A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools such as knives, chainsaws, scalpels, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic term for any horror film involving murder, film analysts cite an established set of characteristics which set slasher films apart from other horror subgenres, such as monster movies, splatter films, supernatural and psychological horror films.
Pumpkinhead is a 1988 American supernatural horror film. It was the directorial debut of special effects artist Stan Winston. The film has built up a cult following since its release. The first in the Pumpkinhead franchise, it was followed by a direct-to-video sequel, two TV film sequels, and a comic book series. The film was originally called Vengeance: The Demon and it was inspired by a poem written by poet Ed Justin. The film inspired a video game called Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead's Revenge.
Student Bodies is a 1981 American parody slasher comedy film written and directed by Mickey Rose, with an uncredited Michael Ritchie co-directing. A spoof of slasher horror films such as Halloween, Friday the 13th and Prom Night, Student Bodies was the first film to satirize the thriving slasher film genre. A prominent feature of the film is a body count that is superimposed onscreen whenever a death occurs.
Mary Ellen Mark was an American photographer known for her photojournalism, documentary photography, portraiture, and advertising photography. She photographed people who were "away from mainstream society and toward its more interesting, often troubled fringes".
The final girl is a trope in horror films. It refers to the last girl(s) or woman alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story. The final girl has been observed in many films, including Psycho, Voices of Desire, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween, Alien, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, and Train to Busan. The term was coined by Carol J. Clover in her article "Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film" (1987). Clover suggested that in these films, the viewer began by sharing the perspective of the killer, but experienced a shift in identification to the final girl partway through the film.
Prom Night is a 1980 slasher film directed by Paul Lynch and written by William Gray. Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielsen star. The film's plot follows a group of high school seniors who are targeted at their prom by a masked killer, seeking vengeance for the accidental death of a young girl. The film features supporting performances from Casey Stevens, Eddie Benton, Mary Beth Rubens and Michael Tough.
The Human Tornado is a 1976 American blaxploitation film directed by Cliff Roquemore. The film is a sequel to Dolemite.
Hospital Massacre is a 1982 American slasher film directed by Boaz Davidson and starring Barbi Benton. Its plot follows a woman who becomes trapped on an empty floor of a hospital, where a murderer posing as a surgeon attempts to kill her.
The Devonsville Terror is a 1983 American supernatural horror film directed by Ulli Lommel and starring Suzanna Love, Donald Pleasence, and Robert Walker. The plot focuses on three different women who arrive in a conservative New England town, one of whom is the reincarnation of a witch who was wrongfully executed along with two others by the town's founding fathers in 1683.
Blades is a 1989 American horror comedy film distributed by Troma Entertainment and directed and edited by Thomas R. Rondinella, who also co-wrote the film with producers William R. Pace and John P. Finegan. Its plot concerns a series of brutal murders occurring at a prestigious country club's golf course, which are apparently the work of a possessed lawn mower.
Horror House on Highway 5 is a 1985 American slasher film written and directed by Richard Casey. Its plot follows three college students researching the case of a missing scientist and possible Nazi in a small California town, who fall prey to two insane brothers, as well as a killer donning a Richard Nixon mask.
Uninvited is a 1987 American science-fiction horror film written, produced and directed by Greydon Clark and starring George Kennedy, Alex Cord, Clu Gulager, Toni Hudson and Eric Larson. The film primarily takes place aboard a luxury yacht owned by a criminal multimillionaire and bound for the Cayman Islands, whose passengers and crew are terrorized by a mutant cat.
Psychic Killer is a 1975 American supernatural horror film directed by Ray Danton and written by Greydon Clark, Mikel Angel and Ray Danton. The film stars Paul Burke, Jim Hutton, Julie Adams, Nehemiah Persoff, Neville Brand and Aldo Ray. The film was released in December 1975, by AVCO Embassy Pictures. Originally released under the alternate title The Kirlian Force, it was changed to Psychic Killer to emphasize the more sensational horror scenes of the film.
Cry Wilderness is a 1987 family adventure film directed by Jay Schlossberg-Cohen.
Unmasked Part 25 is a 1988 British slasher film directed by Anders Palm. Written and produced by Mark Cutforth, the film serves as both a horror film and a parody of the slasher genre, and the Friday the 13th film series in particular. It stars Gregory Cox as Jackson, a hockey mask-wearing serial killer who develops a romance with a blind woman named Shelly and grows weary of his murderous ways. The film's cast also includes Edward Brayshaw as Jackson's father.
Nurse Sherri is a 1977 American supernatural horror film directed by Al Adamson and starring Jill Jacobson, Geoffrey Land, and Marilyn Joi. Produced and distributed by Independent-International Pictures, the film's plot follows a nurse who becomes possessed by the spirit of a vengeful cult leader who died in the hospital where she works. "Reanhauer," the name of the cult leader character, appears to have been derived from Margaret L. Reinauer, who presided over the real-life cult The Circle of Friends. The incident taking place early in the film, during which Reanhauer and his followers seek to resurrect one of their dead brethren via chanting, may refer to the attempted resurrection of seventeen-year-old Katherine Globe, who died after she was refused medical attention by religious zealots at St. Matthias, Bellwoods in Toronto in 1967. The film is also known under such titles as The Possession of Nurse Sherri and Black Voodoo, as well as Beyond the Living, Hospital of Terror, Killer's Curse, and Hands of Death.
Please Baby Please is a 2022 American musical drama film directed by Amanda Kramer, who co-wrote the screenplay with Noel David Taylor. It stars Andrea Riseborough, Harry Melling, Karl Glusman, and Demi Moore.
New York Ninja is a 2021 American action film written, directed by and starring John Liu. It was shot in 1984, but was not edited or released until 2021, when its footage was discovered and restored by the film preservation and home video distributor Vinegar Syndrome.
