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103-481: Terrifier is a 2016 American slasher film written, edited, co-produced, and directed by Damien Leone . The film stars Jenna Kanell , Samantha Scaffidi , Catherine Corcoran, and David Howard Thornton . The plot centers on partygoer Tara Heyes (Kanell) and her sister Victoria (Scaffidi), who become targets of the enigmatic serial killer known only as Art the Clown (Thornton) on Halloween night. Leone had created

206-521: A 2006 documentary, the movie "became the flashpoint, igniting protests across the nation". Protesters picketed theaters playing the film with placards reading, "Deck the hall with holly – not bodies!" Released in November 1984 by TriStar Pictures , persistent carol -singers forced one Bronx cinema to pull Silent Night, Deadly Night a week into its run. The widespread outrage led to the film's removal, with only 741,500 tickets sold. As interest in

309-538: A brief period. Jamie Lee Curtis , daughter of Janet Leigh , was cast as the heroine Laurie Strode while veteran actor Donald Pleasence was cast as Dr. Sam Loomis , an homage to John Gavin 's character in Psycho . Halloween 's opening tracks a six-year-old's point-of-view as he kills his older sister, a scene emulated in numerous films such as Blow Out (1981) and The Funhouse (1981). Carpenter and Hill deny writing sexually active teens to be victims in favor of

412-496: A budget of just $ 1.8 million, the film was a commercial success, grossing more than $ 25.5 million (7.6 million admissions) in North America and launched one of the most successful film series in history. A Nightmare on Elm Street provided the success that New Line Cinema needed to become a major Hollywood company. To this day, New Line is referred to as "The House That Freddy Built". The final slasher film released during

515-400: A clown chopping people into pieces." Jeremy Aspinall of Radio Times praised the film, writing "But despite the unsparing gore, there's also plenty of atmosphere and a gnawing tension that's maintained all the way to the sequel-hinting climax." In a thesis by M. Keith Booker, he writes that rather than evolving the slasher film genre in different directions, Terrifier acts as a homage to

618-510: A device used in subsequent films Prom Night (1980) and Graduation Day (1981). Early examples include a maniac seeking revenge in The Terror (1928), based on the play by Edgar Wallace . B-movie mogul Val Lewton produced The Leopard Man (1943), about a murderer framing his crimes against women on an escaped show leopard . Basil Rathbone 's The Scarlet Claw (1944) sees Sherlock Holmes investigate murders committed with

721-415: A family death but are murdered one by one. William Castle 's Homicidal (1961) features gore in its murder scenes, something both Psycho and Peeping Tom had edited out. Richard Hillard's Violent Midnight (1963) showed a black-gloved killer's point of view as they pull down a branch to watch a victim and also featured a skinny-dipping scene. Crown International 's Terrified (1963) features

824-414: A few years earlier, had been very profitable. Many 1984 slasher films with brief theatrical runs found varying degrees of success on home video, such as Splatter University , Satan's Blade , Blood Theatre , Rocktober Blood and Fatal Games . Movies like The Prey and Evil Judgement were filmed years prior and finally were given small theatrical releases. Silent Madness used 3D to ride

927-583: A five-pronged garden weeder that the killer would raise in the air and bring down on the victim repeatedly, an editing technique that became familiar in the genre. Robert Siodmak 's The Spiral Staircase (1946), based on Ethel White 's novel Some Must Watch , stars Ethel Barrymore as a sympathetic woman trying to survive black-gloved killers. The Spiral Staircase also features an early use of jump scares . British writer Agatha Christie 's particularly influential 1939 novel Ten Little Indians (adapted in 1945 as And Then There Were None ), centers on

1030-404: A fondness for the same decade of films that this movie obviously holds in high regard." Sol Harris of the magazine Starburst gave the film a score of 6 out of 10, writing: "Presented as something of a throwback to horror B-movies of the '80s, Terrifier has far more style - both visually and audibly - than the average film of this nature. It's a surprisingly nice looking film for a movie about

1133-598: A group of people with secret pasts who are killed one-by-one on an isolated island. Each of the murders mirrors a verse from a nursery rhyme , merging the themes of childhood innocence and vengeful murder. House of Wax (1953), The Bad Seed (1956), Screaming Mimi (1958), Jack the Ripper (1959), and Cover Girl Killer (1959) all incorporated Christie's literary themes. Alfred Hitchcock 's Psycho (1960) used visuals that had been deemed unacceptable by movie studios, including scenes of violence, sexuality, and

