After a first golden age in the early 1980s, in the wake of the Holy Trinity Black Christmas, Halloween and Friday 13, the slasher made a comeback in the late 1990s with
Scream. Behind his meta approach, the formula remained the same with masked killer, bladed weapon and
whodunit. Since then, this full-fledged sub-genre of horror cinema has never really disappeared from the screens, even if the Conjuring, Without a noise, That didn’t leave him much room.
The return and remake ofHalloween in 2018, and its box office record, created a call for air, with sequels (Halloween kills released on October 20), reboots (a new Scream beginning of 2022), but also original proposals and curiosities, of which here is a selection in the run-up to Halloween.
“Killer Game” or the melancholy “slasher”
Added Wednesday on Netflix, Killer Game, which we prefer the original title There’s Someone Inside Your House, start like any other slasher, with his high school students targeted by a hooded and masked killer. A mask bearing the image of his victim, the secrets of which he reveals to everyone: hazing that goes wrong, calls for hatred, etc.
However, by the attention he pays to his characters and the melancholy atmosphere that he sets up, the director Patrick Brice does not only sign a “simple” slasher, with real moments of tension and stylized killings. He also mentions adolescent spleen, a bit like It Follows before him.
“Initiation” or the “slasher” post #MeToo
Available on VOD for purchase and rental, then on DVD on October 16, Initiation is a slasher moving forward … masked. He does not play according to the codes of the genre, at least not right away. The entire beginning of the film thus tells the story of the life of a university, their fraternities and sororities, but also the stories of harassment and rape, and the role played by social networks. Ellery thus suspects his brother Wes of having abused his friend Kylie.
That’s where a masked killer and his nail gun or drill comes in. Initiation then finds a more marked path, between murders and suspects, but he will have succeeded in thwarting expectations and drawing attention to his real subject: violence against women.
“Fear Street” or the triple tribute “slasher”
Adapted from a series of books by RL Stine and uploaded this summer on Netflix, Fear street is a funny trilogy, because each film and part takes place at a different time (1994, 1978 and 1666), but forms one and the same mythology. The first two are also 100% of slashers, and Fear Street 1994 even opens with a long sequence reminiscent of that of Scream.
Our heroes and especially teenage heroines are then confronted with several killers from the cursed past of their city of Shadyside. Fear Street 1978 assumes even more homage to slashers 1980s, since he stages a massacre in a summer camp in the purest tradition of Friday 13.
“Freaky” or the high concept “slasher”
In Happy birthdead, the American director Christopher Landon was already having fun with the slasher, which he mixed with another genre: the time loop film à la Day Without End. He takes up a comparable high concept in Freaky, where he always mixes the slasher with, this time, the body swap film, whose model remains the novel. Freaky friday by Mary Rodgers and its many adaptations.
The serial killer the Butcher sows terror in town, and when young Millie crosses her path and her weapon, an old dagger, she does not die, but wakes up… in the body of the killer, played by Vince Vaughn. Which means that the Butcher is in his body and intends to take advantage of his new appearance to cause carnage. The film often sticks to its original idea, strong it is true, with a one-man-show by Vince Vaughn and a few murders that hurt. Released in theaters last June, Freaky is now available on VOD and DVD / Blu-ray.
“Slasher” or the “slasher” (yes that’s it)
the slasher has already been invited to the small screen, with the precursor Harper’s island, teen shows pretty Little Liars and Riverdale, series Scream of course, not to mention the work of Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story, Scream queens). But, few know it, an anthological series has been entirely devoted to him since 2016. Simply titled Slasher, it has four seasons of eight episodes (including the 2 and 3 on Netflix) and applies the small slasher illustrated to the letter, with the small town, the summer camp or the isolated island, a looké and masked killer, secrets of the past, and the parade of suspects. Neither comedy nor meta, the series is accused of being almost too serious, but no less effective and addicting.