Editorials
10 Great Slasher Films That You Maybe Haven’t Yet Seen
Of all the many subgenres of horror, one of the most popular and well-loved is the slasher. Between the proto-slashers of the ‘60s, giallo films, and the exploitation horror of the ‘70s that gave rise to the golden era of slashers from 1978-1984, there are hundreds of slasher films to satiate your bloodlust.
While the number of slashers produced dropped off dramatically after 1984, the slasher never went away, even jump-starting anew in the ‘90s thanks to Wes Craven’s Scream. All of this to say, with so many offerings in this subgenre, there’s plenty of great entries that have fallen through the cracks.
Some of the best slashers that fizzled at the box office upon initial release have finally found the audience they deserve, like The Burning, but many more remain in obscurity. These 10 slashers fall into the latter category; fun horror movies worth watching that don’t come up in discussion very often.
The die-hard slasher fan will recognize many of these titles, but for those looking to dig beneath the surface these 10 are a great place to start.
Fade to Black
Eric Binford is a socially awkward cinephile obsessed with movies, to the point that he’s bulled and ostracized by his family and peers. Then he meets Marilyn O’Connor, a model that happens to look just like Marilyn Monroe. The resemblance makes her the object of Eric’s cinematic desires, but when he’s accidentally stood up on their first date, it sends him into a homicidal tailspin. While most slashers are of the masked variety and often involve a whodunnit type mystery, we’re with the killer as he ascends to serial killer status. Instead of masks, though, Eric dresses up as a different cinematic icon for every kill. Dracula, the Mummy, Hopalong Cassidy Cowboy, and more become intricate facades for Eric to act out his movie star dreams. Just with a dash of murder. It’s likely because of Eric’s movie method of slaying that’s kept this gem trapped on VHS.
Alone in the Dark (1982)
This cult slasher also changes the formula a bit, as it features four psychopaths as they break out of their mental hospital during a blackout and target the family and home of their new doctor, Dr. Dan Potter. Jack Palance and Martin Landau are clearly having a ball as two members of the quirky psychopath quartet. Look for Donald Pleasence as the eccentric head of the asylum, too. Alone in the Dark mixes black humor with some solid tension and atmosphere, particularly in the second half. It’s as entertaining as it is bizarre.
Next of Kin (1982)
Thanks to a recent release by Severin films, this Australian take on a giallo won’t remain “lesser seen” for much longer. Following the death of her mother, Linda inherits the retirement home that she ran. Soon after, people start dying in strange ways. At its core, Next of Kin is a murder mystery in which an intruder picks off the residents of the retirement home, but it plays out far more atmospheric and moodier than that. It’s spooky and feels like a complement to Kubrick’s The Shining. Again, this one doesn’t feel much like your standard slasher, but it’s a great one.
Dream Home
Proving that not all “lesser seen” slashers emerged from the golden era, this 2010 slasher is a fantastic one that will also appease the gorehounds. Cheng Lai-sheung works two jobs to save up enough money to buy her dream apartment with a stunning view of the harbor. When her dreams are crushed, Lai-sheung decides to keep them alive no matter the cost- including the lives of her neighbors. Told in reverse chronological order, this bloody slasher puts the viewer in the shoes of its killer. That her dreams are completely human and relatable makes this one all the more chilling.
Just Before Dawn
This 1981 slasher likely has a bigger following than any other on this list. And yet it’s still not enough. For whatever reason, Just Before Dawn doesn’t come up in conversation near as much as it should when discussing slashers. I suppose that’s because at first glance, it doesn’t seem to offer anything different; its plot sees five campers that ignore the warnings that there’s an axe-wielding maniac on the loose and find themselves getting picked off one by one. It’s well shot with a haunting score, but it also takes its time to establish the characters (a rarity at this point during the golden era). And it takes an unconventional approach to its Final Girl, too. Basically, Just Before Dawn deserves far more love than it’s received over the decades.
Night School (1981)
An American giallo that sees police perplexed by the recent string of murders, Night School takes a more traditional approach to its formula. The victims are women who have had their heads decapitated by a machete, and the murderer’s identity is concealed under a motorcycle helmet. So, the beheadings are slightly different. But the main thing that sets this one apart from the rest is the killer’s identity. I won’t spoil it for anyone, and there’s a pretty strong chance you’ll guess who it is before the end, but it’s still a standout for the subgenre.
