I shall here look at the issue of slasher horror killers through the ages and take a look at some of the lesser known slashers as well as the more established names. There’s nothing I love more than a good slasher film, sadly however good slasher horror films are pretty hard to come by these days and the majority that are made tend to be utter bilge.
The Start of the Slasher Horror Genre
The start of the slasher genre can officially be traced back to the seventies; a decade in which such films as ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and ‘Halloween’ were released; the real start of the genre can perhaps actually be seen to have came with the release of ‘Psycho’ in 1960 though. Remember the shower scene? How could you forget. If you’ve seen ‘Psycho’ then you’ll know that scene and you’ll recognise its effect on the unfolding of the slasher horror genre.
‘Psycho’ is not a slasher film, the shower scene surely shaped the future of the genre however and ‘Psycho’ truly is a classic pioneering horror film. It actually features Jamie Lee Curtis mother Janet Leigh as main character Marion Crane. John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’ is heavily influenced by Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’, Carpenter even plucks the name Sam Loomis from ‘Psycho’ and uses it as the name of the doctor in his own film. So ‘Psycho’ is very much the film to blame for the emergence of the slasher movie genre, it’s not a slasher movie in itself but Norman Bates certainly has his slasher killer tendencies and was somewhat of a forerunner in the slasher killer scene.
Norman Bates; the man that pioneered the movement. Many films would follow, ‘Psycho’ is the one that all future films would look to however and draw their inspiration from. It all started at the dawn of the sixties; a decade in which drugs were consumed by many, and gratuitous sex was had by all. Alfred Hitchcock was a great man, it’s now nearly 30 years since his death in 1980 but his influence upon modern cinema is still incredibly profound.
Seventies Slashers
Two of the greatest slasher films of the 70s are those of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and ‘Halloween’ also. Directed by Tobe Hooper, ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ is a 1974 film which centres around an old slaughterhouse and a group of teenagers venturing where they really shouldn’t. Leatherface is the chainsaw wielding lunatic you see before you here and his family also all live with him within the Texan slaughterhouse. John Carpenter’s 1978 classic ‘Halloween’ on the other hand is the film which brought life to the Michael Myers character that we’ve all come to know and love over the years. At the age of six; Michael kills his sister and never does he speak again. He’s institutionalised and spends the rest of his days in absolute silence, apparently plotting his one day return to Haddonfield.
The 70s was the start of slasher horror really, these two films really helped to further the genre and assist in its progression; there were of course many other slasher horror movies created throughout the 70s but ‘Halloween’ and ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ are my personal favourites.
I’ve set the scene of the serious seventies slashers and I shall now attempt to look a little more in depth at the characters which made the seventies so special in the world of slasher horror. Michael Myers is my favourite slasher of all time, his character was revisted by Rob Zombie in 2007 and I loved his take on the character also; it’ll always be John Carpenter’s Michael Myers that I love the most though as it’s the original and in my opinion is still the very best.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Leatherface
Leatherface is a happy go lucky chainsaw maniac that lives cheerfully in his slaughterhouse home with his Grandpa and his two brothers. Leatherface wears a mask made entirely out of human skin, he has messy hair and is really quite evil looking. He and the rest of his family are all cannibals, they love to ear human flesh and are happy in the way that they live.
Leatherface is not the scariest of slasher killers, he is however one of the craziest, and with his chainsaw utilising tendencies he’s definitely a little on the unpredictable side. If you were invited around to Leatherface’s house to have dinner then you could rest assured that you would be the dinner. He’s a filthy cannibal and there are many a great scene in ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ which truly do showcase Leatherface at his finest.
My favourite scene involving Leatherface is the one at the end of the first film where he swings his chainsaw around in every which direction out of absolute frustration. Things haven’t gone quite his way and he shows his lack of sanity through his erratic behaviour here. It’s a great scene and one which I shall always hold incredibly fond memories of. Leatherface is extremely useful with his chainsaw, it’s his weapon of choice and don’t you forget it.
