Hold onto your seats horror movie fans, because we’ve got a list of the top 10 slashers movies of all-time that you just have to see! From classic iconic horror flicks to newer and more terrifying thrillers, this list will keep you up all night long. Are you ready to sink your teeth into some gruesome horror action?
Halloween (1978)
It’s only fitting to come out of the gate swinging for the fences with the one that started the “slasher” craze in many eyes. Even though some consider Black Christmas the first, there is no denying John Carpenter’s impact when he introduced Michael Myers into the universe. Utilizing a stellar score that added tension as he leaned into implied horror to great effect, he ended up making a timeless slasher movie that holds up today.
Friday The 13th Part 2 (1981)
Now everybody knows of Friday The 13th, and it’s the main protagonist, but part 1 is not really that scary. To be honest, it’s just kind of there. The series really only took off in the sequel, where the adult Jason Voorhees was introduced. Granted, the hockey mask he dons from Part 3 onwards is easily recognizable, but for your dollars’ worth, Jason in Part 2 with a dirty sack on his head and RUNNING after counselors is scary as hell.
Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
Freddy Kruger is a character who strikes fear into the hearts of the masses worldwide. Granted, as the series progressed, he became more of a caricature of himself, but in this original movie, he was scary as hell. Mean, evil, and sadistic as he stalked and traumatized teens in their dreams. Complete with a chilling children’s nursery rhyme sure to send shivers down your spine. It’ll make you never want to sleep again.
Scream (1996)
As the slasher genre was beginning to wane in the mid-’90s, Wes Craven, the man who introduced Freddy Kruger to the world, single-handedly resuscitated it with this gem of a movie. He created a one-two-punch film that worked on multiple levels. First, it’s self-aware and full of tongue-in-cheek jokes about the horror genre it exists in. Second, it’s scary as hell with an unrelenting killer named Ghostface.
A Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1973)
Leatherface, the film’s antagonist, is based on real-life serial killer Ed Gein and his horrific crimes. That right there is enough to keep you up at night. Then you have the extremely creative Direction courtesy of Tobe Hooper, who, like John Carpenter, opted for the less is more route and leaned into the implied horror—keeping the gore and blood minimalistic but still amping up the uneasiness and tension.
Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Some think of this movie as a Friday The 13th knockoff, which in a way, it is, but it still serves up a large portion of blood and scares. It also comes with an unequaled banger of an ending that will leave audiences speechless.
Maniac (2012)
Even though this is a remake, it arguably stands head and shoulders above the original, expertly utilizing POV to play the movie almost entirely out through the killer’s perspective. The killer in this film is portrayed by Elijah Wood, who is at his creepiest.
Candyman (1992)
This film set in Chicago does a bang-up job of striking fear into the viewers’ hearts as it amps up the spooky level to 10 with the film’s killer Candyman. The thing that makes this scary-as-hell slasher film special is it also provides a biting commentary on racism and allowing negligence to cause urban decay in underfunded communities.
The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)
Based on a true story of a hooded killer from 1946 who was never caught. Atmospheric and eerie, with a killer (no pun intended) score to heighten the tension level.
Alien (1979)
This could be seen as a controversial pick, but when you really think about it, Alien is, in fact, a slasher movie. It’s got a group of people being hunted down one by one by an unrelenting blood-thirsty killing machine. They are picked off one by one leaving only the Final Girl to face off with the killer. These are all tried and true tropes of the slasher genre.
