Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Slashers!

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Slashers!

    I've gotten the slasher bug again this Halloween season and have been watching one here and there. I thought we could have a thread for the mostly non-franchise entries. I tend to like the unusual ones, stuff like JUST BEFORE DAWN, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, and CURTAINS to name a few. Recently picked up The Mammoth Book Of Slasher Movies, something else that pushed me to revisit some. Don't bother with this book by the way, it's awkwardly written and also covers a lot of non-slasher horror films. One of my favorite movie-going memories was being around for the Golden Age of the slasher and seeing a new one in the theater every week or two for a while there.

    Here's what I've seen recently:

    GIRLS NITE OUT - This improved quite a bit on rewatch, a fast-paced and mean-spirited film with a truly creepy ending. Also, a couple slasher regulars are in it (along with Hal Holbrook), including cutie Carrick Glenn (THE BURNING).

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME - The LAWRENCE OF ARABIA of slashers at a buck fifty minutes. Goofy at times but also some great kills. The killer reveal at the end is still hilarious. I also like that the innocent girl will be arrested for the murders. Hard to believe J. Lee Thompson directed this.

    MORTUARY - Not one of the better ones though it does have some plusses like Christopher and Lynda Day George, and Bill Paxton skipping around a cemetery.

    What are some of your favorites?

    I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.

  • #2
    Just watched a few of the Friday The 13th movies via the AMC marathon over the last few days, those are always fun. Of course the Halloween movies too.

    I definitely have soft spots for The Prowler and the original My Bloody Valentine, and of course the original Black Christmas.
    Rock! Shock! Pop!

    Comment


    • #3
      Oh and on a semi-related side note I've been to the park in Oregon where a lot of Just Before Dawn was filmed, Silver Falls State Park. It's pretty awesome.
      Rock! Shock! Pop!

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Ian Jane View Post
        Oh and on a semi-related side note I've been to the park in Oregon where a lot of Just Before Dawn was filmed, Silver Falls State Park. It's pretty awesome.
        I remember you mentioning that at AVM, it certainly looks very impressive on film. A great place for a backwoods horror film. That's what I love so much about JUST BEFORE DAWN, not just a slasher but a terrific and quite offbeat backwoods horror. My friend and I were just floored by the ending of that when we saw it in the theater. I would probably faint dead away if we ever got JBD on BD!

        I have the BDs of TERROR TRAIN (which looks very good from a spot check) and THE FUNHOUSE here, will get to one this weekend.

        Another one I've always loved is THE HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW, an unusually strong cast and a fantastically creepy old house in this one. Plus, a film is always elevated by the discovery of a severed head in the toilet.
        I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.

        Comment


        • #5
          The first Slumber Party Massacre still = a lot of fun as well. Sleepaway Camp too.
          Rock! Shock! Pop!

          Comment


          • #6
            Never been that big on SLUMBER PARTY MASSCARE, thought it was okay but that's about it. Was funny that Rita Mae Brown wrote it though. I fucking love SLEEPAWAY CAMP though. Another I saw back in the day. I have a soft spot for those particularly mean-spirited ones and this is definitely a corker. That curling iron scene is brutal. I think the makers of this ripped off the ending from the 70s film A REFLECTION OF FEAR with Sondra Locke and Robert Shaw.

            THE FINAL TERROR is another good backwoods slasher, has a pretty crazy cast too - Rachel Ward, Daryl Hannah, and Mark Metcalf. MADMAN is another personal fav.
            I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.

            Comment


            • #7
              I don't think I've seen The Final Terror. Couldn't get into Madman despite my best efforts. Thinking about camps and woods and stuff though, you've got to mention The Burning.
              Attached Files
              Rock! Shock! Pop!

              Comment


              • #8
                Yeah, THE BURNING is a good one. Particularly now that the uncut version is out on disc. Unusual in one respect too, it has a Final Boy instead of Girl - Alfred. Love the Rick Wakeman (!) score too. The raft murder sequence is one hell of an impressive mass kill, and it's very eerie when they later see the raft drifting along in the distance...

                I'm surprised you didn't like MADMAN. I really dig it, though looked at objectively it's nothing more than a mid-level camp/backwoods one. I like the blue color scheme (the Code Red disc doesn't have this but the old AB does) in the night scenes. It has some decent gore too.

                THE PREY is another decent backwoods'er, it's got some definite nature footage padding but it's just offbeat enough to hold your attention. And one of the two actors who played Captain Marvel aka Shazam on the old Saturday morning tv show is in it! Jackson Bostwick. Also Steve Bond who was kind of a big deal then since he was on General Hospital.
                I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.

                Comment


                • #9
                  The Redeemer!!

                  Also really dig My Bloody Valentine (the orginal and the remake)

                  Cinema Wasteland will be doing a Just Before Dawn reunion at April's show...They have Lieberman and 3 or 4 cast members so far...