Visiting Hours
Michael Ironside stars as serial killer Colt, a creepy guy obsessed with TV journalist Deborah Ballin. He attempts to kill her, and she barely survives. She’s sent to the hospital to recover from her injuries, and Colt follows her there to stalk and kill anyone that might get in his way of finishing what he started. William Shatner plays Deborah’s concerned boyfriend. Visiting Hours is a violent slasher with something to say, though it does occasionally play for unintentional laughs and loses steam in the logic department toward the end. Even still, Ironside always makes for a terrifying villain.
Frightmare
This one is for those that like schlock with their horror, and those that like their slasher blended with the supernatural. When drama students decide the best way to pay tribute to their favorite horror star is to dig up his body for a party, they’ve unwittingly triggered black magic that sets off the dead star’s quest for vengeance. It’s ‘80s slashers meets Gothic horror, but full on weird. Frightmare also has some pretty great death sequences too, which is usually a main draw of the slasher. One of the best reasons to give this a try, though, is for a young Jeffrey Combs in an early role.
Popcorn
To raise funds for the film department, a group of film students decide to put on a movie marathon fundraiser in a defunct theater scheduled for demolition. They develop William Castle level gimmicks to accommodate their three B-movie horror films, and set their plan in action. But on the night of the event, a murderer begins to kill the students one by one, and assuming their faces to fool his next victim. Popcorn boasts one of the most enjoyable setups in slasher history. The movie within a movie concept with nods to familiar tropes and references is a delight that’s only matched by the strange method of the movie’s killer. And it only gets progressively weirder and dreamlike as it barrels toward its conclusion.
Hell Night
As part of a hazing ritual, four college kids are forced to leave their costume party and stay the night locked in a decrepit mansion where a family massacre once occurred. Their peers have set up scares and traps throughout the mansion to spook them, but no one was aware that the survivor of the family massacre still lurks within. Linda Blair stars as lead protagonist Marti, the good girl turned survivor. Her performance earned her a Razzie nomination, but that’s forgivable. Hell Night offers a haunted house type setting full of gimmicks, but more than that, it provides one hell of a killer reveal that a certain ‘90s slasher received full credit for years later.
Editorials
Before ‘The Blair Witch Project’, ‘Alien Autopsy’ Showed How Real Found Footage Could Feel
The line separating artist from con man is a lot thinner than you might initially believe. While I think we can all agree that lying for the sake of profit is actively malicious behavior, isn’t it also true that the faux documentary aspect of The Blair Witch Project is half the reason why that film became such a cultural phenomenon? After all, if there’s one thing filmmakers have in common with stage magicians, it’s that misleading and misdirecting audiences is simply part of the job.
That’s why I’ve developed a habit of mostly ignoring the moral quandaries behind many of film and television’s biggest “hoaxes” in favor of appreciating the narrative elements that drive productions like Mermaids: The Body Found and even Animal Planet’s highly underrated The Cannibal in the Jungle. However, if there’s a definitive case of a highly publicized broadcast fooling the world into taking it seriously, it has to be Fox’s infamous 1995 TV special Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction.
It’s been over three decades since that eerie footage first haunted television screens right at the peak of the ’90s ufology craze, and in that time, the video has taken on a life of its own. From countless parodies and references in everything from The X-Files to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (as well as John Dower’s recently released tell-all documentary The Alien Autopsy Scandal, which I’d highly recommend to genre fans everywhere), there’s no denying the legacy of the Alien Autopsy video. However, I rarely see the tape discussed as what it truly is: a highly convincing found footage film directed by a passionate stage magician and brought to life by masterful practical effects work.
That’s why I’d like to invite readers to join me on a deep dive into one of the most infamous broadcasts of all time in an attempt to reevaluate the footage as a fascinating narrative experience rather than a complete hoax.
