Break out the candy corn! It's Halloween-time again, and what better way to celebrate than to cuddle up in front of the TV and watch people murder each other.
Slasher movies are an annual October ritual in my house, and for some reason, they still haven't gotten old. In honor of the season, I asked a film junkie and PhD student in English literature Housten Donham (who just so happens to be my boyfriend) to put together a list of his all-time favorites.
His choices aren't just about which has the best blood and gore, and/or boobs. He carefully selected an array of films that demonstrate the variety of styles and the evolution of a genre typically seen as trashy, stupid and grotesquely violent.
So here it is, an academic's guide to the best slasher films of all time...
"Psycho" (1960)
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Alfred Hitchcock's classic film helped to set a foundation that would influence, whether directly or indirectly, every slasher film to follow. (Released within a month of "Peeping Tom," another key proto-slasher.)
"The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (1974)
Infamous for all the right reasons, Tobe Hooper's gritty magnum opus is a truly independent and uncompromisingly brutal look at old-fashioned, homespun cannibalism. Possibly introduced the use of power tools as murder weapons in modern film.
"Halloween" (1978)
Another independent production, Halloween's phenomenal success signaled the beginning of the golden age of slashers, and introduced many of the instantly recognizable traits of the genre: killer point-of-view shots, “the final girl,” and seemingly banal settings.
"The Burning" (1981)
This particularly well-made summer camp slasher is based on the New York urban legend of “Cropsey,” and was the first release from Miramax Films. Though I didn't include the most well-known summer camp slasher "Friday the 13th," a great film in its own right, "The Burning" likewise features the makeup-effects wizardry of Tom Savini.
"Just Before Dawn" (1981)
An unjustly overlooked film from a profoundly underrated filmmaker, Jeff Lieberman ("Squirm," "Blue Sunshine"), "Just Before Dawn" is a refreshingly downtempo, steady look at a bloodthirsty madman out on a killing spree through the woods.
"My Bloody Valentine" (1981)
"My Bloody Valentine" is one of the few holiday-themed slashers that's legitimately good. This Canadian production features a killer in mining gear stalking the teenagers of a small town in Nova Scotia.
"The Slumber Party Massacre" (1982)
Though its title and promotional materials (from producer Roger Corman) may be (intentionally?) misleading, "The Slumber Party Massacre" is a fiercely intelligent feminist deconstruction of slasher cliches, fifteen years before the “meta-horror” of Scream. Consistently misunderstood even today, this golden age slasher is perhaps the only one to be produced, written, and directed entirely by women.
"Tenebrae" (1982)
Dario Argento's entry into the genre features a copycat killer who uses a horror novelist's violent descriptions for their own murder blueprint. Features the Italian director's trademark dream-like cinematography.
"The Stepfather" (1987)
Another slasher with quietly subversive themes, this “thriller-slasher” features a homicidal Terry O'Quinn as the titular antagonist, an all-American family man going toe-to-toe with his well-meaning but clueless wife and ferociously smart stepdaughter.
"Scream" (1996)
Wes Craven's "Scream" pumped new lifeblood into the slasher, reviving the genre for the 90s through its clever mix of self-referential irony and slick violence. But when will the slashers rise again?
List written and compiled by Housten Donham. Contact Andi Berlin at aberlin@tucson.com. On Twitter: @AndiBerlin
