The slasher genre is a massively important and popular sub-genre of horror and it all began (properly) with one movie - 1974's Black Christmas. The movie embodied so many of the tropes we have come to associate with the genre; near-indestructible killers who stalk and murder teenage victims, a hero of the tale, branded as "The Final Girl", and of course, gore by the absolute bucketload. This was the start of what would become a very effective formula that inspired hundreds of films since. It was the '80s that saw the slasher rise to an all-time high in terms of popularity, with dozens of films churned out every year to capitalise on the success of the genre. Films like Prom Night, April's Fools Day and Slumber Party Massacre had a lot in common with Black Christmas, but upped the gore and had a slightly more tongue-in-cheek approach. The things that made the genre great in the first place were still present, but it also had to evolve to stay alive, and that it definitely did. Unfortunately time hasn't been particularly kind to the slasher, and finding great post-1980s slashers can be a bit of a challenge, especially with the studios' compulsion to produce copycat junk and remake (or rather butcher) every single classic film. So, naturally, there is a lot of junk. For slasher newbies, it can be overwhelming to decide where to start. Luckily enough, there are some excellent gems to be found in the genre's massive catalogue and, even more luckily, the research has been done to isolate these 10 absolutely essential slasher movies. Let the slashing education begin!
Joe is a television junkie. A film fanatic. A pop culture know-it-all. An interactive media masters student, and a bass player.
22 years old and Irish. Thinks Netflix is a Godsend.
