The slasher genre is a cornerstone of horror, offering a reliable formula that has terrified and thrilled audiences for decades with its masked killers, inventive death scenes, and the signature “final girl” trope. Since its golden age in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the subgenre has been dominated by a handful of iconic franchises. Since then, names like Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Freddy Krueger are Mount Rushmore figures, their stories told and retold through countless sequels, reboots, and remakes. This focus on the titans of the genre, however, has left a wealth of incredible films lingering in the shadows.
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For every blockbuster hit, dozens of slashers were dismissed upon release, buried by poor distribution, or simply overshadowed by their more famous contemporaries. Still, these underrated gems often offer a unique twist on the familiar formula, whether through a bizarre setting, a surprisingly clever script, or gore effects that pushed the boundaries of the medium. That means exploring these lesser-known films proves that there is always another forgotten treasure waiting to be discovered by dedicated fans of the genre.
7) Blood Rage
Released in 1987 after sitting on a shelf for years, Blood Rage is a Thanksgiving-themed slasher that has earned a modest cult following for its sheer audacity. The film follows Terry (Mark Soper), a man who framed his identical twin brother Todd for a brutal drive-in murder years earlier. When Todd escapes from a psychiatric institution on Thanksgiving, the deeply disturbed Terry uses the opportunity to go on a killing spree, knowing his innocent brother will take the blame. What makes Blood Rage so memorable is its gleeful embrace of absurdity, from its over-the-top gore to the now-iconic line, “That’s not cranberry sauce!” In addition, Soper’s dual performance is wildly entertaining as he switches between the traumatized Todd and the maniacally grinning Terry.
6) Intruder
Scott Spiegel’s 1989 slasher Intruder stands out by trading the typical summer camp or suburban neighborhood for the aisles of a closing grocery store. The film centers on the night crew of the Walnut Lake Market, who are stalked and dispatched in brutally creative ways after the ex-boyfriend of cashier Jennifer (Elizabeth Cox) shows up and causes a scene. The true strength of Intruder lies in its inventive direction and gruesome practical effects. Spiegel, who co-wrote Evil Dead II, uses dynamic and unconventional camera angles, including point-of-view shots from a shopping cart and a telephone keypad, to create a uniquely thrilling experience. The kills are fantastically gory and make creative use of the supermarket setting, involving a bandsaw, a cardboard bailer, and a meat hook. As a result, Intruder is a wonderful example of low-budget filmmaking and remains one of the most stylish and blood-soaked entries of the late 80s.
5) Curtains
Plagued by a notoriously troubled production that saw its original director leave halfway through, 1983’s Curtains is a strange slasher that feels wholly unique. The plot involves a group of actresses who are invited to the remote mansion of a manipulative director, Jonathan Stryker (John Vernon), to audition for a coveted role. Soon, a mysterious killer wearing a grotesque old woman’s mask begins to murder the women one by one. Despite its disjointed narrative, Curtains succeeds by creating a genuinely eerie and unsettling tone, feeling more like a surreal art film than a typical slasher. Curtains is best remembered for one of the most iconic sequences in slasher history, in which the killer pursues a victim on an ice-skating rink. This scene alone makes the film an essential slasher movie.
4) The Final Girls
A brilliant and heartfelt love letter to the slasher genre, 2015’s The Final Girls is a modern classic that cleverly deconstructs the tropes of 80s horror. The film follows Max Cartwright (Taissa Farmiga), a young woman grieving the death of her mother (Malin Åkerman), a famous scream queen. When Max and her friends attend a screening of her mom’s most famous movie, a fictional slasher called “Camp Bloodbath,” a fire in the theater transports them directly into the film. Now trapped in the movie’s narrative, they must team up with the fictional camp counselors to survive the film’s machete-wielding killer. The Final Girls is both a hilarious satire of slasher clichés and a surprisingly emotional story about grief and family. Its intelligence and genuine warmth separate it from other meta-horror films, creating an experience that is both touching and fun.
3) The Slumber Party Massacre
What began as a screenplay intended to be a parody of the slasher genre was ultimately shot as a straightforward horror film, and this unusual origin is what makes 1982’s The Slumber Party Massacre so compelling. The plot is simple: a high school senior, Trish (Michelle Michaels), hosts a slumber party for her friends, only for them to be targeted by an escaped serial killer armed with a power drill. Directed by Amy Holden Jones and written by Rita Mae Brown, the film has been celebrated for its potent feminist subtext. The characters are refreshingly authentic, and the film subtly critiques the genre’s often misogynistic tendencies. The killer’s power drill is an unsubtle phallic symbol, and the final confrontation, where the surviving girls fight back and ultimately defeat their male attacker, feels like a powerful statement. The Slumber Party Massacre is smart, lean, and a genuinely effective slasher that was far ahead of its time.
2) The Burning
Released in 1981, The Burning is often unfairly dismissed as a mere imitator of Friday the 13th, but it stands on its own as one of the absolute best summer camp slashers ever made. The film’s villain is Cropsy (Lou David), a camp caretaker who is horribly burned in a prank gone wrong and returns years later to seek revenge with a pair of garden shears. While the story is familiar, the execution is exceptional. The film features the screen debuts of Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens, and Holly Hunter, and its characters are surprisingly well-developed and likable. However, the real star of the show is the legendary practical effects work by Tom Savini. The gore in The Burning is unflinchingly brutal, culminating in the infamous “raft massacre” scene, a masterwork of special effects that remains shocking and impressive to this day.
1) Tourist Trap
A truly bizarre and unsettling film, 1979’s Tourist Trap is one of the most unique horror movies of its era. The story follows a group of friends whose car breaks down, leading them to a decrepit roadside museum owned by the seemingly kind Mr. Slausen (Chuck Connors). The museum is filled with unsettlingly lifelike mannequins, and the friends soon find themselves hunted by a masked killer who possesses terrifying telekinetic powers. Tourist Trap blends the slasher formula with supernatural horror, creating an atmosphere of surreal dread that is unlike anything else in the genre. For instance, the eerie mannequins, which seem to whisper and move on their own, are a source of genuine nightmare fuel.
Which other underrated slasher movie do you think deserves more recognition? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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