Slasher film
A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools.[1] 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.[2]
Critics cite the Italian giallo films and psychological horror films such as Peeping Tom (1960) and Psycho (1960) as early influences.[3][4][5] The genre hit its peak between 1978 and 1984 in an era referred to as the "Golden Age" of slasher films.[3] Notable slasher films include The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Black Christmas (1974), Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th (1980), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Child's Play (1988), Scream (1996), I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), and Valentine (2001). Many slasher films released decades ago continue to attract cult followings.[6] The slasher canon can be divided into three eras: the classical (1974–1993), the self-referential (1994–2000) and the neoslasher cycle (2000–2013).[7]
1984–1995: Direct-to-video films and franchises[edit]
Despite A Nightmare on Elm Street's success, fatigue hit the slasher genre, and its popularity had declined substantially. The home video revolution, fueled by the popularity of VHS, provided a new outlet for low-budget filmmaking. Without major studio backing for theatrical release, slasher films became second only to pornography in the home video market. The drop in budgets to accommodate a more economic approach was usually met with a decline in quality. Holdovers filmed during the Golden Age such as Too Scared to Scream (filmed in 1981, released in 1985), The Mutilator (filmed in 1984, released in 1985), Blood Rage (filmed in 1983, released in 1987), Killer Party (filmed in 1984, released in 1986) and Mountaintop Motel Massacre (filmed in 1983, released in 1986) found video distribution.
Mirroring the punk rock movement, novice filmmakers proved anyone could make a movie on home video, resulting in shot-on-video slashers Blood Cult (1985), The Ripper (1985), Spine (1986), Truth or Dare? (1986), Killer Workout (1987), and Death Spa (1989).[109] Lesser-known horror properties Sleepaway Camp, The Slumber Party Massacre and Silent Night, Deadly Night became series on home video. The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 (1985) and Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) were theatrically released but neither film was embraced by fans or critics and took steep box office declines from their predecessors; still, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning was a modest hit opening at the top of the box office and finishing its run with 6.2 million admissions.[110] Rushed into production, A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) became the highest grossing horror film of 1985. The success of the first two Elm Street films inspired a wave of "dream" slashers that included Dreamaniac (1986), Bad Dreams (1988), Deadly Dreams (1988), and Dream Demon (1988). Of those films, Bad Dreams was a minor hit with 2.4 million admissions.[111]
Paramount Pictures released the parody April Fool's Day (1986) with hopes to start a sister series to its Friday the 13th property, though the film's modest 3.5 million admissions never led to a series.[112] Three other spoofs, Evil Laugh (1986), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986), were box office disappointments; Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 sold just 2 million tickets while Jason Lives sold 5.2 million, both significantly down from their predecessors.[113] The home video market saw the output of low-budget, tongue-in-cheek slashers like Stripped to Kill (1987), Return to Horror High (1987), and Killer Workout (1987), and previous franchises foregoing theaters for direct-to-video self-parody sequels in Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987), Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987), Slumber Party Massacre II (1987), Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988), and Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (1989).
Trying to cater the public of adult action thrillers that were popular in the 1980s, Sylvester Stallone's cop-thriller Cobra (1986) is a thinly-veiled slasher film advertised as an action movie, and sold 13.2 million tickets. The home video market made stars out of character actors such as Terry O'Quinn and Bruce Campbell, whose respective independent horror-thrillers The Stepfather (1987) and Maniac Cop (1988) found more support on home video than in theaters. Quinn returned for Stepfather II (1989) but chose not to reprise his role in Stepfather III (1992), Destroyer (1988), while Campbell followed a similar route with a cameo in Maniac Cop 2 (1990) and no participation in Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence (1993).