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1236-486: A healthy 6.2 million. Both series fell out rather quickly, when Child's Play 3 (1991) selling only 3.5 million tickets in North America and Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) selling only 3.2 million. Anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film , package film , or portmanteau film ) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from

1339-664: A home on VHS. Paul Lynch 's Humongous was released through AVCO Embassy Pictures , but a change in management severely limited the film's theatrical release. Films such as Hospital Massacre and Night Warning enjoyed strong home rentals from video stores, though Dark Sanity , The Forest , Unhinged , Trick or Treats , and Island of Blood fell into obscurity with little theatrical releases and only sub-par video transfers. Supernatural slasher films continued to build in popularity with The Slayer , The Incubus , Blood Song , Don't Go to Sleep and Superstition (the supernatural-themed Halloween III: Season of

1442-547: A late 2024 release. Slasher film Critics cite the Italian giallo films and psychological horror films such as Peeping Tom (1960) and Psycho (1960) as early influences. The genre hit its peak between 1978 and 1984 in an era referred to as the "Golden Age" of slasher films. Notable slasher films include The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Black Christmas (1974), Halloween (1978), Friday

1545-861: A masked killer. Spain's The House That Screamed (1969) features violent murders and preempted later campus-based slashers. Subgenres that influenced slasher films include splatter films , Krimi films, and giallo films. Splatter films focus on gratuitous gore. Herschell Gordon Lewis 's Blood Feast (1963) was a hit at drive-in theaters and is often considered the first splatter film. Lewis followed with gory films Two-Thousand Maniacs! (1964), Color Me Blood Red (1965), The Gruesome Twosome (1967) and The Wizard of Gore (1970). This grotesque style translated to Andy Milligan 's The Ghastly Ones (1969), Twisted Nerve (1968), Night After Night After Night (1969) as well as The Haunted House of Horror (1969). Post-World War II Germany adapted British writer Edgar Wallace 's crime novels into

1648-475: A movie on home video, resulting in shot-on-video slashers Blood Cult (1985), The Ripper (1985), Spine (1986), Truth or Dare? (1986), Killer Workout (1987), and Death Spa (1989). Lesser-known horror properties Sleepaway Camp , The Slumber Party Massacre and Silent Night, Deadly Night became series on home video. The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 (1985) and Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) were theatrically released but neither film

1751-402: A much healthier life on home video. The Dorm That Dripped Blood and Honeymoon Horror , each made for between $ 50–90,000, became successful in the early days of VHS . Because of this change, independent productions began having difficulties finding theatrical distribution. Girls Nite Out had a very limited release in 1982 but was re-released in 1983 in more theaters until finally finding

1854-462: A new bar for acceptable levels of on-screen violence. The criticisms that began with Friday the 13th would lead to the genre's eventual decline in subsequent years. The small-budget thrillers Silent Scream and Prom Night were box office hits with 3.2 and 5.5 million admissions, respectively. Jamie Lee Curtis starred in the independent Prom Night , as well studio films Terror Train and The Fog to earn her "scream queen" title. MGM 's

1957-467: A nursing academy. Hands of the Ripper (1971) depicts the psychological trauma suffered by Jack the Ripper 's daughter, who continues the murderous reign of her father. Fright (1971) is based on the " babysitter and the man upstairs " urban legend while Tower of Evil (1972) features careless partying teens murdered in a remote island lighthouse. Pete Walker broke taboos by advertising his films' negative reviews to attract viewers looking for

2060-404: A pick-up truck. As Victoria lies unconscious, Art begins to maul her face. The police finally arrive, but Art shoots himself before he can be apprehended. After the police discover Victoria is still alive, Art's body and those of his victims are taken to a morgue, where Art reanimates and attacks the medical examiner. One year later, Victoria is released from the hospital after rehabilitation; she

2163-513: A plea for the return of her "child", attempts to show motherly compassion by cradling him. Victoria arrives and discovers Art, who has mutilated the Cat Lady and is wearing her scalp and breasts. Art chases her and decapitates Mike's co-worker Will. Victoria then finds Tara's corpse as Art attacks her with a makeshift cat o' nine tails . Mike knocks Art unconscious. The two flee and call 911 but Art recovers and kills Mike, then hits Victoria with

