Slasher Films

I have actually never gotten to that one. I was under the impression that it was one of the films that Friday the 13th Part 2 lifted from(along with Bay of Blood).

The main things I remember about it are the creepy killer, the annoying comic relief, and the scene where a woman is stabbed to death with a knife attached to a trombone.

That was... surreal.

I really wanna see The Town That Dreaded Sundown, if only because the case it was based on interests me (I think there's evidence that the Phantom killer and the Zodiac were one and the same, but that's another thing)

Bought Urban Legend today. I'm not fond of most of the slashers that came in the wake of Scream(The Pool wasn't too good but I dug it anyway), but Urban Legend is probably one of the better ones. It certainly held up better than I Know What You Did Last Summer did for me.

Like Slaughter High, the lapses in logic can neatly be explained away by the ending.

I also got Return To Horror High, which was entertaining enough, but not great. I was highly amused by the meta-fictional aspects but if I were asked what the Hell was going on by the end, I'd probably just say "Um..." Still worth the $5 I paid for it, I'd say.

edited 27th Jan '12 11:46:01 PM by Prowler

Any New Years Evil fans here? Probably one of the most entertaining slashers ever.

Not too shabby of a slasher. Shadow's theme music is awesome, and I liked the time zone idea.

Urban Legends (I always forget if there's an "S" or not) seems to be in the camp of Love It or Hate It. I'm am in the former, though that was not always the case.

Thought New Year's Evil could've been better, but it's still enjoyable. Having the villain be a "normal" Ted Bundy-esque figure was interesting.

ATTEMPTING TO SPARK DISCUSSION(S):

• What are some potentially interesting locales that have seen little to no use in slashers?
• Any slasher or slasher-ish films you are looking forward to in the upcoming year?
• A period piece, like Frontier Times, or Weird West, could it work?
• Any particular subgenres (backwoods, urban, realistic, holiday, pre-Halloween, shot-on-video, torture porn, etc.) that you particularly like?
• Any ideas bouncing around for your own film(s)?

Personally, I always wanted to see a good slasher film set at a ski resort. Shredder, while mildly amusing, was beyond dumb, and I've never seen Iced.

...I only just remembered Cold Prey, and that was good, but not exactly what I have in mind.

I'm writing a slasher set on Dead Week. Dopey college students getting killed by a lunatic with a sword and a ballistic mask—possibly inspired by seeing friends' frustration with their final exams.

I watched Club Dread the other day. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and was surprised to see while it was definitely a comedy, it was also part straight slasher with a few disturbing gore shots(turntable severed head for one).

Satan's Blade, I think. Snowbeast was set at a ski resort, though it was about a killer Yeti.

Some random locations I thought up were a library, a courthouse, a fire station, and an aquarium (Night School had a kill set in one, and it was effective).

Had an idea for a comedic sports-themed slasher, the sport in question being either hockey (with some figure skating and curling thrown in) or golf; not too out there, since there's been ones about wrestling, track and field, bowling, and baseball.

Another idea I had was a serious, kind of meta version of August Underground.

Your idea reminded me, I wanted to see Gutterballs, but the more I read the more I was put off. I'm all for a little extreme gore—the extreme rape, not so much. I also heard it has a lot of gutter(ha ha)-trash dialogue, but that I can tolerate.

Any opinions on the film?

Also, it's funny you mentioned a library, since the opening kills in that idea I have are set there.

edited 3rd Feb '12 7:33:20 PM by Prowler

Gutterballs has been on my backburner as well. From what I hear, the gang rape is eight long minutes of fucked up, the regular sex acts border on hardcore, the violence is as extreme as it gets, the characters are all quite hateable, and estimates put the profanity close to the quadruple digit range.

I'm not down with watching eight minutes of that, especially when it's supposedly shot in a horribly exploiting way...but maybe I should try. I hear the deaths are superb, and the setting and grue possibilities it lends itself to hold promise...and I can handle exploitation elements and repugnant characters, but I think even I have my limits.

Maybe I'll watch it when I figure out a format for a blog I'm trying to create; I'm gonna call it "500 Days of Slasher". That name's not to be taken literally...I just thought it was catchy. I know I must mention some things in the reviews/retrospectives, like...deaths. WTF-inducing scenes(many a slasher has them). Other things like that.

edited 3rd Feb '12 11:00:07 PM by Prowler

Sounds cool.