The TV Special That Convinced Millions It Was Real
Ray Santilli next to Extraterrestrial replica in ‘The Alien Autopsy Scandal’
For starters, regardless of whether or not you believe that there was in fact an extraterrestrial crash in Roswell during the summer of 1947 and that some form of autopsy was performed on the victims, the producers behind the black & white recordings, Ray Santilli and Gary Shoefield, insist that their video was a “restoration.” Though I’d argue that the proper word is “remake”of genuine footage that was too damaged to air on television. That’s why the duo went on to recruit filmmaker and eccentric magician Spyros Melaris and sculptor/monster designer John Humphreys to bring their version of the autopsy to life and sell it to the highest bidder.
This is where the story of the Alien Autopsy as a narrative experience really begins. Melaris claims that his approach to the faux recording consisted of striving for extreme period accuracy in both shooting equipment and setting while also planting subtle details that would initially seem like mistakes but could later be revealed to actually fit the time period. That being said, the filmmaker was under the impression that the short would be released for free as a PR stunt, with the team later producing and selling an informative documentary chronicling exactly how the footage was faked and commenting on how easy it is to manipulate public perception with a good old-fashioned magic trick.
This obviously isn’t how things went down, and that’s likely the reason why Melaris has since distanced himself from everyone else involved with the project. Yet, no amount of behind-the-scenes drama can undermine the genuine effort that went into making the short as impressive as it is. From the sourcing of real animal organs from a local butcher to make the organic part of the creature more lifelike to the highly detailed sculpt that made use of a hollowed-out underlayer that could be filled with fake blood and assorted viscera, there’s a reason why so many Hollywood specialists are still impressed with the artistry on display here.
Of course, the believability is only half the story, as I think that the best part of the autopsy is how Melaris builds on the existing tension by obscuring certain details and often embracing the chaos of what a real examination of extraterrestrial life could feel like. The camera often goes out of focus at just the right time to make certain effects hit even harder, and we can only speculate as to what the hazmat-suited doctors are gesticulating about during the operation. There’s a real air of mystery to the whole thing that almost makes it feel like a cosmically terrifying, cursed film containing forbidden knowledge that civilians were never meant to see.
So when Fox’s Fact or Fiction brings in the specialists to comment on the film and its otherworldly subject, it’s no surprise that we end up with one of the most memorable mockumentaries of all time – albeit one where the participants are unaware that the footage they’re commenting on is basically a large-scale practical joke. A joke that the network was obviously in on, as many participants claim that the TV special cut out significant portions where guests point out that they believe the footage to be an elaborate hoax.
The Lasting Impact of the Hoax Turned Cultural Event
Regardless, I remember going to bed terrified after watching reruns of the special and thinking about the respected pathologist who claimed that the body was almost certainly inhuman, with even effects maestro Stan Winston commenting on how difficult it would be to recreate some of these visuals through practical puppetry. That’s not even mentioning Jonathan Frakes’ dramatic hyping up of the disturbing imagery as if he was talking about the tape from The Ring, with his spooky demeanor here likely being responsible for his later role as the host of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction a few years later.
Personally, I’d argue that the Alien Autopsy phenomenon had just as much of an impact on me as a horror fan as The Blair Witch Project, a film that was almost certainly influenced by the success of this immensely popular hoax (to the point where they even produced their own TV special commenting on Heather’s found footage). Even if Fox didn’t intend to produce a narrative feature about the aftermath of the Roswell crash, the end product still holds up remarkably well as a highly entertaining mockumentary exploring the idea that we may not be alone in the universe.
While neither Santilli nor the rest of the production team has ever commented on this, I also think it’s very likely that the idea of a faux Alien Autopsy could have been influenced by Dean Alioto’s The McPherson Tape/UFO Abduction. I’ve already written about how this granddaddy of found footage was co-opted by rogue ufologists who began selling bootlegs of the tape at conventions as if it were real evidence of a close encounter, so it’s not that much of a stretch to imagine that Santilli and company could have heard about this phenomenon and been inspired to come up with their own highly profitable hoax.
At the end of the day, it’s unlikely that the Alien Autopsy film is recreating any real footage from Roswell, but I can still appreciate the short and the accompanying television event as a standalone horror story that still influences the way we see found footage to this very day.
After all, the possibility that something could be real is often much scarier than finding out for sure – and that’s why I think Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction is still worth revisiting three decades down the line.
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