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2266-445: A recurring theme in later horror films. Along with the "madman on the loose" plotline, these films employed several influences upon the slasher genre, such as lengthy point of view shots and a "sins of the father" catalyst to propel the plot's mayhem. George Archainbaud 's Thirteen Women (1932) tells the story of a sorority whose former members are set against one another by a vengeful peer who crosses out their yearbook photos,

2369-497: A saturation point in 1981, as heavily promoted movies like My Bloody Valentine and The Burning were box office failures. After the success of Friday the 13th , Paramount Pictures picked up My Bloody Valentine with hopes to achieve similar success. The film became the subject of intense scrutiny in the wake of John Lennon's murder , and was released heavily edited; lacking the draw of gore, My Bloody Valentine barely sold 2 million tickets in North America, much less than

2472-921: A series. Three other spoofs , Evil Laugh (1986), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986), were box office disappointments; Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 sold just 2 million tickets while Jason Lives sold 5.2 million, both significantly down from their predecessors. The home video market saw the output of low-budget, tongue-in-cheek slashers like Stripped to Kill (1987), Return to Horror High (1987), and Killer Workout (1987), and previous franchises foregoing theaters for direct-to-video self-parody sequels in Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987), Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987), Slumber Party Massacre II (1987), Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988), and Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (1989). Trying to cater

2575-559: A similar route with a cameo in Maniac Cop 2 (1990) and no participation in Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence (1993). The Nightmare on Elm Street series dominated the late 1980s horror wave, with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) selling 11.5 million tickets in North America, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) following another 12 million tickets. By comparison, Friday

2678-587: A specific formula: a past wrongful action causes severe trauma that is reinforced by a commemoration or anniversary that reactivates or re-inspires the killer. Built around stalk-and-murder sequences, the films draw upon the audience's feelings of catharsis , recreation , and displacement , as related to sexual pleasure. Paste magazine 's definition notes that, "slasher villains are human beings, or were human beings at some point ... Slasher villains are human killers whose actions are objectively evil, because they’re meant to be bound by human morality. That’s part of

2781-919: A subgenre of their own called Krimi films. The Krimi films were released in the late 1950s through the early 1970s and featured villains in bold costumes accompanied by jazz scores from composers such as Martin Böttcher and Peter Thomas . Fellowship of the Frog (1959), about a murderer terrorizing London, was successful in America, leading to similar adaptations like The Green Archer (1961) and Dead Eyes of London (1961). The Rialto Studio produced 32 Krimi films between 1959 and 1970. Italy's giallo thrillers are crime procedurals or murder mysteries interlaced with eroticism and psychological horror. Giallo films feature unidentified killers murdering in grand fashions. Unlike most American slasher films

2884-698: A surprising 3.9 million admissions, making a hit erotic slasher-thriller that predates blockbusters Fatal Attraction (1987) and Basic Instinct (1992) by several years. Internationally, Australia released Next of Kin while Puerto Rico's Pieces was filmed in Boston and Madrid by an Italian-American producer with a Spanish director. Italian gialli saw slasher film influences in their releases for Sergio Martino 's The Scorpion with Two Tails , Lucio Fulci 's The New York Ripper and Dario Argento 's Tenebrae . Traditional slasher films saw less frequent output. The House on Sorority Row followed

2987-452: A violent exploitation film, with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert famously despising the film. Siskel, in his Chicago Tribune review, revealed the identity and fate of the film's killer in an attempt to hurt its box office, and provided the address of the chairman of Paramount Pictures for viewers to complain. The MPAA was criticized for allowing Friday the 13th an R rating, but its violence would inspire gorier films to follow, as it set

3090-532: A virginal " final girl " survivor, though subsequent filmmakers copied what appeared to be a "sex-equals-death" mantra. When shown an early cut of Halloween without a musical score, all major American studios declined to distribute it, one executive even remarking that it was not scary. Carpenter added music himself, and the film was distributed locally in four Kansas City theaters through Akkad's Compass International Pictures in October 1978. Word-of-mouth made