Halloween’s Michael Myers
I love the character of Michael Myers, seriously love it and own on DVD each and every one of the ‘Halloween’ sequels which have followed since the original in 1978. There’s something very spooky about Michael Myers, in the way that he walks, in his body language, and in his featureless mask also. There’s also something spookily scary about the ragged nature of his hair, he’s an incredibly unsavoury character and everything about Michael Myers is just supremely unnerving.
At the age of six Michael Myers picks up a knife, puts on a mask, goes upstairs and murders his sister. ‘Halloween’s opening sequence is incredible, we see things from the point of view of Michael and watch as he takes his first victim. We know not why he does it, all we know is that Michael Myers must be a seriously troubled child and to have committed murder (and at such a young age too) that he must be an absolute monster.
When we rejoin Michael Myers it’s now 15 years on and we learn that he hasn’t spoken since the event of killing his sister. He shows no emotion, he’s an absolute monster, and still he has an unhealthy obsession with masks. He sets out to return to Haddonfield and wreak havoc on the town in which he spent the first six years of his life.
Michael Myers is a horrible character, truly spooky in his appearance and everything about him is just absolutely perfect. Watching the ‘Halloween’ commentary you learn that the featureless mask was not the first they decided upon. There were clown masks and all sorts which were considered, they finally settled with the plain white mask however as it is so spooky to see a killer that shows no emotion and who’s mask is even completely blank. It’s perfect, fantastic use of props were made within ‘Halloween’ and everything about the Micahel Myers character is masterminded to absolute perfection.
Eighties Slashers
The eighties brought to life some of my favourite slasher killers of all time. Movies such as ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’, ‘Child’s Play’, and ‘Friday the 13th’ were brought out during this decade and all of them I absolutely adore. ‘My Bloody Valentine’ is another film to have arrived during the 80s; it’s name was later taken by a hugely important alternative rock band and is another which really must be seen as one of the key slasher movies of the 1980s.
The eighties was the most productive decade for slasher films, they were hugely popular during this period in history; horror has always been a hugely commercially successful genre, horror trends change throughout the ages however and the eighties was without doubt the hey-day of the teen slasher movie. I lose count of the number of eighties slasher films I’ve seen through the years; ‘April Fool’s Day’ is another great one, the actual eighties slashers that I love the most are however Freddy Krueger, Chucky, and Jason Voorhees.
A Nightmare On Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger
‘Whatever you do; don’t fall asleep’. That’s the tag line for the hit 1984 smash ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’. The reason for this? Freddy Krueger is a killer that can only kill you whilst you sleep. He preys on teenagers and the only way to definitely avoid him is not to sleep. The problem with that though is that sleep deprivation eventually results in death, so the safest option is probably actually to sleep here on the off chance that Freddy might not get you. Play by Robert Englund, Freddy Krueger is a great slasher killer and one that I have always really warmed too. The character was ruined a little in later films through giving him cheesy one liners to speak, the original is however an absolute classic and one which I still thoroughly enjoy watching right to this very day.
Freddy Krueger is definitely one of Wes Craven’s finest characters, he’s an undead slasher killer and has a trademark clawed glove. His skin is severely scarred as a result of burns he suffered whilst alive, he’s a monstrous looking man and one that you really don’t want to meet whilst you sleep. He wears a Dennis the Menace style red and black striped jersey and a black cowboy hat also. His way of dress is quite bizarre, his killing fashion also is incredibly disgusting and his hit list even includes Johnny Depp. ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ was Johnny Depp’s first ever film, he’s also one of Krueger’s first victims and is killed in one of my favourite horror sequences of all time. Freddy Krueger is horrible to look at and disgusting in the way that he works also; he’s a vile man and his serial killing ways truly are revolting.
Freddy Krueger is a classic icon of a slasher killer and one which I’m sure many have seen in action over the years. I love the Freddy Krueger characters and along with Halloween’s Michael Myers he’s another definite slasher movie favourite of mine.
