Editorials
6 Other Experimental Slashers to Watch Before ‘In a Violent Nature’
Even after decades of masked killers armed with increasingly ludicrous weapons, cinemagoers still flock to theaters to experience the raw thrills of watching homicidal maniacs hunt the most dangerous game. And while there’s nothing wrong with filmmakers choosing to rely on tried-and-true formulas when depicting classic cat-and-mouse conflicts, the sheer amount of these movies means that horror fans often find themselves wishing for riskier takes on these familiar ideas.
Thankfully, there are some brave filmmakers out there that use of the basic premise of a slasher as a jumping off point to tell more creative stories. A recent example of this is Chris Nash’s highly ambitious In a Violent Nature, a Friday-the-13th-inspired horror film told from the melancholy perspective of the undead killer himself. And with the film impressing genre fans with its artsy reinvention of common clichés, we’ve decided to come up with a list highlighting six other experimental slashers for discerning horror fans to watch before checking out Nash’s somber mood piece.
Naturally, six features are just a drop in the bucket when compared to the vast selection of creative slashers available out there in the wild (i.e. streaming services), so don’t forget to comment below with your own strange and horrific favorites if you think we missed a particularly odd one.
With that out of the way, onto the list.
6. Rubber (2010)
There’s nothing wrong with a one-trick pony so long as the trick is reasonably entertaining, and that’s precisely why Rubber makes it onto this list as an unexpectedly clever slasher with a meta twist. Boasting a premise so silly that it could have been a Tim & Eric sketch (with the film following the exploits of a homicidal tire inexplicably gifted with telekinetic powers), newcomers might be surprised to learn that there’s a lot more to this absurdist parable than initially meets the eye.
Defying expectations, French filmmaker Quentin Dupieux uses the inherent ridiculousness of Rubber to explore and question exactly what motivates viewers to seek out self-indulgent cinema – all the while providing us with some genuinely funny fourth-wall breaks.
5. Funny Games (1997/2007)
I know that placing Funny Games and its remake in the number 5 spot technically makes this a Top-7 list (and the low body-count means that some might consider it more of a home-invasion thriller than a true slasher), but the fact is that both versions of this terrifying classic are worth seeking out for different reasons.
Directed by Michael Haneke, both the original film and its American remake tell the story of a family being attacked by a duo of psychotic young men engaged in an increasingly sadistic “game.” Equal parts brutal and witty, this is another case of a genre-savvy filmmaker flipping familiar tropes on their heads in order to explore our voyeuristic fascination with violence in film.
I’d just recommend skipping this one for family movie night.
4. Malevolence (2004)
Mike Holtz already did a wonderful job unpacking this underrated indie gem in its own article, so suffice to say that Stevan Mena’s Malevolence is a must watch for John Carpenter fans looking for a slasher with more metaphorical meat on its bones. It may not seem all that original on the surface, especially where presentation is concerned, but it’s the implied backstory about nature vs nurture that makes this such a fascinating watch (especially during repeat viewings).
The low budget and heavy-handed Halloween inspiration may not be to everyone’s liking, but I still think that this is one of the best examples of a “serious” slasher that focuses more on storytelling than gore. And if you like this one, I’d also recommend checking out the prequel (Bereavement) and sequel (Malevolence 3: Killer), all produced by the same team.
3. Triangle (2009)
I can’t really get into the details of what makes this film an “experimental” slasher without completely spoiling the surprise, so I’ll just have to urge readers to check this one out immediately without looking up anything else about it beforehand. However, if you’ve already seen Christopher Smith’s mind-bending thriller, you’ll know exactly how it manages to reinvent a tired scary movie formula.
Taking inspiration from classics like The Shining and Jacob’s Ladder while also placing our characters in a criminally underused setting in horror (an abandoned ocean liner!), Triangle is the rare kind of horror movie that works even better on a re-watch.
Plus, the flick stars underrated Scream Queen Melissa George in one of her most memorable roles.
2. Maniac (2012)
The original Maniac is one hell of a gnarly exploitation flick, but I’d argue that it’s since been overshadowed by its insanely ambitious remake. Directed by genre veteran Franck Khalfoun and written by Alexandre Aja alongside Grégory Levasseur, this unexpectedly moving slasher miraculously uses a first-person perspective to make audiences sympathize with a reluctant madman.
Featuring quite a few memorable performances (I simply adore Elijah Wood’s voicework here as the murderous protagonist), as well as some impressive camerawork and a plethora of genuinely horrific death scenes, the 2012 film is a veritable smorgasbord of terrifying delights made more impactful by a deeply introspective script.
1. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2007)
From Scream to The Cabin in the Woods, only a handful of horror films have successfully managed to subvert the tropes that made the genre so popular in the first place. And what do these films all have in common? They’re written by people who genuinely love the movies that they’re satirizing. And if you’re going to judge the quality of a satire according to how passionate the filmmakers are about the material they’re commenting on, 2007’s Behind the Mask is clearly among the very best.
A comedic fusion of tongue-in-cheek mockumentary filmmaking with an earnest dissection of classic slasher flicks, there’s a reason why hardcore fans have been clamoring for a sequel to Scott Glosserman’s opus for nearly two decades. And while the film lures audiences into a false sense of security with its wacky humor, the final act proves that Leslie Vernon is right up there with Michael, Jason and Freddy when it comes to having a killer instinct.
I first heard about The Mandela Catalogue through a couple of nephews who were obsessed with the ARG’s sinister mythology. It was only after watching Wendigoon’s in-depth analysis of the series that I realized just how deep this rabbit hole goes.