3193-416: A wave of "dream" slashers that included Dreamaniac (1986), Bad Dreams (1988), Deadly Dreams (1988), and Dream Demon (1988). Of those films, Bad Dreams was a minor hit with 2.4 million admissions. Paramount Pictures released the parody April Fool's Day (1986) with hopes to start a sister series to its Friday the 13th property, though the film's modest 3.5 million admissions never led to

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3296-609: A wave of protest from the National Organization for Women (NOW), who picketed the film's screening on the University of Iowa campus. The year's most controversial slasher was William Lustig 's Maniac , about a schizophrenic serial killer in New York. Maniac was maligned by critics. Vincent Canby of The New York Times said that watching the film was like "watching someone else throw up." Lustig released

3399-427: Is a whodunit featuring a subplot depicting creative death sequences on a secluded lakeside setting, which greatly inspired Friday the 13th (1980), its 1981 sequel and subsequent slashers. Sergio Martino 's Torso (1973) featured a masked killer preying upon beautiful and promiscuous young women in retribution for a past misdeed. Torso 's edge-of-your-seat climax finds a sensible "final girl" facing off with

3502-556: Is discussed in film studies as being a young woman (occasionally a young man) left alone to face the killer's advances in the movie's end. Laurie Strode ( Jamie Lee Curtis ), the heroine in Halloween , is an example of a typical final girl. Final girls are often, like Laurie Strode, virgins among sexually active teens. Others have called the trope "self-mythologising" based on a handful of especially high-profile examples, asserting that its prominence has been overstated – particularly

3605-513: Is envisioned and embedded into the public psyche as the main and most marketable/recognisable character, even if his screentime is dwarfed in any specific film by the nominal protagonists. The Scream film series is a rarity that follows its heroine Sidney Prescott ( Neve Campbell ) rather than masked killer Ghostface , whose identity changes from film to film, and is only revealed in each entry's finale. Another alleged trope frequently associated with slasher discourse - and horror more broadly -

3708-403: Is revealed to be the disfigured woman from the film's opening; thus the events of the film showed the massacre that took place the previous year. The character of Art the Clown first appeared as a supporting character in the 2008 short film The 9th Circle , which Leone wrote and directed. Leone later wrote and directed a short film titled Terrifier , which featured Art as the main antagonist and

3811-674: Is that of the "black character(s) dying first" (often formulated as " always dying first"). Actual analyses of the films, such as a 2013 investigative piece in Complex , have found that the trope is largely self-mythologising as opposed to being a statistical reality (per Complex, in only 10% of the fifty analysed movies, all containing one or more speaking black characters, did any of them die first). The appeal of watching people inflict violence upon each other dates back thousands of years to Ancient Rome , though fictionalized accounts became marketable with late 19th century horror plays produced at

3914-429: Is visually and thematically a precursor to John Carpenter 's Halloween (1978), as young women are terrorized in a previously safe environment during an iconic holiday. Like Halloween , Clark's film opens with a lengthy point-of-view , but it differs in the treatment of the killer's identity. Despite making $ 4,053,000 on a $ 620,000 budget, Black Christmas was initially criticized, with Variety complaining that it

4017-621: The 1937 British film ) and Peter Cushing starred in Corruption (1968). Hammer Studios , a London-based company, followed Psycho 's success with Taste of Fear (1961), Maniac (1963), Paranoiac (1963), Nightmare (1964), Fanatic (1965), The Nanny (1965), and Hysteria (1965). Hammer's rival Amicus had Robert Bloch , author of 1959 Psycho novel , write the script for Psychopath (1968). Francis Ford Coppola 's debut, Dementia 13 (1963), takes place in an Irish castle where relatives gather to commemorate

4120-555: The AIDS crisis , the film's portrayal of the gay community fueled subsequent backlash once the virus became an epidemic. Low budget exploitative films New Year's Evil , Don't Go in the House and Don't Answer the Phone! were called-out for misogyny that dwelled on the suffering of females exclusively. Acclaimed filmmaker Brian De Palma 's Psycho -homage Dressed to Kill drew

4223-577: The Arrow Video FrightFest in London, England on August 29, 2022, before receiving a nationwide US cinema release on October 6, 2022, and was released to streaming platforms on November 11, 2022. After the success of Terrifier 2 , it was announced that Terrifier 3 was in the works and in May 2023, it was announced that the sequel was expected to begin filming in November or December 2023 for

