10 80s Slasher Movies You May Not Have Seen
7. Death Valley (1982)
Following in the footsteps of Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes, 1982's Death Valley replaces hungry cannibals with a serial killer that has a fondness for sharp objects.
The movie follows a young family as they pass through California on a road trip vacation. Unfortunately their curious child stumbles across a murder scene and becomes the killer's next target before he can identify him to the authorities.
Another big studio slasher, Death Valley takes the murder mystery elements of Columbo, some soap opera-style family drama and adds a healthy dose of gore and cat-and-mouse shenanigans. All of this ties together quite nicely thanks to a very well written script and a palpable sense of encroaching dread throughout.
Death Valley takes the unusual step of having the protagonist be a nine year-old boy, with this stellar turn from Peter Billingsley is this movie's crowning asset. The young actor is lovably sarcastic but never grates on the viewer as he shows impressive wit and imbues his character with admirable determination to stay alive.
The vast desert setting adds a different kind of paranoia to Death Valley than that of the average slasher as well. Here there are no places to hide as the desert stretches as far as the eye can see.
Even then though, we know a slash-happy killer still lurks somehow unseen in the wide open space.