Child’s Play’s Chucky
There’s nothing scarier than dolls; no really, I find them really quite petrifying. There’s something really rather sinister about dolls, something about their smiles which always makes me think that the film ‘Child’s Play’ might have been onto something. Chucky is a red headed murderous toy doll; his weapon of choice is the knife and he truly is a fiendish little doll. He’s meant to be cute and cuddly, a standard child’s toy doll which talks and has special catchphrases – he’s more than that though and truly he’s a cold-blooded killer.
Chucky is bought as a child’s birthday present, some present he turns out to be as he begins his rampage and starts to annihilate all those that stand in his way. He’s an evil little doll, absolute pure evil and his features truly are quite frightening. As I’ve already said; I find dolls quite frightening at the best of times, there’s something extra specially disgusting about Chucky though which makes him stand out from the crowd. He has an evil freckled face, crazy red hair, and a horrid personality to boot.
Think ‘Toy Story’ and the evil neighbour Sid who destroys toys for fun, think ten times worse than that however and you get somewhere close to the evil of Chucky. ‘Toy Story’ is a pleasant family film, ‘Child’s Play’ however is not and Chucky is a far-cry from Woody and Buzz Lightyear. Chucky has the soul of evil killer Charles Lee Ray, voodoo magic has been used to transfer his soul being into the doll and this doll therefore possesses the great evil of Charles Lee Ray himself. It’s a fun film, Chucky is a great killer and the murderous doll idea really works incredibly well here.
Friday the 13th’s Jason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees is the masked killer from the Friday the 13th film series. He’s a hockey mask wearing, machete wielding mad man mass murderer and one which has been utilised in a number of different films throughout the years. In 2003 two of horrors favourite slasher killers actually crossed paths for the ‘Freddy vs. Jason’ film which pitted Jason Voorhees against A Nightmare On Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger. Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees are both absolute slasher movie icons and to see them both together in the same film truly was terrific.
Jason is one of the true horror greats, he’s not one of my favourites but still one of the very first I think of when it comes to slasher killers. Jason Voorhees is as evil and murderous as they come, all slasher movie killers tend to be completely psychopathic and Vorhees is certainly no exception to this rule. He’s an unafraid giant of a man, a true monster and horror movie masterpiece of a character originally played by Ari Lehman way back in 1980 (Mrs Voorhees was played by Betsy Palmer, and Kevin Bacon also features here in one of his first roles in a feature film).
Nineties Slashers
In the nineties, interest in the genre of slasher horror was renewed when master of horror Wes Craven brought about his ‘Scream’ series. Three ‘Scream’ films were made throughout the nineties and the trilogy was then complete; ‘Scream’ itself is actually a parody of the whole slasher genre whilst remaining scary as a movie in itself. It’s self-aware and makes reference to horror movie conventions, hinting at how the film will progress and drawing upon such horror conventions as the virgin/whore dichotomy, and also the idea that you should never say ‘I’ll be right back’; it’ll only ever end in tears. ‘Scream’ was the main slasher success of the nineties, there was no specific slasher killer however and with each of the three films the slasher killer itself always changed. Although the killer changed the costume did not and there’s therefore another visually recognisable slasher killer to have emerged from the 90s.
‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ (or IKWYDLS) is another film to have gained a great deal of popularity in the 1990s. It has so far spawned two sequels and a fourth IKWYDLS film is planned for 2008 with a working title of ‘The Fisherman’. IKWYDLS is nowhere near as strong as ‘Scream’; it’s okay, definitely not as entertaining as any of the ‘Scream’ films though and by far the weakest of the two most popular nineties slasher movies.
The nineties also saw a return to form for the Michael Myers ‘Halloween’ series with the release of ‘Halloween H20′. Twenty years on from the original and Jamie Lee Curtis once more stars here as Myers sister. It’s a great film, one of my very favourites in the ‘Halloween’ series and I’m so glad that Jamie Lee Curtis decided to feature in this one. Josh Hartnett and Michelle Williams also appear here, it’s a great film and which really helped to renew public interest in the Michael Myers character which had long since turned stale at this point.
