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Ahead of ‘Deep Murder’, We Revisit Six Other Slashers With Adult Themes

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American Psycho

The standard slasher movie involves a group of teens getting stalked and dispatched by a masked maniac. Sometimes, those teens might be college co-eds. Far less common is a slasher set around adult victims facing very real adult problems. But taking that adult concept further, like say, setting the slasher in the sex industry or involving characters that work in the sex industry, and you have a much rarer beast altogether.

The upcoming Deep Murder is a perfect example, which follows a group of porn stars who start getting picked off by a masked killer. It’s a sort of alternate reality set in a tacky soft-core porn film, where a group of increasingly self-aware stock characters are up against a mysterious killer.

The directorial debut of Nick Corirossi, Deep Murder stars Jerry O’Connell, Christopher McDonald, Chris Redd, Katie Aselton, Quinn Beswick, Josh Margolin, Jessica Parker Kennedy and Stephanie Drake. The film was written by Quinn Beswick, Josh Margolin, Benjamin Smolen and Nikolai Von Keller and will arrive in theaters and VOD on June 14, 2019.

To prepare for its release, we look back at some of the greatest adult-themed slashers.


American Psycho

American Psycho is actually a psychological horror film, but it’s wrapped in designer post-modern slasher clothing. Patrick Bateman is a wealthy New York City investment banker with a materialistic lifestyle. He has a meticulous fitness and skincare regimen, and a busy social calendar to maintain appearances, despite not liking most in his “friends” circle. When his friends aren’t looking, he gives in to his darkest impulses, and he usually seeks out escort services or street corners for his victims. American Psycho gives an uncomfortable peek into the class divide between the wealthy elite and the lower class willing to put themselves in danger to earn a living. That’s just the tip of the iceberg for this modern classic.


Frankenhooker

Frank Henenlotter’s horror comedy gives an oddball spin to the Frankenstein story with Frankenhooker, a title that likely drew ire of many parents upon release. After a freak accident with a lawnmower that killed his fiancée Elizabeth, Jeffrey decides to bring her back to life. Being that she was hacked to bits, he pieces her back together using parts of prostitutes from the streets of New York City. This causes the resurrected Elizabeth to begin looking for new customers, who then explode after sex. It’s a bizarre slasher, comedy, Frankenstein mashup befitting of Elizabeth’s newly stitched together state.


The New York Ripper

Lucio Fulci’s New York City set giallo sees a burned-out police detective on the case of a series of murders involving female victims. The only common link among them is that they all happened to be sexually liberated, running the gamut from sex show worker to prostitute to simply a free-spirited woman in the wrong place at the wrong time. Like most of Fulci’s most regarded horror films, The New York Ripper is full of gore and sleaze in equal measure, and is possibly most known for its killer talking in a weird duck voice.


Maniac

Frank Zito grew up in an abusive household, raised by his prostitute mother. To say it left him with serious psychological trauma would be an understatement. An encounter with a prostitute blows open old wounds, resulting in Frank murdering her and removing her scalp as a memento. It’s the start of Frank’s descent into madness and murder, leaving a string of scalp-less victims in his wake. But it’s his obsession with photographer Anna that might be his complete undoing. It should probably surprise no one that this sleazy cult favorite is set in Manhattan- a recurring setting for many adult-themed slashers. It doesn’t dare follow the traditional slasher formula either, placing the viewer in the shoes of the film’s killer.


Stripped to Kill

Set in Los Angeles, Detective Cody Sheenan and her partner witness a stripper being murdered. A serial killer has been targeting strippers, but they refuse to talk to the police. It kicks off a mission to find the killer by getting up close and personal, with Detective Cody going undercover as a stripper. Directed by Katt Shea and produced by Roger Corman, this low budget exploitation slasher never shies away from the strippers, their jobs, and the problems that come with their profession. All while delivering fast-paced thrills and a bonkers ending.


