The horror genre is not limited to just one type of story: since the first expressionist forays of 'Nosferatu'passing through the classic suspense 'Psychosis' and culminating in thrillers psychological and horror comedies that populate the contemporary popular imagination, the ramifications of horror are countless – and one of the most popular encompasses an ever-expanding group known as slasher.
Even though 'Halloween – The Night of Terror' actually coined the term slasher In the entertainment landscape, these bloody explorations of the human condition in the face of imminent death date back long before their release in the late 1970s. 'Psychosis', 'Night of Terror' e 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' are some of the titles that scrutinized the tropes of the subgenre and began to denote a kind of “guideline manual” for these exciting and frightening stories.
The formulas of slasher are clear: we have a masked killer, human or formerly human, who has a weapon of his choice to collect his victims and who chooses, as his target, groups of teenagers or young adults (at least the majority). We have the trope of final girl – the heroine who, after facing the strength of her tormentor, ends up surviving -, visuals practically straight out of a nightmare, jump scares constants and a dark and desperate lighting scheme. And, of course, to compose this ominous portrait, the plot is usually set in a country town or a suburban area, which serve as a stage for themes such as trauma, grief and revenge.
Taking advantage of the fact that we are approaching Halloween, we have prepared an unprecedented list ranking the top ten slashers of all time – and that we cannot leave out your selection for Halloween.
Check out our picks below:
Director: Adam Wingard
In 2011, incursions into the slasher they were already quite popular, with several directors repeating formulas without providing us with any modicum of originality or commitment to something different or new. It was up to Adam Wingard revitalize our interest with the launch of 'You're Next'. Betting on a mix of psychological horror with acid humor, the project embraces conventionalities to the point of transforming them into a great homage to cinematographic style and a poignant journey for survival.
Director: Tobe Hooper
When we think about gender slashercountless productions come to mind, accompanied by villains that cause chills even decades after they haunted the big screen. This is the case of Leatherface, antagonist of the iconic franchise 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. Released four years before ‘Halloween’by John Carpenter and in the same year as the classic 'Night of Terror'of Bob Clarkthe feature film gained public attention because it was based on a real story (which we would later discover was not so real) of a serial killer masked and unscrupulous who collected victims using an electric saw, as the title clearly points out.
Directed by: Tim Burton
You didn't expect to find a musical on the list of films slasher - but 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' It is one of the most emblematic of the genre for combining horror, comedy and music in the same place. Inspired by the iconic piece of Stephen Sondheimthe feature film directed by Tim Burton is a great homage to Grand Guignol and turns into a bloody and immersive feast that takes performances incredible names like Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman and many others. Between very well choreographed sequences and a passion for violence and human madness, the title deserves an unquestionable place on our list.
Director: Wes Craven
Wes Craven is known around the planet for its great and incredible horror films slasher – and, twelve years after having impacted his fans with 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'he returned with another revolution to slasher com 'Panic'. With a legion of followers and an ongoing, expansive legacy, the film includes some of the best scenes of the genre as a whole, including the classic chase of Drew Barrymore by the masked killer known as Ghostface, as well as notable and seminal characters from the guidelines slasherscomo Sidney Campbell (Neve Campbell), Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) his Dewey Riley (David Arquette). But the attraction's greatest success is its metalinguistic awareness, transforming Ghostface into a serial killer driven by a passion for horror films and an insane psychopath (whose mantle is passed down from generation to generation.
Director: Dario Argento
Genius, crazy, controversial. These are some adjectives that describe Dario Argento and his undeniable impact on the seventh art, mainly by becoming an emblematic name of the movement giallo. And, in 1982, Argento spearheaded one of the best projects of his career with the acidic metafictional analysis of 'Darkness'exploring human dualism and sexual aberration and even delving into a response to the unfounded criticisms of the violence and rawness of his previous projects. It's no surprise that this classic has multiple references ranging from Agatha Christie e Sir Arthur Conan Doyle until Fritz Lang.
Director: Wes Craven
Shortly after John Carpenter having immortalized Michael Myers as one of the serial killers most iconic in history, Wes Craven decided to take a step forward in the scenario slasher with the launch of 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'. Architecting a powerful, immortal entity known as Freddy Krueger (and incarnated by the incredible Robert Englund), the film is a cinematic achievement for horror and an artistic celebration of the genre as art – telling the story of a merciless killer who kills his victims through dreams. Success yielded nothing less than six direct sequels and one remake launched in 2010.
Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell caused a widespread and polarizing commotion in 1960 by spearheading the ambitious psychological horror 'The Torture of Fear'. Starring Carl Boehm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey e Maxine Audleythe plot follows a serial killer who stalks women and uses a camera to record their expressions of horror and despair as they are murdered. From the ambiguous original title (Peeping Tomreferring to the practice of voyeurism) until the final themes that are brought to the big screen, the film is one of the precursors of the genre slasher and a timeless production cult that involves us in the purest horror.
Director: Dario Argento
The iconic Dario Argento is one of the most influential directors in cinema, especially in his creative peak in the 1970s and 1980s. Diving into horror and giallo in an unnerving and inspiring way, Argento carries with him a series of titles of undeniable importance for the seventh art – including 'Prelude to Killing'. The Italian film focuses on the mix between human despair and the supernatural and deserves to be appreciated in its spectacular completeness.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most celebrated auteur filmmakers of all time, responsible for suspense and horror classics that extend his legacy to this day. And of course the masterpiece of his career, 'Psychosis'would not be left out of our list: bringing Janet Leigh e Anthony Perkins to the big screen, the film is centered on the insane Norman Bates and, although it doesn't have all the tropes we know from slasheris certainly one of the productions that helped immortalize the genre.
Directed by: John Carpenter
No other film could top our list other than 'Halloween – The Night of Terror'. Even though it wasn't the first film slasher of history, was certainly responsible for popularizing the genre from the late 1970s onwards, establishing both the powerful Michael Myers and Laurie Strode as seminal characters in the history of horror – in addition to immortalizing Jamie Lee Curtis as one of the biggest scream queens of the seventh art.
The plot takes us to sinister Haddonfield, which was the scene of a brutal murder orchestrated by the psychotic Michael Myers. Incarcerated in a psychiatric institution, he escapes from the facility fifteen years after the tragedy and returns to his hometown to continue his reign of terror – and choosing young Laurie as his main target.
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