Slasher film  

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The slasher film (sometimes referred to as bodycount films and dead teenager movies) is a sub-genre of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer (often wearing a mask) who stalks and graphically murders a series of victims in a random, unprovoked fashion, usually teenagers or young adults within a single day, who are away from mainstream civilization or far away from help and often involved in sex and illegal-drug use. These films typically begin with the murder of a young woman and typically end with a lone female survivor who manages to subdue the killer, only to discover that the problem has not been completely solved. Although Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho provided early inspiration, the first authentic slasher film was Black Christmas, though the success of Halloween and Friday the 13th helped popularize and revolutionize the genre in the 1980s.







Golden age

The three films most often charged with igniting the slasher film "craze" of the 1980s are John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), Sean S. Cunningham's Friday the 13th (1980) and Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), all of which spawned numerous sequels and countless imitators that endlessly recycled their predecessors' character archetypes and plot. Halloween, though not the first film of its kind, was the first to introduce the concept of the slasher as an indestructible evil force and is often considered the film responsible for the rise of the slasher trend, popularizing many of what would become key elements in the genre. Nevertheless, the film Black Christmas (1974), released four years earlier, influenced all that followed, including Halloween. Directed by Bob Clark, the film practically invented modern slasher convention. Many elements from the film, such as point-of-view shots from the killer's perspective and threatening phone calls made from inside the victim's house, would be reused by later filmmakers for decades to come.







Another revival attempt came in 2003 when a remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released. It was financially successful, and a prequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, was released in 2006. The success of TCM would soon lead to a slew of other slasher remakes, including The Hills Have Eyes and its sequel, Black Christmas, The Hitcher, the "reimagining" of John Carpenter's Halloween, and the upcoming Friday the 13th remake.


Critical analysis

Critic Roger Ebert has taken to referring to slasher films as "Dead Teenager Movies", and Carol J. Clover tackled the genre at some length in her book Men, Women and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film, which defines the Final Girl archetype. The history of the slasher was also explored by Mikita Brottman in her book Offensive Films: Toward an Anthropology of Cinema Vomitif. Like most horror films, slashers have typically been ignored (if not derided) by the majority of serious mainstream critics. Suspense maestro J.T.Heslop famously voiced his hatred of the sub-genre, describing it as "trashy, formulaic and, in the case of its central antagonist, prone to idiotic pop-psychology (i.e., 'Mommy didn't love me enough')".

Notable Slasher Films

Most of the following are followed by numerous sequels.

  • Psycho (1960) - Though not technically a slasher film per se, Psycho helped create the archetype of the disguised, mentally deranged killer who preys on innocent (if sexually indiscreet) young women, and would directly influence many later films. As the slasher craze took off in the 1980s, Psycho was resurrected in the form of three bloodier, less subtle sequels. The film was also remade in 1998.
  • The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - The film most often credited with establishing the "staples" of the slasher genre, including young people poking around in places where they don't belong (and harm consequently befalling them), the lone female survivor (or Final Girl), the lumbering masked killer who never speaks, etc. The film was followed by three sequels, a remake, and a prequel to said remake. Over twenty years later Wrong Turn was released. This film was influenced by such films as the above and others like Just Before Dawn & The Prey. Wrong Turn was followed by a sequel, which went straight to DVD.
  • Friday the 13th (1980) - The first in one of the longest and best known slasher series. Notable for the increased level of gore when compared to earlier genre entries, and increasingly elaborate or unique death scenes. Followed by ten sequels. It has also been emulated by video nasties Madman and The Burning. The latter was one of the more controversial slashers that introduced the movie industry to Holly Hunter, Jason Alexander and Fisher Stevens while provoking considerable outrage from censors in the antagonist's weapon of choice (distinguished for a notorious scene where five victims are killed at once while on a boat) combined with a difference in ideology since two of the more questionable characters not only survive, but also execute the killer.
  • The Funhouse (1981) - Paying homage to his previous work along with psycho and Halloween Tobe Hooper portrayed the killer as a less human more monstrous character but this movie is also noted for being one of the first slashers that displayed a general feeling of sympathy towards Gunther Straker (the deformed killer in question) and made the audience take pity on him (Dean Koontz wrote a novelization based on the screenplay that gave a backstory behind the events of this film).
  • Sleepaway Camp (1983) - A classic slasher film with one of the creepiest atmospheres in the entire genre. Its characters, drama, and various methods of murder gave it a cult following on VHS. The film is best remembered for its disturbing climax, which has been hailed as one of the scariest movie scenes ever. It was followed by two campy sequels, an unfinished sequel, and another sequel is expected in the future.
  • Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) - Most notable for the amount of controversy surrounding it during its release: the film was condemned by critics such as Siskel and Ebert, and was protested by various parents and religious groups for its depiction of Santa Claus as a murderer (but it should be noted in that it differed from other slashers as this focussed on the killer in question, showing in some detail how he became a psychotic slasher). Followed by four sequels.
  • Deliria (film) (1987) - Known for combining Giallo with elements of Halloween's "classic" slasher formula! It also delivered some rather clever symbolism (notably the killer's choice in mask). Whilst depicting, it's protaganist: Irving Wallace; The Night Owl as having a classical thespian past, displaying in his behavior and movements as being warped, but also (in a way almost) flamboyant artistic flair, who played deafening pieces of opera music in between his murder-spree only to later on proceed to position his slain victims in artistic & theatrical poses (later as did the character, Francis Dolarhyde: Irving even situates himself amongst their now (almost) lifelike corpses, as if struggling to be part of this group).
  • Scream (1996) - This horror/dark comedy film added a satirical and tongue-in-cheek approach to the standard formula (teens being brutally killed off). The film contained many references and nods to previous films in the slasher genre. Scream began the 1990s slasher revival, and it was followed by two sequels. However, despite its many jabs both at previous slasher movies and itself for following film clichés, the series in fact broke the traditional mold by focusing on the surviving victims rather than a returning killer. A similar movie, Cherry Falls, changed the ideologies further by having a killer targeting specifically virginal teenagers (and having a more compelling back-story that portrayed the killer in a more sympathetic light).

See also

Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Slasher film" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on original research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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