‘Urban Legend’ is another slasher film which is well worth mentioning here; it’s not exactly a great film but definitely worth a glancing mention nonetheless. It was quite a popular film in 1998 and although incredibly contrived; if you’re a fan of the slasher movie genre then this is another that will probably float your boat. Go into the film without any particular expectations and I’m sure you’ll at least enjoy the film anyway even if you don’t necessarily love it.
Scream’s Killer
Scream’s killer seems to be quite a popular one in that over the years I have seen many a person use the Scream killers mask as their halloween outfit of choice. Scream’s ghostface is just one of those iconic slasher movie masks which will no doubt be utilised by many for years to come. There’s something distinctly disturbing about the Scream mask, it’s just horrible and Wes Craven did an absolutely magnificent job in the creation of this one. ‘Scary Movie’ would of course later copy this mask, creating a stoned version of it also (another which would later be sold in abundance around Halloween time).
Scream’s killer changes from film to film, the costume is always the same though; a black cloak, and the default Scream mask also. I guess that the best way to describe the Scream mask is that it’s Wes Craven’s representation of the grim reaper; this killer is the bringer of death and to me the mask looks very much like Craven’s perception of what the Grim Reaper would/should look like.
Scream’s killer is also known as ‘ghostface’ due to the white nature of the face and black abyss of the eyes/mouth. This is a serious serial killer and the weapon of choice here is that of the hunting knife. Weapons may vary of course, when it comes to slasher movies the serial killers usually have their favoured weapon, but when moving in for the kill will generally make sure the murder is carried out through any means possible.
IKWYDLS Killer
The killer in IKWYDLS wears a rain mac and a black hat also. He dresses in fisherman’s clobber an can always be found to be lurking in the shadows. You never see his face and due to the nature of his clothing his whole body is basically masked in absolute obscurity. I guess part of the killers appeal and fright is that he is so anonymous and you never truly get to see what he looks like. It’s not a great film, the concept for the killer is pretty cool though and although the IKWYDLS fisherman is no slasher movie killer classic; the killers is still pretty well presented and the film is a good bit of fun as a result.
Orginally I Know What You Did Last Summer was written as a novel, it’s impossible to say that this is a movie adaptation however as aside from the name and a few tiny similarities the two are completely different. Whether or not the films killer is similar to that spoken about in the novel I just don’t know; having never read the novel, all I know is what I’ve read and it has been said by all that the novel and film are very different indeed.
Noughties Slashers
I hate to coin the term the ‘noughties’, having used this format up until this point however then it’d be a shame to stop now. Here are some of my favourites that have so far been visited/re-visited throughout this decade that is the 2000s (or noughties, should you so prefer it).
My favourite slasher of the 2000s was Rob Zombie’s Michael Myers. He added greater depth to the original character and offered a story in order to help us understand and appreciate a little more about the troubled wild child that is Michael Myers. His reimaging of ‘Halloween’ is absolutely excellent, I love Rob Zombie’s 2007 take on the film and feel that the angle that he took with it is absolutely exceptional. It’s hard to compare the original to the remake and suggest as to which is better, they’re both very different films and Rob Zombie’s ‘Halloween’ is roughly 50% original story which truly is incredibly good to see. He wasn’t afraid to chop and change the original, shift the perspective and explore places we’d never seen looking into before. ‘Halloween 2007′ is a great remake, and Rob Zombie’s Michael Myers is yet another classic slasher movie character.
Another great revisiting to have emerged in this decade is that of the ‘Freddy vs. Jason’ film which came out in 2003. All three of my favourite slasher killers have had a 2000s outing and I personally have absolutely lapped it up. ‘Freddy vs. Jasson’ is no classic, it’s quite fun though and is great to see these two slasher icons tackling each other in a bid for absolute horror killer glory. Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees are two great characters, it was a smooth move putting these two together and this 2003 release is therefore really quite special.
