10 Best Horror Movies That Subverted Classic Cliches

Slashers, eh?

Masked mute brutes always swinging machetes at the hapless heads of horny teens and murdering scores of otherwise-happy campers for the minor crimes of smoking weed and doing the dirty. But what if, and get this, instead of holding onto your virginity in order to survive the serial killer’s spree, you had to lose it instead?

Yes, that genius twist is the central subversion in this late nineties post-Scream effort, and boy does it sound tired when you write out like that. Every slasher from Urban Legend to Valentine had to have a gimmick after Scream reignited public interest in the subgenre, but despite how hackneyed the approach of simply subverting one element of a formula only to otherwise slavishly follows its standard beats may sound, Cherry Falls managed to pull it off with panache.

Maybe it’s the killer central performance from the late, great Brittany Murphy as a more ethereal, edgier final girl than we’re used to, maybe it’s the stellar supporting turn from eternal king of sleaze Joy Mohr, or maybe it’s the demented orgy-turned-bloodbath finale—either way, this’s. a subversive horror not to be missed.