History Of The Slasher Film
Image Source: CultureSlate
When most people think of horror films, their minds drift to characters like Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Freddy Krueger. Little do they know that those are actually only a small part of the horror genre, and they are officially classified as slashers. The slasher film is one of the most recognizable subgenres of horror, but few people know the history of the genre. For the month of October, I will be doing a five-part series about the history of the horror genre. For part one, we are going to dive into the history of the slasher film!
To start, let's talk about what a slasher film actually is. A slasher film is a film that follows a serial killer who is the, or one of, the main character(s). The killer has a backstory and a specific victim preference, kills with a specific weapon, and is typically masked. If you think of any classic slasher villain, you can check each of these boxes. The first slasher film was Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Not only was this the first film to feature explicit violence, but it was also the first horror film that featured the killer as the main character and gave the killer a backstory. This film led to countless horror films, but we didn’t see another boom in the subgenre until 1978, when John Carpenter gave us Halloween. This film did more for the slasher genre than almost any other film. It was the first film to give structure to a slasher film, but it was also the first to get an immediate sequel and the first to introduce the idea of the “unkillable killer”.
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Image Source: IMDb
Halloween led to the golden era of slashers, where we were treated to Friday the 13th, Child’s Play, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. We also got a sequel to Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This also led to the golden era of practical effects, which were forced to improve thanks to the creativity and gore being introduced with the new films. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and as the golden era began to fade, we saw the slasher genre dying like so many of their killers’ victims. Too many sequels, remakes, and copies of the classics led to an oversaturation of the genre. Fans began begging for something new, but it would take almost two decades for that to happen.
Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson are horror legends, and they are the saviors of the slasher genre. In 1996, they gave us Scream, which was not only a completely original slasher film but also created the idea of a self-aware slasher movie. While the characters made fun of the “rules” and stereotypes in slasher films, they also created the idea of killing for the purpose of recreating their favorite films. Now, almost three decades since the resurrection of the slasher genre, we find ourselves in another comeback. In the mid-2000s, we saw another over-saturation of slasher films, but in the last few years, we have started seeing writers and directors getting creative with the source material. Films like Fear Street and Terrifier have created entirely unique stories for audiences that were becoming bored. The slasher genre is my favorite movie genre, and I am so excited to see all the new slasher films that are expected to be released in the next few months!
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Source(s): Buzzsaw Magazine
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