In fact, I’d already been exposed to the nightmarish visuals of Alex Kister’s YouTube creation for years at that point without even realizing that it was the origin of several viral “cursed images” and spooky memes that had leaked into the wider internet – with this viral element actually being a part of the Catalogue’s overarching narrative.
Flash-forward to 2026 and the unprecedented success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms has led to Hollywood betting on horrific internet properties with existing fanbases, which means that Kister’s unique hybrid of both religious and analog horror is finally headed to the big screen with a script written by Kister himself alongside Tyler Clifton.
While this news shouldn’t be too surprising if you’ve been keeping up with the ongoing success of The Mandela Catalogue (both myself and Wendigoon having previously predicted that the series would inevitably make the jump to theaters one day), plenty of horror fans are likely confused as to why so many folks are excited for what appears to be a Hollywood adaptation of a series of creepy .jpeg images under a VHS filter.
With that in mind, today I’d like to invite fellow readers to accompany me as I explore the origins of Alex Kister’s viral hit and attempt to explain exactly why we should all be excited about the Mandela Catalogue adaptation!
From High School Writing Project to Internet Horror Phenomenon
The first seeds of The Mandela Catalogue were sown when Kister was still in high school and developed a writing project subverting religious tropes in a world where biblical history had been altered by demonic forces. A little while later, Kister came across an analog horror contest on Reddit and decided to adapt his ideas into a standalone video where he would edit a religious kids’ cartoon –The Beginner’s Bible: The Nativity, to be specific- into something far creepier. This is how the iconic Overthrone video was born, with this viral short film taking on a life of its own as fans demanded more eerie content from Kister.
Though the video was originally meant to be a one-and-done sort of affair, with Kister actually regretting some of its primitive visuals and considering the editing amateurish and “YouTube-Poop-like” when compared to his current standards, fan reaction and free time during the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged the (then) seventeen-year-old filmmaker to continue producing content set in this same world. The Mandela Catalogue name was inspired by the Mandela Effect conspiracy theory, as the series would slowly begin to explore the subtle horror of alternate histories.
Inspired by existential dread brought on by extended periods of quarantine as well as a personal crisis of faith, Kister continued to expand his alternate timeline where the rise of Christianity had been prevented by what was presumably the Devil disguised as the Archangel Gabriel. This alternate course of fictional events led to the existence of certain paranormal anomalies that had come to be accepted as “normal” by the 1990s, which is why most of the series’ supernatural horror is presented in such a matter-of-fact manner.
Most of this background information and religious lore is delivered by increasingly cryptic broadcasts and in-universe PSAs, as well as the occasional found footage video, that often have to be decoded by clever viewers. Of course, it’s the consistently disturbing imagery that made the series so popular – much of which was originally created by Kister on a smartphone!
The Alternates: Horror’s Most Unsettling Modern Monsters
The show’s early episodes mostly take place within the fictional Mandela County in Wisconsin and depict life in a world where demonic entities are capable of using media to enter our reality. This process usually involves scaring victims into killing themselves and then repurposing their bodies as horrific doppelgangers referred to as “Alternates”. This terrifying phenomenon has become so common that local police already have specialized procedures in place to deal with the issue, though this usually consists of simply ignoring calls for help so as to avoid spreading so-called “Metaphysical Awareness Disorder” any further.
Over time, Kister would expand this mythology and incorporate different kinds of Alternates into the mix, though the story never stopped deconstructing religious concepts. The series’ second volume exponentially increased both video quality and the overall narrative scope as we began to follow the lives of characters who had already grown up in this dystopian hellscape where the government is forced to prohibit religion, television, and even mirrors in the hopes of mitigating the damage done by the ongoing invasion of otherworldly entities.
The really interesting part comes into play when you realize exactly how the Alternates make use of scary media in order to spread their demonic influence, with the analog horror of it all being a diegetic part of the story and something of a memetic trap orchestrated by the false Gabriel.
I particularly appreciate how some characters begin to suspect that there’s something wrong with their version of reality and that things weren’t meant to play out this way, especially when Mark utters the haunting line “who have I been praying to all this time?” That’s why I think The Mandela Catalogue is an effective piece of religious horror even if you don’t subscribe to the Christian worldview, as the mere idea of a world where evil has already won is a universally terrifying concept in and of itself. Not only that, but the series’ uncanny analog imagery alone is already worth the price of admission, as you’ve likely already noticed by looking at the pictures accompanying this article.
Why The Feature Adaptation Could Be Horror’s Next Big Success
It’s actually been a whole year since Kister first announced that he had been working on a feature-length screenplay for a Mandela Catalogue movie since 2022, with his proposed story following an ensemble of high-school graduates who uncover a supernatural conspiracy after the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student. This premise sounds similar to narrative elements present in the series’ second volume, but I’m pretty sure that Kister is going to go the Kane Parsons route and make the movie more of a spin-off than a re-imagining of its source material.
While notable Hollywood producers like Aaron B. Koontz, Scott Stuber, and Steven Spielberg himself are backing the upcoming project, I feel like there’s no one better to adapt this deeply personal exploration of faith and the dark side of communication than the person who first came up with it. That’s why I can’t wait to see Kister’s work on the big screen, as I have a feeling that this young filmmaker is the next one on the list about to make cinematic history – especially since this is clearly a passion project that has been in the works for years at this point!
That being said, there’s always a chance that the film could end up unleashing a fresh wave of Alternate incursions, but I guess that’s just a risk we’ll have to take.
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