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4326-744: The Grand Guignol . Maurice Tourneur 's The Lunatics (1912) used visceral violence to attract the Guignol's audience. In the United States, public outcry over films like this eventually led to the passage of the Hays Code in 1930. The Hays Code is one of the entertainment industry's earliest set of guidelines restricting sexuality and violence deemed unacceptable. Crime writer Mary Roberts Rinehart influenced horror literature with her novel The Circular Staircase (1908), adapted into

4429-432: The Halloween -clone He Knows You're Alone sold nearly 2 million tickets, though Paramount Pictures John Huston -directed Phobia only sold an estimated 22,000 tickets. Two high-profile slasher-thrillers were met with protest, William Friedkin 's Cruising and Gordon Willis ' Windows , both of which equate homosexuality with psychosis . Cruising drew protests from gay rights groups, and though it pre-dates

4532-661: The Son of Sam slayings, cashed-in on headlines and public fascination. Wes Craven modernized the Sawney Bean legend in The Hills Have Eyes (1977) by building upon themes presented in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre . The Hills Have Eyes was another huge financial success, relaunching Craven's career after it had been damaged by controversy surrounding his previous film, The Last House on

4635-479: The Telluride Horror Show on October 15, 2016, and received a limited theatrical release in the United States on March 15, 2018, by Epic Pictures Releasing . The film received generally mixed reviews from critics and would eventually generate a media franchise . A sequel, Terrifier 2 , was released in October 2022. A facially disfigured woman is interviewed for a TV news segment. Once off air,

4738-512: The counter-culture and traditional conservative values, with the film's squealing antagonist Leatherface carrying a chainsaw and wearing the faces of victims he and his family eat. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre spawned imitators and its false "based on a true story" advertisements gave way to reenactments of true crime . The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976), based on the Phantom Killer case, and Another Son of Sam (1977), based on

4841-570: The drive-in success of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), The Toolbox Murders was quickly and cheaply shot but did not generate the interest of the former films. Exploitative Killer's Delight is a San Francisco-set serial killer story claiming to take inspiration from Ted Bundy and the Zodiac Killer . Leading up to Halloween 's October release were August's gialli -inspired Eyes of Laura Mars (written by John Carpenter) and September's " babysitter in peril " TV Movie Are You in

4944-403: The telekinesis -themed slasher Tourist Trap was initially unsuccessful, it has undergone a reappraisal by fans. 1979's most successful slasher was Fred Walton 's When a Stranger Calls , which sold 8.5 million tickets in North America. Its success has largely been credited to its opening scene, in which a babysitter ( Carol Kane ) is taunted by a caller who repeatedly asks, "Have you checked

5047-413: The 13th (1980), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Child's Play (1988), Scream (1996), and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). Many slasher films released decades ago continue to attract cult followings . The slasher canon can be divided into three eras: the classical (1974–1993), the self-referential (1994–2000) and the neoslasher cycle (2000–2013). Slasher films typically adhere to

5150-457: The 13th Part III , the first slasher trilogy, was an enormous success, selling 12 million tickets and dethroning E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial from the top of the box office. The film's iconic hockey mask has grown to pop-culture iconography . Universal Pictures had a tiny release for Death Valley , while Columbia Pictures found modest success with Silent Rage . Independent distributor Embassy Pictures released The Seduction to

5253-651: The 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) and Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) sold approximately 4.5 million tickets each, less than half of the Elm Street films. The personality-driven appeal of Freddy Krueger was not lost on filmmakers, as characters like Chucky and Candyman were given ample dialogue and placed in urban settings that had largely been ignored by the Golden Age. Chucky's Child's Play (1988) and its 1990 sequel sold over 14.7 million tickets combined, while Candyman (1992) sold

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5356-404: The 15 million sold by Friday the 13th the year beforehand. Thematically similar to My Bloody Valentine , The Prowler hoped to lure an audience with gore effects by Friday the 13th 's Tom Savini but large MPAA edits contributed to its failure to find a nationwide distributor. Suffering similar censorship was The Burning , which also employed Savini's special effects, though it does mark

5459-407: The 1980s films of the subgenre but with better special effects and higher production values. Booker also observes similarities with Dawn's (Corcoran) hacksaw death scene and Freddy Krueger 's pursuit of Nancy Thompson in the bathtub scene in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). Amyana Bartley of FilmInquiry.com felt that the film's script lacked both clear protagonists and depth, writing, "Art