‘The Slaughterhouse Massacre’ is a 2000s slasher which reminded me of the good old glory days of slasher cinema. Killer Marty Sickle reminds me of a cross between Freddy Krueger and Leatherface, with flashes of Michael Myers thrown into the mix also. It’s a bit of a weird one, no slasher classic but one that is midly entertaining if you’re a massive fan of the slasher film genre. ‘The Slaughterhouse Massacre’ has a UK title of ‘Sickle, personally I prefer the name The Slaughterhouse Massacre though and feel that they probably should have left it as it was all around the world. It’s a low budget film, imperfect and contrived, a copycat of the classic; still quite fun though and bizarrely entertaining to watch in a way.
Rob Zombie’s Michael Myers
Rob Zombie puts to film perfectly the Michael Myers character. His version of Michael Myers is very different to the original, equally excellent however and always here the killer is supreme in his role. There is young Michael (with which we spend roughly half the film), and then there is the older Michael as the original story kicks in and Rob Zombie’s ‘Halloween’ recreates the original movie in his own style.
Young Michael Myers is played out here by the young actor Daeg Faerch, he plays the part well and really puts across the characters evil strongly. Full credit to Daeg Faerch for making Rob Zombie’s ‘Halloweeen’ so special, he’s a great little performer and really puts himself across well as an actor throughout the first half of Zombie’s remake. Were it not for the excellent acting of Daeg Faerch then the first half of the film just wouldn’t have worked, it does though and the young guy here shows himself to be a highly talented actor and is definitely one to watch for the future.
Adult Michael Myers is pretty much the same here as he was in the original; Tyler Mane takes the mask and plays out the pure evil Myers in excellent fashion. He has no spoken lines, it’s a lot easier a task for him to play Myers than it is for Daeg Faerch; he doesn’t have to do a lot acting wise, his body language is good though and he really plays his serial killer part promisingly.
Rob Zombie puts a nice little spin on the Myers character, uses masks and costume in much the same way as the original; plot wise however the differences made by Zombie here really help us engage with Michael Myers and interact with him on a far more personal level. Some will argue that what made the original Michael Myers so great was the fact that there was no reason for his actions and this therefore made the original film far harder hitting in its impact; personally I like the take that Zombie has taken however and feel that it works incredibly well. A great new spin on a classic slasher movie character.
The Slaughterhouse Massacre’s Marty Sickle
For the most part here I’ve concentrated on slasher movie killers that many will be familiar with. The reason I’ve chosen a relative unknown for my final analysis? Basically to show what the slasher genre has come to in the 2000s. This decade we’ve had a retold version of ‘Halloween’, two slasher classics have locked heads in ‘Freddy vs. Jason’, and aside from this there hasn’t really been a popular slasher movie to speak of. ‘Hostel’ contains some brutally gory slasher-esque scenes, it’s definitely not a slasher though and the new age of horror cinema has little interest in the slasher genre made so popular in the 1980s. Marty Sickle is a classic example of what slasher cinema has come to in the 2000s; rehashing what has all been done before in the past.
Marty Sickle is a poor man’s Freddy Krueger on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre location. He’s taken Leatherface’s breeding ground and has been hashed together in incredibly similar fashion to many of the slasher movie greats of years gone by. Marty Sickle is a slasher classic clone, the slasher movie genre has seemingly completely run out of momentum and all directors can now think to do is create low budget copycat productions of some of their favourite films. It’s even actually set in Texas, Marty Sickle is one of the poorest slasher movie killers I’ve ever had the misfortune of witnessing in action and the character is actually played out by the movies director Paul Gagné (under the name of Paul Cagney for some strange reason).
Marty Sickle is certainly no slasher movie icon, it certainly shows what the genre has sunk to in this day and age however and the slasher glory days are now all but a distant memory. Perhaps some day interest in the genre shall be revived; for now however it looks as though other forms of horror movie shall certainly be taking over.
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.