Slasher movies were the movies I was terrified of for the longest time. This has to do with my mom showing me Scream 2 at a very young, impressionable age and watching A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge on an old VHS tape in secret. Once I started getting into horror 11 years ago slashers were sort of the last to cross my radar. I’d seen Halloween, Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, Hatchet, and the Scream series, of course, but that was sort of the extent of my slasher repertoire. I was also weirdly into Friday the 13th (2009) but that’s a story for another day. The gore and ghost movies were more what I watched when I started. Movies like Saw, Cabin Fever, and Insidious were my jam because those were more accessible via the old school video rental store in my hometown. I didn’t get a laptop until college and there was no way in hell my father was going to let me illegally download anything onto our home computer, especially not movies like Blood Rage or The Mutilator.
It took me a while but eventually I started working my way into the slasher subgenre and once I did, I was hooked. Now, most of the horror movies I watch are slashers/slasher adjacent. While it’s true most of my favorites are from the 1980s since I’m a sucker for retro outfits and POV kills but I think more love needs to be shown to the post-2000s slasher movies. They’re gory, they’re silly as hell, and they’re also buckets of fun. I won’t pretend to have seen every slasher movie released after 2000 but I’ve seen more than a few and I wanted to showcase some of my favorites. Whether it’s for killer practical gore effects, the over the top campiness, or the characters, these 5 films deserve to be checked out at least once (although I’ll be surprised if you can watch The Hills Have Eyes only one time)
Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000) directed by John Ottman
It’s a little disappointing how little I hear people talk about the Urban Legend films. I’ve yet to see the third one but I’ve watched the first two this year and they are absolutely bonkers. Final Cut is a fun suspenseful journey that follows someone wearing a mesh fencing mask slashing and gutting their way through film students all vying for the prestigious Hitchcock Award. Although the kills don’t quite reach the same legend-inspired high as the first one, they still stand out. The one involving kidney surgery, a german shepherd, and a bathroom mirror is my personal favorite. The ensemble cast shines and even though you almost hate to see them go, you just can’t wait for the killer to be revealed. Definitely worth a watch.
The Collector (2009) directed by Marcus Dunstan
If you like the Saw franchise, creative gory kills, or antihero protagonists you can’t help but fall in love with please watch this movie. It’s a severely underrated film and it deserves so much more love than it gets. The protagonist, Arkin, is an ex-con just looking to repay some debts. His plan to rob an employer’s home goes awry when he discovers a killer has already rigged the house with a bunch of gnarly traps. It has many scenes of nails going through skin, acidic goo, and even bugs! The tension really builds in a nerve wracking way that you’re bound to break at least a little bit of a sweat. You’d be doing yourself a favor by checking this out.
House of Wax (2005) directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
Before you lodge any complaints about including this just know they will be ignored. This movie is utterly ridiculous and clearly spent its entire budget on real and CGI wax but damn I love every second. Bo and Vincent Sinclair are two very underrated slasher villains; the way Vincent turns their victims into wax figures is so visceral I think about it basically every week. This will sound weird but it’s also got some really cool visuals. It features your typical teen scream-level acting but they still make it enjoyable as hell to watch. Paris Hilton is the reason this movie gets so much hate but honestly she’s not that bad, and not even in it enough for it to be really distracting. Please ignore the hate and give this one a chance, I know you’ll have a ton of fun, especially watching the ending unfold.
As a sidenote Bo is also one of the hottest slashers so that should be reason enough to watch it.
Victor Crowley (2017) directed by Adam Green
I know, I know. Why recommend this? I should just be recommending Hatchet, right? While I do adore (and recommend!) Hatchet, I have such a deep love for Victor Crowley I chose to hype that instead! This movie absolutely kills but I am also fully aware that this will not be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s a major throwback to 80s slashers with the kill level amped up by 100%. The Hatchet franchise has never shied away from organs in your face, blood spraying by the gallon, skull crushing disgusting gore and Victor Crowley is no different. If you can stomach that stuff, you can’t miss this. Kane Hodder is stellar, as always, and his presence as Crowley should be ranked among Jason and Michael. Victor Crowley is, at times, silly and it knows it’s silly and it loves that. I won’t spoil anything (as previously stated many times) but some of these kills are downright bonkers and that’s why I keep coming back to this franchise. Well that and I also love Adam Green.
I’d recommend having watched the first Hatchet movie at least before watching this. Make it a double feature!
The Hills Have Eyes (2006) directed by Alexandre Aja
We all love horror movies that are moody and dark and atmospheric but the best part about The Hills Have Eyes is that it’s none of that, in the basic sense. This film is full of blistering heat and gritty kills. It’s uncommon for a horror film to be sundrenched for the majority of it but that’s what helps make this one work so well: daylight won’t protect them. The blood may be plentiful but the film also never tries to hide it’s message that humanity is downright evil. Aja essentially crafts a film where a nuclear family is slaughtered by a nuclear family. Even though said family does make some dumb decisions, you really can’t help but hope they make it out somehow. If you’re looking for a brutal film with a lot of blood and amazing practical effects, look no further! And like I said already, I’ll be really surprised if you can only watch this once. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen it.
Honorable Mention:
Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is just the best. Even for non-slasher fans it’s essential viewing. It’s got great performances, a great concept, and Leslie Vernon is probably the most likeable slasher to ever grace the screen. Please watch this!
There you go folks! I hope I could help you add a few new movies to your watchlist, or encouraged you to check out ones you maybe haven’t seen it a while.