The slasher is a pretty simplistic subgenre of horror cinema – the only requirement is a serial killer who picks off the protagonists in quick succession – but it’s become easily one of the most popular, because it presents filmmakers with the chance to create unforgettable villains. It’s fun to tackle a movie genre with rigid tropes like the slasher, because it just means that storytellers have the opportunity to upend and subvert those tropes.
One way to do that is by mixing another genre into a slasher. Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, for example, is as much a carsploitation movie as it is a slasher.
Death Proof (2007)
Expertly blending carsploitation and slasher with its unique premise, Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof tells the story of a Hollywood stunt driver who uses his “death-proof” car to kill women in gruesome crashes in his spare time.
Tarantino made the movie as part of the double feature Grindhouse alongside Robert Rodriguez’s zombie-infested B-movie homage Planet Terror. The director considers Death Proof to be his worst movie, but it still has a lot to offer.
Happy Death Day (2017)
Christopher Landon’s darkly comic slasher Happy Death Day brings a horror sensibility to the kind of time loop found in comedies like Groundhog Day. The twist here is that, in each case, the day ends when the protagonist is murdered by a masked killer.
This is a rare example of a horror movie with a juicy premise that actually executes it well. Most movies would squander a premise like this, but Happy Death Day tells a satisfying story.
Jason X (2001)
Any movie franchise about a guy who stabs people that reaches its 10th installment is going to struggle to keep things fresh. With Jason X, the plan was to keep the Friday the 13th series fresh by sending Jason Voorhees to space in the 9th sequel.
The movie opens with Jason being cryogenically frozen for over 400 years. He reawakens on a spaceship in the distant future and decides to kill everyone onboard.
Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil (2010)
A bunch of kids staying at a cabin in the woods believe they’re being targeted by backwoods killers when they encounter two well-meaning hillbillies who are renovating their new vacation home.
Through a series of horrific accidents, Tucker and Dale are mistaken for killers. Underneath all the grisly gore and guffaw-inducing gags, there’s also a surprising amount of heart in Tucker & Dale vs. Evil.
You’re Next (2011)
Adam Wingard’s You’re Next flips slasher conventions on their head. Some killers in animal masks crash a family gathering in a mansion out in the middle of nowhere and get more than they bargained for when the would-be final girl Erin fights back.
Simon Barrett’s darkly comic script mixes in the tone of country house dramas about bickering rich families and there’s also a hint of Agatha Christie murder mystery in there.
American Psycho (2000)
Just like the controversial Bret Easton Ellis novel upon which it was based, American Psycho blends the gory violence of a slasher with razor-sharp satire of corporate culture.
The movie is a psychological thriller built around the fractured psyche of self-obsessed suit Patrick Bateman, who may or may not moonlight as a deranged serial killer. Christian Bale gives one of his career-best performances in the role of Patrick.
Black Christmas (1974)
Do Christmas movies count as their own genre? In addition to avoiding the clichés of the slasher genre with its yuletide setting, Black Christmas was one of the genre’s early trendsetters – back when there were only a few clichés to subvert seeing as the term “slasher” wasn’t coined until later.
John Carpenter’s seminal low-budget masterpiece Halloween is considered to be the first modern slasher, and Black Christmas had a big influence on it. It’s about a group of sorority sisters who are targeted by a serial killer over the holidays; there are two remakes so far.
Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
After the first Happy Death Day movie combined a slasher with a Groundhog Day-style time loop comedy, its sequel Happy Death Day 2U mixed in elements of science fiction with a pastiche of Back to the Future Part II.
In the sequel, Tree is transported to an alternate dimension where she has to once again relive the same day over and over again while evading a killer.
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
Wes Craven introduced fantastical elements to the slasher with A Nightmare on Elm Street. Supernatural villains are nothing new to horror movies, but A Nightmare on Elm Street veers into fantasy territory with its trippy depictions of the dreamscape.
Before Christopher Nolan came along with a little metaphysical heist movie called Inception, this was the most iconic cinematic depiction of the dream world.
Psycho (1960)
Widely regarded to be the first ever slasher, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho masterfully builds the suspense up to its iconic shower murder at the midpoint, then follows the investigation into the victim’s disappearance in the second half, which leads to more murders.
Norman Bates is one of the most terrifying, unforgettable villains in the history of horror cinema, but Psycho isn’t just a horror movie; it also works brilliantly as a straightforward thriller.
