I think you mean 1981 for Don't go in the Woods.

I'd say of all the subgenres, slashers have got to have highest percentage of movies I actually like. Like pizza, even the bad ones are still usually pretty good.

I'm not sure I would consider Sugar Hill to be a slasher, but I think I remember liking it. All I can really recall is that voodoo guy coming down from the sky. Is that the right movie?

Drive-in Massacre, yeah, that was pretty lame.

Exposé, also, I really don't consider a slasher. I thought it was great though. I'm surprised you didn't care for that one, it's very sexy.


Terror Train, meh.

Don't go in the House I liked. Does it count as a slasher if the weapon is fire? Not technically slashing.

Don't Answer the Phone, blah.

Criminally Insane is okay. I'd avoid the sequel, which is chiefly made up of flashbacks.

I know I've seen Tower of Evil, but I remember none of it.

Don't go in the Woods is absurd. It does have some funny dialogue, but too many boring parts.

Prom Night is one of my least favorite 80s slashers. It's just so dull and forgettable. Part II is so much better, but it's not a slasher and has nothing at all to do with the first except the involvement of a prom.

Well it could be that not all the release/production years are correct, I picked them from MovieMeter and the years sometimes do differ from imdb. It's this one

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0182996/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1

The pacing is high in the movie, I didn't see really boring parts but that's me.


Well I already forgot most of Sugar Hill (yeah I found it that boring) but it's more of a zombie flick and yeah you have a voodoo guy in there who is a bit like the devil asking for a soul when a woman wants revenge on those who killed her boyfriend. One could also call it blaxploitation as it was majorly a black cast. But I got the list from grindhouse and it got labeled slasher (as well as blaxploitation I guess).

I dunno if the weapons or objects to kill/mutilate really matter for the definition of slasher again Grindhouse thought it was. Don't go in the House had a great first kill but it wasn't followed up by more of such gritty scenes, a pity cos I really wanted to like it.

Prom Night had much more potential and could have been the best of the lot if they didn't waste so much time in the middle part where almost nothing happens. Heck they could have prolonged the part when they were kids and second half jump forward to the prom night immediately. also why on earth would JLC's character remain friends with those girls or her brother remain silent about what happened for so long?
And Terror Train I was like wtf Jamie Lee again in another Halloween like slasher, in another goodie final girl role. Got a bit boring as the outcome is easy to guess this way. Stupid ending.

And yeah a friend already told me to skip the sequel of Criminally Insane. I just loved Ethel's craziness and her urge to get rid of anyone standing in the way of her craving for food.


Drive-in Massacre also was one with a really good first kill but between the kills there is just too much talking, annoying characters and incompetent comedy cops.

Tower of Evil is about a group of people who go to check an old mansion/castle on a small island. 3 young people were killed by the landlord who went insane after his wife died killing everyone entering the place. First half is told mostly through flashback from the memories from the only girl who survived the killing spree from this mad killer. It's really atmospheric, some nice nudity and a few graphic scenes. Unfortunately the slashing in the second part with the investigating group takes too long too much talking and uninteresting romancesand sub plots. Also the slashing is boring compared to the first half.

I love them.

I love slashers. I always want to find more slashers.

Well keep an eye on this thread I still have a way to go to get the list done. I keep the turkeys for next week though when I will focus entirely on the turkey challenge.

I think it's funny how you only list a handful of random-ass slashers that aren't on anyone's mind when they think of the subgenre. Most people think of the basics like Freddy and Jason and whatnot. Lately, my mind goes to stuff from 1981, because there was a shitload then.

Slashers are usually a pretty fun romp though. It's almost the most simple type of horror movie in the sense that you have some nutjob killing people and it's only about surviving in an isolated setting. Somehow, they tend to be a lot of fun either way because they never try to be overly complicated. They just are, and that's what makes them highly watchable. I much prefer them to paranormal shit.

I can talk about Halloween (1978) again and all the things I don't like about it (which is a lot) but I'm not going the route of upsetting its many fans again.
And all the classics we had those discussions so many times before.
I could talk about my love for Alice, sweet Alice IMO the best slasher of all that came between Black Christmas (which I found just ok) and Halloween. A Bay of Blood which is usually seen as the first slasher, re-watched it recently, I love it.


But re-read, my first paragraph then you see why I was only mentioning a "handful of random slashers" and not the ones everybody already knows. I was only talking about the slashers I have seen recently and got through a list from grindhouse. Unless you were tired at the moment of reading but I really did a good effort to explain myself. I could even elaborate on every single movie but that would have made for an even longer read. I mean this is TE and these random slashers are trash, what more can you ask for? I suggest watching movies like Don't go in the Woods, its a turkey too so counts for that challenge.

Don't Go in the Woods is an epic trash epics epic.

Have you seen Unhinged (1982)? It has some similarities to Don't Go in the Woods - the weirdness, the woodsy backdrop, the rudimentary but totally badass synthesizer score - but is more dialogue based and borrows heavily from Psycho. It's fucking awesome.

Well I also found it epic, but Znep didn't like it??? Does that mean he is not a true epic trashionista?

Hes a wild card that Znep.

I watched Unhinged yesterday but I'm sorry to say that I found it really meh. The atmosphere and setting was ok but it was too much talk and uneventful for my liking. It's no good when a movie of only 75 minutes feels like a drag to finish. Yes the ending surprised me and seeing other reviews that's where the movie scores its points I bet. The kills or story are nothing to shout about. Not that I didn't like the twist it just didn't make much sense to me. I mean the old lady disliked men because of what her husband did but when her oldest "son" decided to go in drag the problem was solved? And the younger son could not be made into a girl, too retarded? I found that all too stupid or maybe I didn't pay enough attention to what the whole mystery was about.

