Slasher film

The slasher film is a sub-genre of the horror genre. Typically, a masked, psychotic person stalks and graphically kills teenagers or young adults who are away from adult supervision. Slashers are often followed by multiple sequels which steadily decline in quality and fan interest.

Glory days

However, the two prototypical films that launched the slasher cycle of the late 1970s and early 1980s were John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) and Sean Cunningham's Friday the 13th (1980), both of which spawned numerous sequels and even more imitators, including Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) which also generated an enduring series.

Related Topics:
John Carpenter - Halloween - Sean Cunningham - Friday the 13th - Wes Craven - A Nightmare on Elm Street

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The simple plots, minimal special effects and potent combination of sex and violence made it an easy choice for low-budget filmmaking in the 1980s, finding a large audience in the burgeoning home video market in particular. Nevertheless, by the end of the 1980s audiences were tiring of unstoppable psychos and the slasher market began to dwindle.

Related Topics:
Sex - Violence - Home video

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