WARNING: THIS BLOG CONTAINS BODYCOUNT. HIGH RISK OF SPOILERS. ENTER IF YOU DARE.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

101 Maniacs: Admin's Top Slashers 40-31

*As of 2014*

Inspired and tempted by this delicious countdown,  Here be my personal Top 101 Slasher movies that really stood out the most!

Note: These are in no particular order (save the last ten) and they're all personal picks, so, nope. Your faves or your order does not matter here! Muahahaha!...ha!

40. End of The Line (2009)
May not be as shocking as some might describe it but the film is pretty controversial at some point. When a worldwide religious cult believes that the Apocalypse is finally at hand and the only way to save mankind is by massacring them, an unfortunate group stuck on a subway find themselves fending dagger-wielding zealots as well as seeing what could be demons.

Bloody Best Bit: There's a really distressing scene where a member is forced to murder his pregnant wife in order to save her from the End. This scene was apparently inspired by the Mason murders.

39. Hellbent (2003)
Lo and behold, the one movie that helped me accept gay men for what they are, Hellbent focuses on a quartet of homosexual men in a Halloween party, being hacked off by a sickle carrying topless killer in a devil mask.

Best Bloody Bits: The opening murder was pretty sick in a cool gay way. Then there's that scene that ended up with blood on the disco floor and dancers ignoring a freshly beheaded man.

38. Tucker and Dale vs Evil
Plenty of slashers had hicks for killers and teens for victims, but will it also work the other way around? Heck yeah! When a duo of lovable bumpkins working on their summer house saves a girl from near drowning, they're met with gratitude from the nice gal. Unfortunately, same can't be said from her friends when paranoia got the better of them and misunderstood the two's real intention. Hilarity and accidental bodycount soon ensues.

Bloody Best Bits: I chuckled at the Texas Chainsaw "homage" (with an added bonus of killer bees!)
37. Phantom of the Opera (1989)
Criminally underrated and under discussed, this real work of art stars Robert Englund of the Freddy Krueger fame as a slasher take of the Phantom of the Opera, killing off those who dare ridicule and/or get in the way of his own prodigy, Christine, played by Jill Schoelen. Yay for star power!

Bloody Best Bits: There's a cool scene where the Phantom fought off and murders a trio of thugs, who made a fatal mistake of mugging him in an alley.

36. Alone in the Dark
This is one of the few slashers that really pulled up quite a star power: Jack Palance, Martin Landau, Donald Pleasance and Erland Van Lidth of various B-Movie fame took in roles as crazies (and one possibly unhinged doctor) escaping their asylum when a city-wide blackout renders their electric locks useless, going on a killing spree hunting down a new doctor who they believe is out to get them.

Bloody Best Bits: There's a sweet kill that had Lidth breaking a victim's back against his knee. There's also another murder involving a phallic looking hunting knife punching through under a bed for a stab. 

35. High Tension
Two college friends, Marie and Alexa, suddenly finds themselves in a situation involving a home invasion, a family slaughtered and a kidnapping while on vacation at Alexa's parents' country home when a misogynic killer invades their quiet getaway. Notorious for anti-climatic twist and it's excessive grue, High Tension still wins for being one of the most satisfying, brutal and thrilling New Age French Movement.

Bloody Best Bits: Cupboard decapitation. Never seen a beheading that creative and shocking since the glass pane beheading in The Omen (1976)

34. Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering
Well, what can I say? Among all the entries in this supernatural-slasher franchise, I love this one the most for being the most slasher-esque of them all and for trying something entirely different. When a strange disease suddenly grab hold of every child in a small Nebraskan town, a medical student who just came home to take care of her ailing other suddenly finds herself facing a reawakened evil who's murdering adults and claiming their children as his cult.

Bloody Best Bits: Hmm, tough one. There isn't a scene that stood out the most but I guess the intense Multiple Fever Case could count since it did had me glued and intrigued by the scenario. 

33. Tower of Evil (1972)
A proto-slasher that's really ahead of its time, showcasing a group of treasure seekers looking for a lost religion's booty on an island wherein earlier, a group of teens were slaughtered by something feral and insane.

Bloody Best Scene: The opening action involving a couple of sea men discovering all the mutilated bodies and one deranged, knife-wielding nudie.

32. Prom Night (1980)
Yeah, fuck you, 2008 remake! Disco slashers are forever! Six years after an accident took the life of a frightened child, those responsible suddenly find themselves hunted and hacked on Prom Night by a killer who may have been involved with the incident.

Bloody Best Scene: That epic chase scene to beat, with everything from good camera work to an intense atmosphere. (some video releases might obscure this scene thanks to crappy transfer, but the version I saw was crisp and clear!)

31. Tourist Trap (1980)
Personally one of the creepiest slasher for me, a horror hodge-podge mixing surrealism, psychic powers, creepy mannequins and a creative killcount as a group of teens fall victims to a masked psycho with the ability to control glassy eyed dummies and levitate objects.

Bloody Best Scene: That first kill. Oh God, why does it have to be eyeless, laughing mannequins?!

30 to 21 Coming Soon!

2 comments:

  1. Awww Tower of Evil... I saw that soooo long ago I've all but forgotten everything in it. My notes say it reminded me of Hell Night, so must've been decent.

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    1. It's the killer, mate. the killer (and the twist) is so Hell Night.

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