Slasher Films

Jason Voorhees

I know not everyone likes horror movies. Actually, some people downright hate them. Me? I love the genre. Get me anything with vampires, zombies, ghosts, demons, ghouls or your simple run-of-the-mill serial/spree killer and I’ll be one happy camper.

My favorite type of horror movie is the subgenre known as Slasher Film. What is that? Some of you might ask. Well, according to Wikipedia: “A slasher film is a subgenre of horror film, and at times thriller, typically involving a mysterious psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims usually in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe.”

There was a time when they were really popular back in the 70s, and the 80s. And then again in the late 90s, after “Scream” hit the screens like a grenade launcher and gave birth to a new era of Slashers.

GhostFace

Those were the days, man.

Everything changes, I guess, and as time passed they became less popular. In the las decade, we had the “Slasher Remake Era”. But let’s save that subject for another post, shall we?

Nowadays you don’t really see any original mainstream slasher films. And that sucks. Slasher films are safest (and cheapest) way to get some adrenalin pumping into our systems. And it doesn’t even involve leaving the house!!!

Final Girls

Why do I love Slasher Films so much? For a lot of reasons, actually, but here’s the main one. As I mentioned in another post, I’m a sucker for strong female characters.

Laurie Strode

Slashers, particularly, are all about female empowerment. In most genres, the female characters are relegated to the roles of romantic interest and the damsel in distress.

That is not the case here. If you reduce the slashers’ plot to its bare bones what we get is: a virginal, seemingly meek young woman is attacked by remarkable male, survives the attack and eventually bests him.

Sydney Prescott

There’s no John McLane, Martin Riggs or Tony Stark sweeping in and saving the day in the slasher genre. Laurie Strode, Sydney Prescott, Alice Hardy, Nancy Thompson, Julie James, Dana Polk, they’re the ones doing the saving.

They’re all resourceful girls who manage to outlive their peers and eventually put an end to whatever threat was coming their way.

Dead or Alive?

The Horror genre isn’t dead.

“The Possession”, “Paranormal Activity 4” and “Woman in Black” all performed well in the box office in 2012, proving that horror still interests the general public.

And I don’t think the genre will ever die, like Western did. Because, in a nutshell, It’s a really cheap to make a horror flick, and there are a lot of people who DO like to get scared out of their wits.

Who Killed the Slasher Films?

There’s not a real answer really. I mostly blame producers and writers, in that order. The last few at Slashers all bombed, because, for the most part, they all sucked, so that didn’t help.

We need another “Scream”, or “Halloween”, or “Nightmare on Elm Street”. I honestly think that all we need is another great, smart, scary teens in peril (as my good friend EL described) flick to kick start a new era of slashers.

Anyways, that’s it for now. Sorry about the rant, folks.

FAT MAN OUT!