It can be argued that slashers are already a form of high-concept filmmaking. After all, these kinds of movies usually have very specific, very attention-grabbing plots that can be boiled down to a one- or two-sentence pitch.
However, not every slasher stops at having a disguised killer picking off teens in the woods. A lot of them have been known to color outside the lines. Yes, their loglines indeed stay small, but the execution is now enhanced in some way.
The following ten movies do more with the basic slasher concept, as well as come up with something memorable.
The Wraith (1986)
While not explicitly billed as horror, Mike Marvin‘s cult flick The Wraith has things in common with slashers. Here, the vengeful driver of a Dodge M4S is targeting a gang of drag-racing bullies. The same people responsible for one guy’s death. In the end, The Wraith more than deserves its action-fantasy label, but you also can’t deny its horror inclinations.
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)
The Nightmare on Elm Street movies are already a great example of going beyond the readily available slasher blueprint, but for the franchise’s seventh installment, Wes Craven uprooted everything you knew about Freddy Krueger. The meta approach in New Nightmare made Freddy (Robert Englund) a fictional character who starts to manifest in the real world. He then stalks the actress Heather Langenkamp, her family, and those around her. The beginnings of Scream could be sensed in this unique Elm Street entry.
Final Destination (2000)
Something as simple as making the killer invisible is partly why James Wong‘s Final Destination felt so fresh back then. And after delivering corporeal villains for so long, the genre handed us a new kind of executioner. The personification of death in this franchise, which is constantly fixing any errors in its grand design, can’t be detected by the human eye. Sure, a menacing mortician (Tony Todd) provides help for those now caught on Death’s to-kill list, but as each Final Destination movie revealed, there was actually no escaping the inevitable.
Jason X (2001)
The Friday the 13th movies went high concept early on, after resurrecting Jason Voorhees as an unstoppable, undead killer. No longer was the story grounded in reality; the series later added out-there elements, such as a Carrie copycat and body-hopping. Yet it was James Isaac‘s Jason X that pushed the Friday films, albeit briefly, into a different genre. The traits of schlocky science fiction were poured into this futuristic story, one where that iconic Crystal Lake monster goes on a killing spree aboard a spaceship. We also can’t forget the massive upgrades in arsenal and armaments Jason received here.
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
One’s mileage with meta-horror will vary. Some love that wink to the audience, whereas others want a movie to play things straight. And after the first slasher revival, we eventually saw the genre dialing back the self-awareness. At least for a bit. Then came Scott Glosserman‘s Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, which was cinematic proof that postmodern horror could still work. Now let’s just hope that the sequel sees the light of day.
Triangle (2009)
Christopher Smith‘s Triangle is neither the first nor the last slasher to play around with time. In this movie, though, time is all the characters have now, after they become trapped on an old ocean liner with a mysterious killer. Melissa George and her castmates have stumbled into a temporal anomaly while out at sea; it’s an unmatched tale of Sisyphean, aquatic dread. Ultimately, there’s no concrete explanation for all the weird goings-on, making the movie something of a headscratcher. Even so, the overall experience outweighs the need for answers.
The Final Girls (2015)
Todd Strauss-Schulson‘s The Final Girls forever changed how we hear Kim Carnes’ song “Bette Davis Eyes”. It was also a stellar stab at blending comedy, drama, and, of course, horror. The scares are scarce, but you’d be right to feel moved by certain moments between the characters. In this movie, a grieving young woman (Taissa Farmiga) is transported into the universe of an ’80s slasher movie; it’s the same one her late mother (Malin Akerman) starred in all those years ago. So although the main character is reunited with her mother, it’s not really her. Their encounter is then interrupted by the diegetic movie’s antagonist, a Jason Voorhees knockoff named Billy Murphy.
Happy Death Day (2017)
Christopher Landon‘s Happy Death Day works for both die-hard horror fans and horror newbies. Even those who don’t like the genre may be won over. It’s true that this PG-13 slasher dramedy doesn’t have the freedom to be exceptionally gory like its contemporaries, but what Happy Death Day lacks in viscera it makes up for in personality. Much of this is found in Jessica Rothe‘s character, an ill-fated time looper. Rothe also returned in Happy Death Day 2U, the sequel that dials up the first movie’s sci-fi element.
Freaky (2020)
It was because of Happy Death Day that we began to see more genre-bending teen horror. One of the more favorable examples is Freaky, which is also directed by Christopher Landon. In this horror twist on Freaky Friday, Kathryn Newton and Vince Vaughn‘s characters, respectively a high schooler and a middle-aged serial killer, end up switching bodies. The swap then leads to some rather great turns by the movie’s two leads.
The Last Kiss (2026)
Movies like It’s a Wonderful Knife, Time Cut and Totally Killer led to a time-travel slasher overkill. In Yoko Okumura‘s The Last Kiss, though, Mckenna Grace‘s character channels the psychic protagonist of Eyes of Laura Mars. A traumatic experience has made the final girl here not only scared to live her life, she’s also now seeing the deaths of anyone she kisses. More specifically, the potential victims of a masked killer. The Last Kiss offers yet another fine horror performance from Grace, as well as some laughs and tender moments.
