10 Overlooked Horror Slasher Movies That Deserve Your Attention
There's more to slashers than Halloween and Friday the 13th.
In the wake of the original Halloween's box-office success, there was one sub-genre of horror that proceeded to dominate the entire landscape - the slasher flick.
These tales were typically centered around masked killers dispatching attractive young adults in increasingly gruesome and creative ways. Often with a 'whodunit' element at play, or a wicked sense of humour that underpinned their more cruel and harsh components.
Fans of the slasher genre have a metric butt-ton of content available to while away the long winter nights, but not all low-budget slice and dice pictures are made equally. For every genre-defining masterpiece like Halloween or Scream, there are at least ten shoddy knock-offs that can barely raise a smile, never mind your heart rate. But for those willing to dig deep into the annals of slasher history, there is an untapped treasure trove of films that can appeal to any depraved taste.
Such films are the subject of this list, which may not be entirely unfamiliar to those in the know, but for those with more "mainstream" horror tastes or a passing appreciation for the fine art of the slasher film, these are the overlooked gems that you should immediately add to your list.
10. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II
The original Prom Night has maintained a devoted following in the years since its release, but its slew of sequels have never seen similar levels of love and praise, and it's easy to see why.
None of the sequels followed on from the original film's story, instead, they slapped the title onto an unrelated bunch of prom-centric films that aired much more on the campier side of things. The best of which is 1987's Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II, a supernatural slasher that sees vengeful ex-prom queen Mary Lou Maloney rise from the grave to bloody up the halls of her old high school in an attempt to get even for being burnt to death during her coronation in 1957.
Despite having no connection to the first film, Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is a worthy successor that tells an equally as entertaining horror story that owes more than a pound of flesh to the likes of A Nightmare on Elm Street and Carrie.
It's certainly not one for those who enjoy serious horror films, but for those of us that love a big old dollop of camp on top of their bloody sundae, it's an absolute corker.