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    This is inarguably my favorite sub genre of horror, as it was just a staple growing up. A lot of favorites have already been mentioned, like The Prowler, Madman, The Burning, etc, another fun one is Happy Hell Night (not the Linda Blair flick) from the late 80's/early 90's that features Darren McGavin, Jorja Fox, and Sam Rockwell in it. I love these flicks almost to a fault, I will sit through even the worst, most bottom of the barrel slasher flicks.

                    The Slumber Party Massacre/Sorority House Massacre flicks have a special place in my heart. I think all of them have some worthwhile moments, and I think they're some of the most fun flicks in the subgenre out there. I even like the (unofficial?) third entry in the Sorority series called Hard To Die which shifts the local to a high rise and also brings in some Die Hard ripoff elements. I think I might be in the minority, but I also think I like Sleepaway Camp 2 and 3 more than I like the original.

                    And what about the often overlooked proto-Slasher, Alice Sweet Alice?

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I have been watching the Friday the 13th films when I lay down to goto sleep each night.Started part 4 last night. Most nights I get about 20 minutes watched before my sleep meds kick in and I fall asleep.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I could never finish The Redeemer despite it being pretty unique and well shot. Like most other kids I grew up on the slashers. Also helped that slashers had ample nudity for my growing mind. Personal favorites aside from the mainstream franchises:

                        The Burning: I do not understand the criticism that this film is slow and there's no characterization. I wonder what film these critics have been watching. IMHO the best camp/out in the woods Slasher picture.

                        Nightmares in a Damaged Brain: Serial Killer/Slasher film. Very well made, great performances, amazing gore, devastating 3rd act. A classic.

                        The Finale Terror: IMHO the 2nd best Camp/out in the woods Slasher. Light on gore but makes up for it with a unique situation; most of the characters are aware of the killer fairly early on and acutally react with some intelligence and band together.

                        Rituals: Deliverance inspired Slasher. Really well done up until the last 15 or so minutes. It's so much more interesting if you think it's some supernatural entity or some random crazy guy behind everything as opposed to what we get.

                        Hell High: Very unique slasher. Love the premise and the acting. Watching it with the Joe Bob Briggs commentary is a must.

                        A bunch of others: Hell Night, Sleepaway Camp 2, Pieces, Slaughter High, Evil Dead Trap, and Silent Night Deadly Night.
                        "Ah! By god's balls what licentiousness!"

                        Marquis de Sade, The 120 Days of Sodom.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Tom K View Post

                          Cinema Wasteland will be doing a Just Before Dawn reunion at April's show...They have Lieberman and 3 or 4 cast members so far...
                          This sounds awesome. DAWN had an unusually strong cast, including future DePalma regular Gregg Henry and the ultimate Final Girl Deborah Benson.
                          I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Alex K. View Post
                            The Burning: I do not understand the criticism that this film is slow and there's no characterization. I wonder what film these critics have been watching. IMHO the best camp/out in the woods Slasher picture.

                            Nightmares in a Damaged Brain: Serial Killer/Slasher film. Very well made, great performances, amazing gore, devastating 3rd act. A classic.

                            The Finale Terror: IMHO the 2nd best Camp/out in the woods Slasher. Light on gore but makes up for it with a unique situation; most of the characters are aware of the killer fairly early on and acutally react with some intelligence and band together.

                            Rituals: Deliverance inspired Slasher. Really well done up until the last 15 or so minutes. It's so much more interesting if you think it's some supernatural entity or some random crazy guy behind everything as opposed to what we get.
                            Right there with you on these, though I'd give the edge to JUST BEFORE DAWN in the backwoods category. I actually saw THE FINAL TERROR in the theater, damn I wish it would get a nice dvd or heck, even a BD release. Wasn't there a questionable dvd released? I have the tape and have put it on dvd-r. RITUALS is still massively underrated, even after the Code Red disc.

                            Last night my slasher of choice was HE KNOWS YOU'RE ALONE. I've always liked this even though I don't rate it among the best slashers. It too has a quality cast including Don Scardino from SQUIRM and of course, Tom Hanks. The title theme is hilariously close to being a note-for-note copy of Carpenter's HALLOWEEN theme. One thing I've never liked about this one is the ordinariness of the killer, I reckon he should have worn a mask. He does look scary crazy in those close-ups of his eyes though, reminded me a little of Baird Stafford from NIGHTMARE.
                            I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Another vote for Rituals, I really like that one. Rewatched Hell Night for the first time in years a couple of weeks ago and didn't like it was much as I remembered liking it. Not terrible, entertaining enough, but not one I'd rate all that high.

                              Is Curtains any good?
                              Rock! Shock! Pop!

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X