Slashers

[red ass skull muhfukkah]

I'm not sure why but Slashers are one of my favorite genre of movies. Maybe its the animal instinct instilled in all of us that tells us to kill or maybe we're just sick bastards who enjoy seeing others being stalked and brutally murdered. Whatever reason we like them so much, hows about we list our favorites here eh?

I'll skip the well known Halloween and Friday the 13th series and start with some lesser knowns.

The 1983 classic, Sleepaway Camp follows all of the slasher stereotypes; summer camp, unnecessary sex and nude scenes, and brutal deaths. It's about a girl named Angela and her cousin go to a summer camp. While there the kids and counselors start dying and the fingers start pointing. Like I said, it follows all of the typical slasher motifs but the one thing that sets it apart from the rest is the ending. "Holy shit, what the fuck was that?" That's the common phrase heard every time I watch the movie with someone who's never seen it. The rest of the trilogy is worth the watch if your a fan of slashers but don't quite live up to the standards the first one set.

This movie has become apart of my holiday movie tradition. Little Billy's parents get killed by a guy in a Santa Suit. Years later after spending his life in an orphanage and sick of how things are going, he dons the Santa suit and starts a killing spree. I remember watching this when I was a kid and being scared shitless of Santa for like two years. Once again it follows the classic slasher template but the Christmas setting and flair sets apart from the rest of the pack.


So what are some of your favorites?

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I agree the original is easily the best film in the entire series, but Teenage Wasteland is a close second favorite for me. Besides Barney, Angela's victims in this film were annoying and unlikeable characters, so you really didn't feel any sympathy for them. Teenage Wasteland features some of the most creative and brutal kills in the entire series, and the ending is just hilarious.

The story for this film is pretty simple. A sadistic killer named Evil taunts the host of New Year's Eve party. Blaze is the host, and the killer promises to kill a new victim, when the clock strikes midnight in different time zones. The killer only targets women, and Blaze is targeted as his last victim.

I love the hardcore punk rock vibe in this film, and the director, Emmett Alston (who also came up with the story) really captures the essence of the 80's here. Kip Niven's performance as the cold and sadistic killer is just phenomenal, and he really nailed the Evil character. Story wise, New Year's Evil follows the pattern of your typical 80's slasher. The deaths are pretty bloody, there's a little bit of nudity, and yes, this film is loaded with stupid characters. But there's a nice twist at the very end, and New Year's Evil delivers a good cliffhanger.

Armed with a power drill, a crazy killer terrorizes a group of women during a slumber party.

First of all, you're not suppose to take this film seriously. The Slumber Party Massacre is a parody of slasher films. It's supposed to be cheesy and over the top, and I love this film. The deaths are beyond gruesome, and the dark humor is just fantastic. Slumber Party Massacre II is okay at best, but the third film in this series is fucking terrible.

In London, the killer targets men dressed as Santa Claus.

I accidentally found this one a few years ago, and I was pleasantly surprised. Don't Open Till Christmas follows the formula of a standard slasher, but the Christmas setting provides a refreshing atmosphere. The kills are pretty graphic and brutal, the story is decent enough, and the cast is solid.

 

[IT Factor]

I love horror and slasher type of movies. The thrill of being scared is second to none and gets my adrenaline pumping and alot of great movies have done just that. Of course, there is the other extreme: bad slasher movies. There are alot of low rent, indie type of awful attempts at horror films. Most of which you'll find playing on the Chiller network and even some of them appear on IFC late nights.

I do agree that Halloween & Friday the 13th have been overdone and are the most famous mainstream horror flicks. Same with the Nightmare on Elm Street series. Don't get me wrong, I love those films because they are great and have alot of ingenious kills and brutality in them[not to mention all the hotties usually killed off whilst fucking ].

One major horror flick that gets underrated is the Hellraiser films[1-3, after that they all started becoming boring and corny]. The original Hellraiser more particularly had a more dark and sinister feel to it that most horror films fail to capture. I also liked the Wishmaster movies and think those are often overlooked. It was a great approach to the Djinn myth and even kind of funny how the Wishmaster demon twisted people's wishes to kill them and get their souls. In some ways, the Wishmaster films were the better Wes Craven movies in comparison to Nightmare on Elm St. Although both had similiar humor and visually impressive kills.

Of course, you cannot have horror films without The Exorcist. Even though it technically isn't a "slasher", it is a pretty damn scary horror film. It was one of the first possession films that kind of set the tone for what all films after would try to recreate. In short, I love all variations and kinds of horror/slasher films. I haven't really gotten to see the "Sleepaway Camp" films, except for a brief 20-30 minutes of the second part on Chiller before I opted to turn it. Nice topic.