Slashers – Blood, Sex & Psychos
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Directors: Robert Wiene
Writers: Carl Mayer, Hans Janowitz
Stars: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher
Story: Hypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.
Other Films In Series: None.
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Directors: Rupert Julian, Lon Chaney
Writers: Gaston Leroux
Stars: Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry
Story: A mad, disfigured composer seeks love with a lovely young opera singer.
Other Films In Series: Phantom of the Opera (1943), The Phantom of the Opera (1962), The Phantom of the Opera (1989), The Phantom of the Opera (1991), Joel Schumacher's The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
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House of Wax (1953)
Directors: André De Toth
Writers: Charles Belden (original story), Crane Wilbur (screenplay)
Stars: Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk
Story: An associate burns down a wax museum with the owner inside, but he survives only to become vengeful and murderous.
Other Films In Series: Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), House of Wax (2005)
Peeping Tom (1960)
Directors: Michael Powell
Writers: Leo Marks (original story), Leo Marks (screenplay)
Stars: Karlheinz Böhm, Anna Massey, Moira Shearer
Story: A young man murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror.
Other Films In Series: None.
Psycho (1960)
Directors: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: Robert Bloch (novel), Joseph Stefano (screenplay)
Stars: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles
Story: A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run, and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.
Other Films In Series: Psycho II (1983), Psycho III (1986), Bates Motel (1987), Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990), Psycho (1998)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Directors: Tobe Hooper
Writers: Kim Henkel, Tobe Hooper
Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Gunnar Hansen
Story: Two siblings visit their grandfather's grave in Texas along with three of their friends and are attacked by a family of cannibalistic psychopaths.
Other Films In Series: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990), Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006), Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013), Leatherface (2017), Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)
Directors: Alfred Sole
Writers: Rosemary Ritvo, Alfred Sole
Stars: Linda Miller, Mildred Clinton, Paula E. Sheppard, Brooke Shields
Story: After a young girl is brutally murdered during her first communion, her strange and withdrawn older sister becomes the main suspect. But are the authorities mistaken?
Other Films In Series: None.
The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)
Directors: Charles B. Pierce
Writers: Earl E. Smith
Stars: Ben Johnson, Andrew Prine, Dawn Wells
Story: In 1946, a Texas Ranger hunts for a hooded serial killer terrorizing the residents of a small Texas town.
Other Films In Series: The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014)
The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
Directors: Wes Craven
Writers: Wes Craven
Stars: Suze Lanier-Bramlett, Robert Houston, John Steadman, Michael Berryman
Story: On the way to California, a family has the misfortune to have their car break down in an area closed to the public, and inhabited by violent savages ready to attack.
Other Films In Series: The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985), The Hills Have Eyes (2006), The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007)
Halloween (1978)
Directors: John Carpenter
Writers: John Carpenter, Debra Hill
Stars: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran
Story: Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield to kill again.
Other Films In Series: Halloween II (1981), Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988), Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989), Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), Halloween: Resurrection (2002), Halloween (2007), Halloween II (2009), Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021), Halloween Ends (2022)
Friday the 13th (1980)
Directors: Sean S. Cunningham
Writers: Victor Miller, Sean S. Cunningham
Stars: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor
Story: A group of camp counselors are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to reopen a summer camp which, years before, was the site of a child's drowning.
Other Films In Series: Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981), Friday the 13th Part III (1982), Friday the 13th Part III (1982), Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984), Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985), Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986), Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988), Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989), Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993), Jason X (2001), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), Friday the 13th (2009)
My Bloody Valentine (1981)
Directors: George Mihalka
Writers: Stephen A. Miller, John Beaird
Stars: Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier, Neil Affleck
Story: A decades-old folk tale surrounding a deranged murderer killing those who celebrate Valentine's Day turns out to be true to legend when a group defies the killer's order and people start turning up dead.
Other Films In Series: My Bloody Valentine (2009)
Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Directors: Robert Hiltzik
Writers: Robert Hiltzik
Stars: Felissa Rose, Jonathan Tiersten, Karen Fields
Story: Angela Baker, a traumatized and very shy young girl, is sent to summer camp with her cousin. Shortly after her arrival, anyone with sinister or less than honorable intentions gets their gruesome comeuppance.
Other Films In Series: Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988), Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (1989), Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor (2002), Return to Sleepaway Camp (2008)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Directors: Wes Craven
Writers: Wes Craven
Stars: Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund
Story: A group of teenagers is haunted by a gruesome serial killer who kills his victims in their dreams.
Other Films In Series: A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989), Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
Child’s Play (1988)
Directors: Tom Holland
Writers: Don Mancini
Stars: Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent, Brad Dourif
Story: A single mother gives her son a much sought after doll for his birthday, only to discover that it is possessed by the soul of a serial killer.
Other Films In Series: Child's Play 2 (1990), Child's Play 3 (1991), Bride of Chucky (1998), Seed of Chucky (2004), Curse of Chucky (2013), Cult of Chucky (2017), Child's Play (2019)
Se7en (1995)
Directors: David Fincher
Writers: Andrew Kevin Walker
Stars: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey
Story: Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi.
Other Films In Series: None.
Scream (1996)
Directors: Wes Craven
Writers: Kevin Williamson
Stars: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette
Story: A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a new killer, who targets the girl and her friends by using horror films as part of a deadly game.