One year later we had Sleepaway Camp which handled this matter a lot better and more believable IMO. I would suggest watching Homicidal (1961) from William Castle which also does have a similar theme to Unhinged and Psycho. That one I loved but I'm a Castle fan.

That's ok that you didn't like it. I'll admit it's slow, but what's important to me is that it isn't boring. In my opinion, of course. When the violence does erupt, it's shocking, and feel unusually cruel. Maybe you need to ruminate on things a bit and you'll come around. Or maybe you won't. That's ok too.

You didn't appreciate how sleazy it was? All that female nudity. The scenes of the girls showering nekkid and being peeped on by the retarded brother through the hole in the wall. And how he masturbated to them? Talk about pervy and creepy. Something about the film reminds me a lot of Andy Milligan's films. The old Victorian mansion. The in-family arguing. It isn't a typical slasher film that's for sure.

I mean the old lady disliked men because of what her husband did but when her oldest "son" decided to go in drag the problem was solved?

Well, it didn't solve the underlying issue, of course, but it was the best decision he could have made in order to stay in the home and try and maintain a semi functioning relationship with his mom: to just become a woman. The old woman clearly had major mental health issues to have "just gone along with it." In her mind, she didn't have to see a man / share her home with a man, and that was good enough.

I'll admit that when I rented it years and years ago I too didn't like it much but ended up buying it on VHS some time afterwards and loving the shit out of it. That's the cool thing about re-watching movies. Your opinion can change vastly.

Yes I admit that in theory it is disturbing that the retarded son is jerking off while watching the naked girls but keep in mind I have seen quite a bit of (s)exploitation movies last few years so that is not really going to do much to me any more.

I remember you thinking of the Last House on the Left being gritty enough by not being that explicit or as brutal a for example I Spit on your Grave. I was largely underwhelmed certainly when I read afterwards Craven initially planned to make it more brutal. Surely I understood as most of the audience wasn't ready for that at the moment even though there had been plenty of roughies in the 60s who went as far as the Craven flick.

I guess when coming down to this kind of violence and shock, suggestion works fine for you. For me not so much any more.

Yes it was a deeply disturbed family but the way it was presented didn't really float my boat, again uneventful and talky. Also a whole cellar of dead victims in the end? And all girls I suppose? Did they set traps only girls walked in? A vengeful act of Marion for basically having to act like a woman to escape the wrath of her mother? If killing of the girls was so easy how hard would it be to kill that old hag and live a normal life.
Maybe I'm questioning it too much but it's all too far fetched to me.

I prefer Spider Baby as the deranged family. It might not be that gritty but it surely triggered my emotions a lot more. I didn't really care much what happened to the 3 girls in Unhinged. The Innocents also worked well for me in the disturbance part.

I counted 2 nude scenes (only 1 in the house), you make it sound they were naked all the time

Of course there's always going to be more violent, shocking, disturbing and sleazy movies around every corner. But when those elements happen to fall into a movie I find all-around genuinely good...then, well, I'll take that instead (of a movie that does contain all those elements in excess, but just sucks irregardless). Sure Unhinged is chump change compared to '70s European sexploitation films, but I like to judge a film in its own context, not compare it to what came before. If I was to compare it to slashers from 1982, which is something I'm more inclined to do, it does set itself apart by quite a distance in its tone, and feels like the director was trying to do something a bit more unique and outside-the-box than just another cookie cutter Friday the 13th "date night" knockoff.

But, y'know, to each their own.

Seen any of these?

Madman (1982)
The Redeemer (1978)
The Mutilator (1985)
Hospital Massacre (1982)
Pieces (1982)
Blood Rage (1987)
Slumber Party Massacre II (1987)
Happy Birthday to Me (1981)
The Dorm that Dripped Blood (1982)

Coincidence or not but I watched the Hospital Massacre yesterday, with an average of 5,0 on imdb it just escapes the turkey label. It's trash surely but I loved it, a new favorite in my marathon so far!

The Redeemer I believe you drafted that one, not too shabby. It's pretty obscure.

The Mutilator was really cliché but the kills ware varying bit A Bay of Blood style, liked it well enough. Pieces was great fun even though I don't remember much. Slumber II was ok better than the first. I barely remember Mad Man, apparently I didn't like it.

Blood Rage is fun too with the confusion of good and evil twin brother.

Unhinged also still on the list, just like Hospital Massacre 5,0 almost a turkey. Premise sounds good.

Yeah, Hospital Massacre's a fun one. I love how the killer goes berserk. Such a weird movie though. Like why the hell was Barbi Benton so willing to go along with everything? To give us an entertaining movie, I guess.

The Mutilator IS cliche but having been made toward the tail end of that slasher wave, Im pretty sure it was all done intentionally and very tongue-in-cheek. It's sort of the end of the non-prententious slasher, but also headed in the direction of the post-ironic slasher too.

Those are all pretty good, but I haven't seen The Dorm that Dripped Blood yet. Couldn't find it anywhere last time I checked.

I see Hospital Massacre (aka X-Ray) listed as 1981 on imdb, which is perfectly fitting for such an epic slasher year. I remember trying to watch The Mutilator, but the video quality was pretty lousy. I'll have to try again. I also ought to try Don't Go in the Woods again, because I watched a shitty copy that I could barely make out.

Last time I checked a pristine picture quality version of The Mutilator was on YouBoob.