10 Exact Moments That Changed The Horror Movie Genre Forever

6. Black Christmas -

Black Christmas
Warner Bros.

The slasher subgenre is certainly one that splits opinion amongst film fans. Some love nothing more than seeing some hapless disposable teens stalked by a sinister figure, whilst others see slashers as generic, formulaic and the prime example of what is wrong with the horror genre.

Regardless of your stance on this particular corner of the horror world, the roots of the slasher go back to Bob Clark’s original 1974 Black Christmas and John Carpenter’s 1978 Halloween picture.

Halloween and Michael Myers may have popularised the slasher and caused a slew of imitators to rear their heads, but if there was no Black Christmas then there wouldn’t have even been a Halloween.

Black Christmas established the fundamentals that would be seen in a multitude of future films over the decades, with a mysterious and sinister figure targeting a group of young females. Pinpointing one moment that single-handedly changed the horror world? It would have to be the shocking twist ending that revealed the picture’s killer was still at large and ready to stalk another day.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.