And as for Gutterballs, it's apparently still not as grotesque as the uncut version of Hanger, another one of Ryan Nicholson's films. I kind of want to see that out of Bile Fascination.

Some slashy films coming out this year (maybe) that I may check out are:

• Smiley
• The Barrens
• Red Clover (I think that's what they're calling it now; the original title was St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun)
• The Lost Coast Tapes
• Among Friends (the directorial debut of Danielle Harris)
• My Super Psycho Sweet 16: Part 3 (I haven't gotten to the first two yet, but I hear they are surprisingly good)
• Bunnyman 2
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D
• TBK: The Toolbox Murders 2

Probably more that I've forgotten, I really should just list ones that look interesting as I discover them.

Oh man, I forget about Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D. I'm excited.

I know I want to check out several of those, along with Rabies and Hatchet III.

The fact that TBK was even supposedly finished surprises me...and I haven't heard anything about it for several months. The local mom-and-pop rental place was still around when the first one came out.

Ugh, man I have no desire to see the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre, based on the description of one scene in it. Actually I just avoid the series now, after stumbling upon that one scene in the New Beginning one.

Dental agony seems to be part of the TCM experience.

"Whoop! One of 'em...hard-shell peppercorns."

Hence why I just avoid the series altogether now.

I finally watched My Super Psycho Sweet 16, and it definitely had its charms. I was rooting for the killer throughout, but not because the victims were assholes(though they were), but the opening scene made him out to be sympathetic(he's made a fool of in front of his daughter by some snotty prick). The killer's outfit was cool, the death scenes were cool, and the characters who don't get murdered are actually likable.

Then, I got to the sequel. It had decidedly less of those aforementioned charms(though it was less goofy), and I hope the third one is better.

Watched a bunch of slasher films over the last few days.

Slaughter High: Finally got Arrow's DVD, and like Lord Crayak said, much better than the one from Lionsgate. It also taught me that the controversial ending was added by a completely different director.

Scarecrows: Very creepy. Maybe not really a straight example of a slasher film, but it does have people being bumped off violently with a variety of weapons.

100 Tears: Cheap, but amusing. Also, extremely gory.

Uncle Sam: I don't think I've ever watched a slasher that was goofy and melancholy in equal measures. You get serious scenes like two women discussing what a shithead the killer was in life, followed by some silly 4th of July-themed murder. Very strange tone, but I rather enjoyed it.

Hell Night: Finally got to it, and it was really good, I thought. I loved the scene with the car at the finale.

My Bloody Valentine: Re-watched. One of my favorite slashers ever.

Dream Home: I was anticipating it for a while, and was quite disappointed. I don't really like "hero killer" slashers in general, and this did nothing to change that. Maybe it was that it was more of a drama...but I couldn't get invested in the antihero's plight.

...Awesome bong kill, though(kinda like Seth Green's death in Idle Hands).

The Initiation: Just finished it, so I need some time to think about it. The ending was anticlimactic.

edited 15th Feb '12 3:31:24 PM by Prowler

Didn't think Dream Home was the masterpiece everyone was making it out to be, but worth watching at least once.

And I found myself mostly apathetic towards the killer and her plight too. It was also supposed to be a satire, but they didn't really seem to go anywhere with that outside of the initial premise.

Edit: Trailer for My Super Psycho Sweet 16: Part 3 has apparently been released.

edited 15th Feb '12 7:49:00 PM by LordCrayak

Bought a double disc of April Fools' Day and My Bloody Valentine. Checking out Valentine tonight. Also, TCM '74 <3

Unfortunately, I think the version of My Bloody Valentine that they used for that double feature is the cut one.

Yeah, when I watched it I could tell it was obviously cut. Gotta find the uncut version and maybe give the version I have to a friend who wants to see it.

Even when I didn't have a good eye for those things, it was extremely blatant to me. The uncut version was a revelation to me even after hearing some of the messier stuff get brought up. I mean, the decapitation and the burnt woman in the dryer is something that can be figured out from the R-rated cut, but then there were unexpected gore shots like Happy's eye getting popped out of its socket by the killer's pickaxe.