An overview of the slasher genre

1. HISTORY OF THE
SLASHER GENRE
By Conor Horne

2. What is a Slasher movie?
A Slasher film is defined as a
film in which a psychopathic
killer stalks and kills a
sequence of victims in a
graphically violent manner.
Great examples of the most
popular Slasher films include:
Friday the 13th (1980), A
Nightmare on Elm Street
(1984) and Child’s Play
(1984).

3. Earliest influences?
Slasher films have had
influences from many earlier
film like, for example, The
Spiral Staircase (1945) which
featured POV shots and jump
scares; things commonplace in
slasher films. There are
various other influences that
helped shape the genre
throughout the early 20th
century.

4. The first Slasher film?
Many people would say the
Psycho, directed by the great
Alfred Hitchcock is the first
slasher film; the ‘Mother of all
Slashers’. However, the film
Peeping Tom (1960) was
released 3 months before
and has many of the same
conventions and codes
associated with that of a
Slasher film.

5. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
(1973)
The low-budget hit by director
Tobe Hooper is the first film in
one of the leading franchises in
the horror genre itself, let alone
the Slasher genre. Released in
1973 it is considered one of the
greatest and most controversial
horror films ever made. Empire
magazine has described it as
"the most purely horrifying
horror movie ever made“.

6. Black Christmas (1974)
One of my personal favourite
slasher films Black Christmas,
directed and produced by Bob
Clarke sparked the start of
holiday-themed slasher films. It
embodies many of the classic
Slasher tropes: A mysterious
unknown caller, a sorority house,
brutal murders and intrigue as it
leaves you thinking who really
was the murderer?

7. The Golden age of slasher
films.
Now we enter what is known as the Golden age
of slasher films, a time in which the genre really
flourished. Great classics were being crafted like
Child’s Play, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on
Elm Street.

8. Halloween (1978)
Directed by John Carpenter
Halloween became one of the
most successful independnt
horror films ever made
grossing $47 million
(equivalent to $250 million as
of 2014) and paved the way for
many other Slasher films in the
future.

9. Friday the 13th (1980)
Directed by Sean S.
Cunningham Friday the 13th
became one of the best known
films within the golden age of
Slashers, it succeeded in what
it set out to accomplish which
was to frighten the audience.
Funnily enough, Jason, one of
the most recognisable killers
was not actually in the film until
the last scene.

10. A Nightmare on Elm Street
(1984)
Directed by Wes Craven A
Nightmare on Elm Street was
released in 1984 and became
an instant commercial success.
It successfully played on
people’s fear of being out of
control, as the victims were in
their dreams which were
ultimately controlled by Freddy.
A Nightmare on Elm Street has
spawned multiple sequels and
even a remake in 2010.

11. A Rough Patch
After that the genre slowed
down incredibly as less
original and unique ideas
were being put out in favour
of more of the same. More
sequels of some of the
already established
franchises like The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre or
Friday the 13th. With the
new-found popularity of VHS
many low-budget Slasher
films were allowed to pop up,
it was the home video
revolution.

12. A Brand new franchise
In 1988 a brand new
franchise was created;
Child’s play. Child’s play,
directed by Tom Holland
has become a cult hit
despite gaining only
moderate success in the
box office. Chucky, the
main villain has now
become one of the icons of
the slasher genre.

13. An Honourable Mention:
Candyman (1992)
During the 90’s the Slasher
genre saw a new icon with
Bernard Rose’s Candyman,
which showcased the first
black Slasher killer icon. The
narrative, based on a novel by
the horror master Clive Barker
borrows elements from Urban
Legends like Bloody Mary; if
you say her name in the mirror
a few times she will appear.

14. A Revival: SCREAM (1996)
Directed by Wes Craven, who
also directed A Nightmare on
Elm Street, SCREAM saw a
revival to the Slasher genre.
The genre seemed like a fad of
the 80’s that didn’t carry on into
the 90’s yet SCREAM
successfully brought it back.
Adding characters that were
aware of the tropes and
conventions of Slasher films.

15. Return of the Sequels
As with many of the other
main Slasher franchises we
can expect there to be
sequels. The sequel to the
cult-hit, SCREAM 2 gained
$101 million in the box office.
It was the highest grossing R-
rated film of the time. Other
sequels to major franchises
like Halloween and Child’s
play also were released.

16. Remakes, Reboots and
Throwbacks.
By 2002 the Slasher genre had
nearly all disappeared from
modern cinema and since it had
been a long time since there
had been any real new ideas
film-makers chose to make
remakes; to bank on people’s
nostalgia in hopes of creating a
faithful modern adaptation of
such timeless classics. Some
examples of modern remakes
include The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre (2003) and House of
Wax (2005).

17. Late 2000’s to early 2010’s
And that brings us to where we
are today, there have only
really been few new IPs that
have really stood out from the
crowd. There have been
remakes and sequels to some
of the bigger Slasher franchises
though like Friday the 13th
(2009) and A Nightmare on Elm
Street (2010). A notable sequel
to be released though is Curse
of Chucky (2013) which
bypassed cinemas entirely and
went for, instead, a straight-to-
DVD release.