Girl House

College co-ed Kylie is struggling to pay her college tuition, so when she’s recruited to join an online porn venture that means living in a house with cameras that streams its inhabitants to customers 24/7, she doesn’t hesitate to sign up. But when she performs her first striptease, she catches the notice of Loverboy, an unhinged user whose obsession grows to the point of showing up at the house to stalk and slay the ladies. A traditional slasher with a creepy masked killer gets a modern update with its unique cam girl setting.


Look for the porn set Deep Murder to slash its way onto VOD and theaters on June 14, 2019.

Horror journalist, RT Top Critic, and Critics Choice Association member. Has appeared on PBS series' Monstrum, served on the SXSW Midnighter shorts jury, and moderated horror panels for WonderCon, SeriesFest, and Popcorn Frights Film Fest.

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Five of the Worst Night Shifts in Horror Movies

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Sam Raimi struggles on the night shift in Intruder

A luxury team-building trip descends into a bloody fight for survival against a vengeful retreat leader in Corporate Retreat, out today in theaters. It’s the latest entry in a cathartic subgenre of workplace horror that examines every harrowing aspect of job employment.

No job is safe from horror, either, from babysitting to even the most white-collar gigs. But if you work an overnight shift? All bets are off. Vengeful co-workers and bosses aside, the night shift is likely to come armed with witches, creatures, demons, and all manner of things that go bump in the night. Even deadly outbreaks. 

Corporate Retreat, along with these five horror movies centered around some of the worst night shifts, will make you glad the weekend has finally arrived.


The Autopsy of Jane Doe

Passenger director André Øvredal goes full throttle for the scares in this quiet little chiller that sees a father and son coroner team stumped over the bizarre mysteries contained within the body of an unidentified young woman during an unexpected night shift. Well-executed scares, clever twists, and earnest performances by Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch give this supernatural haunter serious heft. While the narrative bides its time unveiling the truth behind Jane Doe’s battered body, it’s heavily steeped in witchcraft. In other words, The Autopsy of Jane Doe presents a new take on the subgenre. More importantly, it’s seriously scary.


Cold Storage

Cold Storage

COLD STORAGE, StudioCanal 2023

A lethal, mutated fungus breaks free from confinement deep within the bowels of a storage facility. At the frontlines of the madness are Teacake (Stranger Things’ Joe Keery) and Naomi (Barbarian‘s Georgina Campbell), two employees thrust into the middle of the chaos when they investigate an alarm beeping somewhere deep within the building. Director Jonny Campbell (Netflix’s Dracula), working from a script by David Koepp based on his novel, helms the goopy madness with workman efficiency. This lighthearted, goopy horror comedy romp makes the deadly night shift a bit more bearable.


Graveyard Shift

Graveyard Shift follows new hire Hall (David Andrews) tasked by his mean boss Warwick (Stephen Macht) to assist with the insane rat infestation beneath their mill. They find something much most monstrous as the cause. Though the film was panned, it’s a fun creature feature with an always welcome appearance by Brad Dourif as the intensely eccentric exterminator. The film also opts for a happier ending, whereas (spoiler), the story sees both Hall and Warwick getting devoured by the mutated rats, the crew in the upstairs mill none the wiser.


Last Shift

last shift welcome villain films

‘Last Shift’

Rookie Officer Jessica Loren (Juliana Harkavy) has been assigned to watch over a closing precinct on its final night of operationalone. With nearly everything already moved over to the new station, including rerouted 911 calls, it should be a pretty quiet night as she waits for a Hazmat team to arrive to remove biohazardous waste. Instead, it becomes a waking nightmare as she’s forced to deal with unsettling visitors. Last Shift, co-written by Scott Poiley and director Anthony DiBlasi, brings the scares.


Intruder

The overnight stock crew of a local grocery store finds themselves falling victim to an unseen killer in this highly infectious late ‘80s slasher. The deaths are delightfully gruesome and inventive; look for this killer to make excellent use of grocery store items as weapons. Frequent Raimi collaborator Scott Spiegel directed this bloody slasher, which means a lot of overlap with the Evil Dead II. That means putting Sam Raimi in front of the camera for a change, along with Ted Raimi and Evil Dead II’s Dan Hicks. Look for a cameo by Bruce Campbell as well! 


Corporate Retreat releases in theaters today; get tickets now.

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