1. Staying Alive: Slasher Franchises
As millions watched Janet Leigh brutally slaughtered by one, in-drag Norman Bates in the shower
of her motel room back in 1960, they thought it could not get any worse. Two on-screen deaths, a
flushing toilet and a bra-revealing lady in bed with a man. Sickening! Of course, the shock of Psycho
was somewhat stifled when the swinging sixties got into full flow- sex, drugs, rock and roll and all.
However, the fact remained that the movie began the slasher movie craze that was to dominate
much of the following three decades, reinvigorating the horror genre and liberating it from its
plethora of scientist-created monsters.
So what happened next? The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 1974 provided the brutality to get the
slasher movie into the mainstream. The fact the film was scarcely inspired by real-life killer Ed Gein
meant that people flocked to see the visualization of his crimes. Banned in dozens of countries and
millions shocked by its content, the publicity and controversy surrounding the movie helped it to
make a very impressive $30 million at the box office, with it now being regarded as one of the
greatest horror movies of all time. The character of Leatherface also brought in a new shocking type
of villain- the remorseless, faceless (discounting the mask, of course), emotionless killing machine.
Halloween in 1978 inspired Friday The 13th
and both series introduced iconic characters in Michael
Myers and Jason Voorhees. The 80’s then brought in a new reason not to sleep at night- Freddy
Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. This period is often cited as being the golden age
of slasher movies- a whole generation terrified by new sights, sounds and villains that had quite
simply never been on the screen before. Slasher films were the original reason teenagers snuck into
theatres across the globe and why our parents were more prone to getting completely terrified
every time we jump-scared them as kids. But, as the money rolled in for these exciting new movies,
the inevitable followed- sequels.
The Halloween franchise had 8 movies between 1978 and 2002. Friday the 13th
had 10 between
1980 and 2002, while the Elm street series had 7 between 1984 and 1994. How did these franchises
last so long? Critical responses were hit and miss, box-office takings were lacklustre and they were
unable to capture the original tension and excitement of their original movies. Let’s look at some of
the commonly themed actions that the three big series made in trying to revive their near-dead
horses. NOTE: I could go on forever about many different slasher franchises but these ARE the big 3
– the Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin of their genre.
The Kill Count:
More blood, more action, more interest, more money. Or so is the theory. In each of the original
sequels following the first appearance of Freddy, Jason and Michael, the kill-count went up on
average by just under 4. Mr Voorhees was the worst offender with an average of 13.2 kills in a
movie, Mr Myers came up in the rear with 12.3 and striped sweater enthusiast Krueger finished with
a paltry 4.3- though the count went up steadily following the first movie.
Location, Location, Location:

2. Jason couldn’t have stuck around Crystal Lake forever- the writers were starting to struggle with
reasons why people flocked to the place despite the fact it had a package holiday record on par with
Thomas Cook. Since then, Jason has travelled to all corners of the universe, including New York, Hell
and Space, much like a mass-murdering David Attenborough. The Halloween franchise has gone for
the more traditionalist approach- staying in the same area but having different venues. Mental
hospitals, colleges and factories have been used- and though this will have people angrily screaming
“CLICHÉ!” at their screens, they are forever more interesting than the abandoned house they used in
the original couple of movies. Freddy sticks around Elm Street but he doesn’t necessarily STAY on
Elm Street. He floats around the world of sleep and even battles teens when they enter a shared
dream together (take that, Inception). Freddy even enters hell himself at some point, though we’ll
get back to that in a minute. The location spectacle has died down in recent years, though it was
definitely something moviemakers focused on at the slasher genre’s height.
We go together...
Now this doesn’t apply to Halloween as they didn’t partake in any such engagements, but Friday the
13th
and A Nightmare on Elm Street culminated two decades of boring sequels with crossover
lovechild Freddy vs Jason. The film was meant to reignite interest in the genres and it did for a brief
while- the film made good money and gathered some good reviews. The film was very generic but it
was fun- watching those two horror heavyweights going at each other in hell and at Crystal Lake
was the height of early noughties entertainment. However, the film was desperate cash in and
though it was successful, no one went out and bought the nearest hockey mask they could find.
Copy and Paste:
Remakes! Of course there had to be remakes on this list and many of you will either be silently
nodding in agreement or angrily clenching your fist at the mere thought. Remakes are always a
touchy subject in the film-fan community and some hate the idea that their classic childhood movie
can be reimagined with a pop brat as the new lead *cough* Karate Kid *cough*. However, slasher
movies can be so generic and with a worn out franchise that no-one bats an eye when someone tries
their hand at reviving it. Between 2007 and 2010, the big three mentioned above all received
remakes, with Halloween even receiving a sequel to its remake. The franchises had been dead for a
while and a Hollywood bright spark thought it would introduce these characters to a new
generation. The good news is it did, the bad news is nobody cared. Though the money made was
average at best and the reviews even more mediocre, the rise of paranormal and haunting movies
has effectively rendered slasher the forgotten child of the horror genre.
So, what next? ANOTHER set of remakes are supposedly in the pipeline, though I think for now it’s
safe to assume they won’t be box-office smashes. Slasher movies are quite simply not in the
limelight at the moment and they won’t be for quite a few years at best. However, things always
come full-circle and the final nail isn’t in the coffin yet- so Jason, Freddy ad Michael will surely be
terrifying moviegoers for years to come.