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The Neo-Slasher : Redefining the Standards
In a post-Scream landscape, the expectations for slasher movies have never been higher. Audiences are no longer content with great kills and a cool-looking killer. Now, slashers have to bring something different. They need to be about something, have a strong cinematic point of view, twists and turns, or push audiences in ways they could not…
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Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
I’ve gotten out of order a bit in “The Year of Slashers”, and we now find ourselves in 2006 with Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. Set in a world where all our fictional slashers are real, a documentary crew follows the next would-be legend as he prepares for his killing spree. Behind…
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Scream: The Slasher Is Back
The Year of Slashers has brought us to the era of metacommentary with Scream. After falling into a rut with repetitive formulas and overused cliches, the slasher had fallen out of favor with all but its most die-hard fans. Wes Craven changed all that with 1996’s Scream. Scream combined tense murder mystery with dark comedy…
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Child’s Play : A Family Affair
Growing up with Chucky One of my earliest memories is watching Child’s Play with my mother. In a lot of ways, she taught me what not to be afraid of. How horror movie monsters weren’t real, and actually kind of funny. Mom had strong feelings about Chucky. Specifically, she could easily take him out. As my mother is about…
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Happy Death Day: H3 Tries a Slasher
I was going to cover Happy Death Day in neo-slashers. Since horror comedies seemed to be of interest to H3, it got bumped up on the list. If you’re not familiar, Happy Death Day delivers its slasher formula with a helping of Groundhog Day. Time Loops Like all good time-loop movies, the first act is mostly devoted to establishing what…
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Night of the Reaper: Cozy Retro Murder Mystery
The retro-styled Night of the Reaper hits a lot of the right notes. There’s nothing like a good, old-fashioned babysitter slasher. Especially one that’s lightly Halloween themed. From the beginning, Night of the Reaper sticks to a solid strategy: simple story, complex characters. The Story: A masked killer is terrorizing the residents of a small town before Halloween…
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Mutilator 2: A different kind of sequel.
Mutilator 2 is low budget horror movie about making movies. By now, you should know how much I love this kind of horror movie. Like so many movies of this kind, it’s equal parts commentary on the process of filmmaking and horror at the same time. It’s pretty low budget and the acting, editing, and production values…
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Random Acts of Violence: Are We What We Create?
I love comics, so Random Acts of Violence lookeed like it was right up my alley. It’s a slasher movie based on an indie comic by two of the most reliable creators in the industry: Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Grey. It’s also Jay Baruchel’s first time directing a first horror movie. After watching this, I hope he does more. Based…
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Urban Legend: Modern Folklore and Murder
I’m jumping out af sequence again to talk about Urban Legend. One of the new slashers of the ‘90s, Urban Legend delivers on the title with a killer who takes the time to stage their kills around popular legends. Or their versions of them anyways. It’s a strong concept bolstered by one of the best casts of…
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Chopping Mall: Due for a Remake?
One year before Robocop, Chopping Mall proved that robot-based security was a terrible idea. Both movies touch on some of the same themes: consumerism and overconsumption in the form of the retail excess that the ‘80s were known for, and the fear of new, emerging tech. These are common for the time period, but Chopping Mall’s more comedic take on…