If there is one thing I learn after four years of hunting slasher flicks to watch, its that I have seen titles that I can't live without. These are the best of all I'd seen, but unfairly judged by the common people, and even horror fans (!), as just another slasher. Well, that maybe, but these guys are the best among its brothers and sisters, and the most fun I had watching. These are the unheard voices that looms in the night, these are THE UNDERRATES!
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| Killer Party |
Why Underrated?: Too cheesy for its own good. Too much parties, too little killing
Why is it good?: Killer Party maybe too cheesy, but let's face it, as a horror film, its loads of fun and its rarely dull, even if the horror part hadn't started yet. Plus, a killer in a Deep-Sea Diver suit and a Demonic Frat Leader is bound to be fun!
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| The Strangers |
Why is it underrated?: Too much stalking. Too little killing. Too...empty.
Why is it good?: The Strangers is one mainstream slasher that fails to deliver on the red stuff, but it does succeed on delivering dread, tension and suspense. Those who're looking for thrills and spills maybe disappointed, but those who're looking for tension and a well-made home-invasion, this is it.
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| The Burning |
Why is it underrated?: Considered by many as a rip-off to Friday the 13th, and the fact that its just another backwoods stalk'n kill.
Why is it good?: Let's be frank here, Tom Savini's special effects are always enjoyable to watch. Other than the good gory mutilations this film managed to flood the film with, its not that bad of an entry for the backwoods category. Least its not as bad as...(Shudder) "The Forest"...forest...forest...
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| Slaughter High |
Why is it underrated?: Too much inconsistency and too much cheese makes Marty a rather cliched murderer
Why is it good?: Its made purely for fun. Don't think too much about it and you'll do fine. If you like trashy films? Then you can have more than that in here.
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| The Prowler |
Why is it underrated?: Considered as a rip-off to My Bloody Valentine.
Why is it good?: Tom Savini saves the day again. While MBV makes the basics so enjoyable, The Prowler tries to top-a-notch by being gory, and my Lord was it beautiful.
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| Stagefright/Deliria |
Why is it underrated?: Little story and little development
why is it good?: Deliria is a bodycount slasher, meaning it sets aside plot and characters just for disposing them in a grisly fashion. Deliria uppens that by making it a great experience with good gore, nice cinematography and a clever direction.
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| Alone in the Dark |
Why is it underrated?: Some complains that it tries too hard. Some complains that the murder weapons looked fake. most complain about it being just another slasher.
Why is it good?: Well, it may be just another slasher, but its more intelligent than its kin. While still tappping on the usual cliches, Alone In The Dark adds more psychological concept within its monsters, making them more interesting and more dangerous. Hence, interesting.
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| My Bloody Valentine |
Why is it underrated?: I dunno, back then, probably, they find this a little too basic.
Why is it good?: Why? WHY?! BEACAUSE MBV IS A SLASHER FILM DONE RIGHT! I couldn't see much flaw to it, but the fact that its too great to be underrated. People's tastes must have been in the way...they always had...
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| Happy Birthday To Me |
why is it underrated?: despite being a dark and serious whodunit, it lightens up some moods with some cheese. Guess that didn't work too well...
why is it good?: like I said, it's dark, serious and a fun whodunit. Two hours running time and all that mystery enough to keep you glued is also a big yes-yes for me.
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| Orphan |
why is it underrated?: just another "killer kiddie" movie. also, too little murders means bad for slasher fans.
why is it good?: So does Child's Play and Dressed to Kill, Orphan's focus on thrills and mystery does make it up for its lack of decent dead bodies. Plus, it's been YEARS since we get a decent killer kiddie flick like this.
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| Night Cew: The Final Checkout/ Intruder |
why is it underrated?: Dismissed as another 80s slasher. And a good reason too, it's late in the 80s!
why is it good?: Its gory and well paced. Gory and funny. Gory and has an interesting plot. Did i mentioned it was gory?
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| Don't Go In The House |
why is it underrated?: After a promising starts, it stops there and ends up wandering around the killer's psychotic breakdown. To make it worse, all murders happened offscreen.
why is it good?: A year before Maniac explores the devastated mind of a psycho, Don't Go travels the same dark path and just as serious. Concentrating more on psychology than cheap bloody thrills, Don't Go tries another approach but often falls into disagreeing heads; so sad, it was really good though.
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| The Funhouse |
why is it underrated?: after an hour or so waiting for something, it happened all too late. Lack of interesting murders is also to blame
why is it good?: while it does takes a while before it starts, Funhouse did sets some decent time killers for some, it's more of a test of patience to keep things interesting and "fresh". (So those who "booed" this just for that...JOKES ON YOU, BITCHES! AHAHAHA!)