Other Films In Series: Scream 2 (1997), Scream 3 (2000), Scream 4 (2011), Scream (2022), Scream VI (2023)
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Directors: Jim Gillespie
Writers: Lois Duncan (novel), Kevin Williamson (screenplay)
Stars: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Anne Heche
Story: Four young friends bound by a tragic accident are reunited when they find themselves being stalked by a hook-wielding maniac in their small seaside town.
Other Films In Series: I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006)
Urban Legend (1998)
Directors: Jamie Blanks
Writers: Silvio Horta
Stars: Jared Leto, Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart
Story: A college student suspects a series of bizarre deaths are connected to certain urban legends.
Other Films In Series: Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000), Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005)
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
Directors: Rob Zombie
Writers: Rob Zombie
Stars: Sid Haig, Karen Black, Bill Moseley
Story: Two young couples traveling across the backwoods of Texas searching for urban legends of murder end up as prisoners of a bizarre and sadistic backwater family of serial killers.
Other Films In Series: The Devil's Rejects (2005), 3 from Hell (2019)
Wrong Turn (2003)
Directors: Rob Schmidt
Writers: Alan B. McElroy
Stars: Eliza Dushku, Jeremy Sisto, Emmanuelle Chriqui
Story: Six people find themselves trapped in the woods of West Virginia, hunted down by cannibalistic mountain men grossly disfigured through generations of in-breeding.
Other Films In Series: Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007), Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead (2009), Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings (2011), Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines (2012), Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort (2014), Wrong Turn (2021)
Saw (2004)
Directors: James Wan
Writers: Leigh Whannell, James Wan
Stars: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith
Story: Two strangers awaken in a room with no recollection of how they got there or why, and soon discover they are pawns in a deadly game perpetrated by a notorious serial killer known as Jigsaw.
Other Films In Series: Saw II (2005), Saw III (2006), Saw IV (2007), Saw V (2008), Saw VI (2009), Saw 3D (2010), Jigsaw (2017), Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021), Saw X (2023)
Wolf Creek (2005)
Directors: Greg McLean
Writers: Greg McLean
Stars: Nathan Phillips, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi, John Jarratt
Story: Three backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are befriended by a local who turns out to be a sadistic psychopath and will plunge them into a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture.
Other Films In Series: Wolf Creek 2 (2013)
Hatchet (2006)
Directors: Adam Green
Writers: Adam Green
Stars: Kane Hodder, Joel David Moore, Deon Richmond
Story: When a group of tourists on a New Orleans haunted swamp tour find themselves stranded in the wilderness, their evening of fun and spooks turns into a horrific nightmare.
Other Films In Series: Hatchet II (2010), Hatchet III (2013), Victor Crowley (2017)
See No Evil (2006)
Directors: Gregory Dark
Writers: Dan Madigan
Stars: Glenn Jacobs, Christina Vidal, Michael J. Pagan
Story: A group of delinquents are sent to clean the Blackwell Hotel. Little do they know reclusive psychopath Jacob Goodnight has holed away in the rotting hotel.
Other Films In Series: See No Evil 2 (2014)
The Strangers (2008)
Directors: Bryan Bertino
Writers: Bryan Bertino
Stars: Scott Speedman, Liv Tyler, Gemma Ward
Story: A young couple staying in an isolated vacation home are terrorized by three unknown assailants.
Other Films In Series: The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018), The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024)
The Collector (2009)
Directors: Marcus Dunstan
Writers: Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan
Stars: Josh Stewart, Andrea Roth, Juan Fernández
Story: Desperate to repay his debt to his ex-wife, an ex-con plots a heist at his new employer's country home, unaware that a second criminal has also targeted the property, and rigged it with a series of deadly traps.
Other Films In Series: The Collection (2012)
Laid to Rest (2009)
Directors: Robert Hall
Writers: Robert Hall
Stars: Bobbi Sue Luther, Kevin Gage, Lena Headey, Nick Principe
Story: An amnesiac finds herself in an isolated rural town and soon learns that she is being hunted by a tech savvy serial killer called ChromSkull.
Other Films In Series: ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest 2 (2011)
The Purge (2013)
Directors: James DeMonaco
Writers: James DeMonaco
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Max Burkholder
Story: A wealthy family is held hostage for harboring the target of a murderous syndicate during the Purge, a 12-hour period in which any and all crime is legal.
Other Films In Series: The Purge: Anarchy (2014), The Purge: Election Year (2016), The First Purge (2018), The Forever Purge (2021)
Tormented (2014)
Directors: Audrey Cummings
Writers: Chris Gamble
Stars: Alysa King, Samora Smallwood, Bart Rochon
Story: Kylie Winters, a bullied and self-loathing teen, reluctantly agrees to babysit at an isolated country mansion on Halloween night. When a small boy in a pig mask appears at the door trick-or-treating, Kylie's night transforms into a horrifying and violent cat-and-mouse game.
Other Films In Series: None.
Happy Death Day (2017)
Directors: Christopher Landon
Writers: Scott Lobdell
Stars: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine
Story: A college student must relive the day of her murder over and over again, in a loop that will end only when she discovers her killer's identity.
Other Films In Series: Happy Death Day 2 U (2019)