieved 2020 07 16 Kit Borys August 14 2019 Shawn Levy James Wan s Horror There s Someone Inside Your House Sets Cast Exclusive The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 2019 08 15 N Duka Amanda March 14 2019 Patrick Brice To Helm There s Someone Inside Your House Film For Netflix Deadline Hollywood Retrieved 2019 08 15 Squires John August 23 2021 Creep Director Patrick Brice s New Movie There s Someone Inside Your House Crashes Netflix in October BloodyDisgusting Retrieved 2021 08 23 Lost Ollie Family Series from Spider Verse Director in the Works at Netflix Collider October 6 2020 Retrieved 2020 10 06 D Alessandro Anthony July 23 2020 Creep Franchise Filmmaker Patrick Brice Heads Into The Wild For HBO Max and Warner Max Deadline Hollywood Retrieved 2020 07 23 Actress Sydney Park On Being The Lead In James Wan s Horror There s Someone Inside Your House YouTube December 21 2020 Archived from the original on 2021 12 11 Retrieved 2020 07 26 Miska Brad November 6 2019 Spyglass Resurrecting Ghostface in New Scream Movie Exclusive BloodyDisgusting Ghostface To Return As Scream 5 Is Officially In Development November 7 2019 Clint Caffeinated November 7 2019 Scream 5 coming Moviehole A Scream 5 movie is apparently in the works The Daily Dot November 7 2019 Goldberg Matt November 7 2019 A New Scream Movie Is Currently in the Works Collider First permits for Scream 5 issued filming to begin Sept 22 WECT News September 11 2020 Retrieved 2020 09 22 Scenes for Scream 5 to be filmed at Williston Middle School Cardinal Lanes WECT News September 16 2020 Retrieved 2020 09 22 Kroll Justin June 24 2020 New Scream Movie From Spyglass Media Will Be Released by Paramount EXCLUSIVE Variety Retrieved 2020 06 24 Miska Brad August 28 2020 Relaunch of Scream Slashing Into Theaters on January 14 2022 BloodyDisgusting Retrieved 2020 08 28 Kit Borys April 7 2015 Video Game Five Nights at Freddy s Getting Movie Treatment Exclusive The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 2023 01 18 McWhertor Michael November 12 2018 Five Nights at Freddy s movie delayed new AAA game in the works Polygon Retrieved 2023 01 18 Patches Matt June 13 2019 Syfy basically turned the kids show Banana Splits into a Five Nights at Freddy s movie Polygon Retrieved 2023 01 18 Andy Chalk last updated January 16 2021 Nicolas Cage s next movie is a blatant Five Nights at Freddy s ripoff PC Gamer Retrieved 2023 01 18 Works cited EditDiMarie Philip C ed 2011 Movies in American History An Encyclopedia Vol 1 ABC CLIO ISBN 978 1 598 84296 8 Kerswell J A 2012 The Slasher Movie Book Chicago Ill Chicago Review Press ISBN 978 1556520105 OCLC 761851819 Nowell Richard 2011 Blood money a history of the first teen slasher film cycle New York Continuum ISBN 9781441188502 OCLC 701057235 Portals Film Speculative fiction Horror 1980s Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Slasher film amp oldid 1143301967, 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