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| Madman |
Why is it underrated?: Ultra-cheesy and very predictable
Why is it good?: It's simple enough to follow, cheesy enough to be entertaining and a really cool looking killer
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| Urban Legend |
Why is it underrated?: Too basic for a 90s teen kill, too tame of a murder spree, too cliche to be taken seriously
why is it good?: As basic as it is, this movie doesn't really try too hard to impress. It knows what it is, knows its limitations and it knows how to keep it enjoyable despite that. Now if only more people should switch off...
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| Shocker |
why is it underrtaed?: Remember the fact that Stephen King was once coked up and he made Maximum Overdrive? Well, guess what this film resembles...
Why is it good?: As messy as it is, Shocker is at least fun to watch, if you decide to turn off, and it hardly had a dull moment. Its outrageous, silly, but fun. real fun! fun fun fun!
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| Evilspeak |
Why is it underrated?: Cheap cash-in to 70's Carrie and very tedious
why is it good?: The wait's really worth it as the grand finale of this flick gave Hell on Earth a very fiery meaning. Plus it's Clint Howard!
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| Prom Night |
Why is it underrated: Most of the time, blame falls into the copies of the film. Too dark to see anything. Other than that, too cheesy for some taste, too long before the massacre happened.
why is it good?: fans of Disco will surely love this "Disco-Slasher". See Jamie Lee Curtis don a glittering blouse and discos her bootie on the dancing floor. Also, story-wise, it's an early example of a whodunit done right, an 80s equivalent of a popular 90s classic "I know what you did last summer"
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| Deadly Dreams |
why is it underrated?: A little too late in the 80s, a little too tame to be a slasher.
why is it good?: It's a psychothriller with a good mystery to it. It's cheap, but greatly scripted and written.
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| Cherry Falls |
why is it underrated?: takes too long for any slashings; also, despite it's sexual satire, it lacks any of the needed T&A.
why is it good?: more of an unsung gem, Cherry Falls is one of the better attempts for an 90s slasher. it's a little smarter than the rest, plus an engaging whodunit is always a yes for me.
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| Crawlspace |
why is it underrated?: Some may prefer to it as a "wannabe-slasher". Too many offscreen killings.
why is it good?: It's more of a character movie than a hack and slash barf-fest. Plus, the atmosphere in this one is soooo moody.
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| Popcorn |
why is it underrated?: released in the 90s, the slasher boom is literally dying. Guess people aren't interested on seeing another one.
why is it good?: It plays a nice tribute to the gimmicks played for attraction during the 50s and 60s midnight runs. Its well made for one, that's for sure, and it doesn't really try too hard to be interesting.
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| Night School |
why is it underrated?: Offscreen killings and a lot of cheese.
why is it good?: Cheesy enough to be entertaining, and the o"ffscreen killings" aren't all that off-camera and they're still brutal. Also, it's one of the better American "Giallo" attempts.
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| Trackman |
why is it underrated?: Too familiar with the slasher elements that it lacks anything surprising. Also, slow-mo scenes are a bitch.
why is it good?: If you're patient enough, its not really that bad. Sure it's overly familiar but least they don't try too hard to make an impression neither.
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| Scalps |
why is it underrated?: Takes too long for the good stuff to happen. To top it all, the wait is so unbearably cheesy.
why is it good: one word: gorehounds. his movie is sick with the splatter, down with the gore and has the meanest looking scalping there is!
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| You better watch out/ Christmas Evil |
why is it underrated?: "longest. decent. to madness. ever."
Why is it good?: this is a test of patience and open-mindedness, Christmas Evil is more of a character study than your standard slasher. Yes, it starts like your usual slasher, but, concentrating on our poor chap, its more about his life than his murders. So sad that not many people love this, hence why I gave it such a fair honor here in under8-28.
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| April Fool's Day |
why is it underrated?: "April Fools Day!"
why is it good?: it's a basic backwoods slasher with a neat twist in the end. Plus it's not as mean spirited as most of the movies that shares this film's sub-genre.
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| Cutting Class |
Why is it underrated?: Despite having Brad Pitt in the firing range as potential victim number 8 or potential murderer number 10, this film hardly step up from your usual campus corpse slasher. Not with those tame kills and minimal flashings.
Why is it good?: Like Scream, Cutting Classes is an engaging little whodunit that perfectly mixes highschool life with your standard bodycount. Plus, its about time we get a more upbeat ending for a slasher, right?