The Nightmare on Elm Street series dominated the late 1980s horror wave, with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) selling 11.5 million tickets in North America, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) following another 12 million tickets. By comparison, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) and Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) sold approximately 4.5 million tickets each, less than half of the Elm Street films. The personality-driven appeal of Freddy Krueger was not lost on filmmakers, as characters like Chucky and Candyman were given ample dialogue and placed in urban settings that had largely been ignored by the Golden Age. Chucky's Child's Play (1988) and its 1990 sequel sold over 14.7 million tickets combined, while Candyman (1992) sold a healthy 6.2 million. Both series fell out rather quickly, when Child's Play 3 (1991) selling only 3.5 million tickets in North America and Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) selling only 3.2 million.[114]
Internationally, the slasher film remained profitable. Mexico released Zombie Apocalypse (1985), Don't Panic (1988), Grave Robbers (1990) and Hell's Trap (1990). Europe saw releases from Sweden's Blood Tracks (1985), The United Kingdom's Lucifer (1987), Spain's Anguish (1987) and Italy's StageFright (1987) and BodyCount (1987). In the Pacific, Australia released Symphony of Evil (1987), Houseboat Horror (1989), and Bloodmoon (1990), while Japan released Evil Dead Trap (1988).[115]
By 1989 the major series had faded from public interest, resulting in box office failures from Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers.[15] The Dream Child's 5.6 million tickets were a sharp decline, while Jason Takes Manhattan and The Revenge of Michael Myers each sold roughly 3 million tickets. Due to the declining ticket sales, rights to the Friday the 13th and Halloween series were sold to New Line Cinema and Miramax Films, respectively. Now owning both the Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger characters, New Line would look into a series-crossover event film. Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991) and Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993) began this crossover series, but profit losses from both films stalled the project for a decade. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) was released under Miramax's Dimension Films banner to negative fan reaction and a weak box office, forcing its producers to reboot the franchise with the next entry.[116]
1996–2002: Genre revival[edit]
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) used characters from his original Elm Street film in self-referential and ironic ways, as the actors played versions of their true personas targeted by a movie-inspired demon. Despite solid critical reviews, New Nightmare failed to attract moviegoers and sold only 2.3 million tickets the North American box office, the lowest of any Elm Street film.[117][118] The slasher genre's surprising meta-resurgence came in the form of Craven's sleeper hit Scream (1996). Directed by Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, Scream juggled postmodern humor with visceral horror. The film played on nostalgia for the golden age of slasher films, but appealed to a younger audience with contemporary stars and popular music. Williamson, a self-confessed fan of slasher films, wrote the characters as well-versed in horror film lore and knowing all the clichés that the audience were aware of. With 23.3 million admissions, Scream became both the highest grossing slasher film of all time and the first of the genre to cross $100 million at the domestic box office, making it the most successful horror film since The Silence of the Lambs (1991).[119] The marketing for Scream distanced itself from the slasher genre as it passed itself as a "new thriller" that showcased the celebrity of its stars Drew Barrymore, Courteney Cox and Neve Campbell over its horror elements.
Williamson's follow-up, I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), was inspired by Prom Night (1980) and The House on Sorority Row (1983). Released less than a year after Scream to "critic proof" success, the film sold nearly 16 million tickets at the North American box office. Two months later Dimension Films released Scream 2 (1997) to the highest grossing opening weekend of any R-rated film at the time; the sequel sold 22 million tickets and was a critical hit.[120] Taking note of the marketing success of Scream, the promotional materials for I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream 2 relied heavily on the recognizability of cast-members Portia de Rossi, Rebecca Gayheart, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Heather Graham, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Joshua Jackson, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O'Connell, Ryan Phillippe, Jada Pinkett, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Liev Schreiber.
The two Scream films and I Know What You Did Last Summer were also popular in international markets. In Asia, Hong Kong released The Deadly Camp (1999) and South Korea released Bloody Beach (2000), The Record (2001), and Nightmare (2000). Australia's postmodern slasher Cut (2000) cast American actress Molly Ringwald as its heroine. Britain released Lighthouse (1999) and the Netherlands had two teen slashers, School's Out (1999) and The Pool (2001). Bollywood produced two unofficial remakes of I Know What You Did Last Summer: the first was a musical-slasher hybrid called Kucch To Hai (2003), while the second was a more straightforward slasher called Dhund: The Fog (2003).
Scream 2 marked a high-point of public interest in the 1990s slasher revival with a massive marketing campaign and a cultural zeitgeist. This anticipation greenlit the production of several other slasher films to be released the following year. Urban Legend (1998) was a reasonable hit, selling 8 million tickets, though its decline from the Scream films and I Know What You Did Last Summer showed that slasher film sales were already starting to decline. Three 1998 sequels were each significant successes at the domestic box office; Halloween H20: 20 Years Later had 11.7 million admissions, Bride of Chucky had 6.9 million admissions, and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer had 8.9 million admissions.[121][122][123] Again, the marketing for these sequels relied on the appeal their casts, which included Adam Arkin, Jack Black, LL Cool J, Jamie Lee Curtis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Hartnett, Katherine Heigl, Brandy Norwood, Jodi Lynn O'Keefe, Mekhi Phifer, John Ritter, Jennifer Tilly, and Michelle Williams. Low-budget slasher films The Clown at Midnight (1998) and Cherry Falls (2000) had trouble competing with big-budget horror films that could afford bankable actors.
Scream 3 (2000), the first entry in the Scream series not written by Kevin Williamson, was another huge success with 16.5 million tickets sold, though poor word-of-mouth prevented it from reaching the heights of the first two Scream films.[124][125] Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000) sold a meager 4 million tickets, less than half of what its predecessor had sold just two years earlier.[126] The third films in the I Know What You Did Last Summer and Urban Legend sequels were relegated to the direct-to-video market with a lack of bankable stars.
After the turn of the millennium, the post-Scream wave of slasher films were both critically and financially disappointing, leading to the genre's sharp decline. These films include 2001's Valentine (11% Rotten Tomatoes, 3.5 million admissions) and Jason X (19% Rotten Tomatoes, 2.3 million admissions), and 2002's Halloween: Resurrection (10% Rotten Tomatoes, 5.2 million admissions).[127][128][129][130][131][132] In development for 17 years with 17 different writers attached to at different points, New Line Cinema's Freddy vs. Jason (2003) took note from the Scream films and mixed nostalgia and self-aware humor with recognizable actors.[133] It sold a massive 14 million tickets at the domestic box office and beat Scream 2's record opening weekend for a slasher film with a gross of $36.4 million over three days.[134]