5562-642: The Black Cat (1972) paying homage to Hitchcock's film. Gialli were popular in American cinemas and drive-in theaters . Thriller Assault (1971) and Spanish mystery A Dragonfly for Each Corpse (1974) share many traits with Italian gialli . Death Steps in the Dark (1977) spoofed the familiar conventions found in giallo films. Despite successes from Deep Red (1975) and The Blood-Stained Shadow (1978), giallo films gradually fell out of fashion by

5665-450: The Clown has the potential to be a formidable, gruesome, franchise horror character, he just needs more seasoning and cultivation." Felix Vasquez Jr. of Cinema Crazed called it "fairly mediocre slasher fare", stating that the film lacked any creativity and tension while also criticizing its story line. Vasquez concluded his review by stating "As a film Terrifier aims high, but feels like a very disposable party favor you'll have forgotten once

5768-585: The Golden Age of slasher films is 1978–1984, with some scholars citing over 100 similar films released over the six-year period. Despite most films receiving negative reviews, many Golden Age slasher films were extremely profitable and have established cult followings . Many films reused Halloween 's template of a murderous figure stalking teens, though they escalated the gore and nudity from Carpenter's restrained film. Golden Age slasher films exploited dangers lurking in American institutions such as high schools, colleges, summer camps, and hospitals. Cashing in on

5871-861: The Golden Age slasher waned, Wes Craven 's A Nightmare on Elm Street revitalized the genre by mixing fantasy and the supernatural in a cost-effective way. Craven had toyed with slasher films before in Deadly Blessing (1981), though he was frustrated that the genre he had helped create with The Last House on the Left (1972) and The Hills Have Eyes (1977) had not benefited him financially. Developing A Nightmare on Elm Street since 1981, Craven recognized time running out due to declining revenues from theatrical slasher film releases. A Nightmare on Elm Street and especially its villain Freddy Krueger ( Robert Englund ) became cultural phenomenons. On

5974-417: The Golden Age such as Too Scared to Scream (filmed in 1981, released in 1985), The Mutilator (filmed in 1984, released in 1985), Blood Rage (filmed in 1983, released in 1987), Killer Party (filmed in 1984, released in 1986) and Mountaintop Motel Massacre (filmed in 1983, released in 1986) found video distribution. Mirroring the punk rock movement, novice filmmakers proved anyone could make

6077-432: The Golden Age, The Initiation , was greatly overshadowed by A Nightmare on Elm Street (though both films feature dreams as plot points and a horribly burned "nightmare man"). The success of A Nightmare on Elm Street welcomed in a new wave of horror films that relied on special effects, almost completely silencing the smaller low-budget Golden Age features. Despite A Nightmare on Elm Street 's success, fatigue hit

6180-643: The House Alone? Of them, The Eyes of Laura Mars grossed $ 20 million against a $ 7 million budget. Influenced by the French New Wave 's Eyes Without a Face (1960), science fiction thriller Westworld (1973) and Black Christmas (1974), Halloween was directed, composed and co-written by Carpenter, and produced and co-written by Debra Hill on a budget of $ 300,000 provided by Syrian-American producer Moustapha Akkad . To minimize costs, locations were reduced and time took place over

6283-469: The Left (1972). Following holiday-themed exploitation films Home for the Holidays (1972), All Through the House (1972) and Silent Night, Bloody Night (1973), Christmas horror film Black Christmas (1974) uses horror as a board to debate social topics of its time, including feminism , abortion, and alcoholism. Using the "killer calling from inside the house " gimmick , Black Christmas

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6386-474: The Scarecrow brought the genre to the small screen. Two sequels had bigger body counts and more gore than their predecessors, but not higher box office intakes. Friday the 13th Part 2 sold 7.8 million tickets and Halloween II sold 9.2 million. Both sequels sold under half of their original film's tickets, though they were still very popular ( Halloween II was the second highest-grossing horror film of

6489-738: The Witch , though part of the Halloween franchise , does not adhere to the slasher film formula). Alone in the Dark was New Line Cinema 's first feature film, released to little revenue and initially dismissed by critics, though the film has gained critical reappraisal. Director Amy Holden Jones and writer Rita Mae Brown gender-swapped to showcase exploitative violence against men in The Slumber Party Massacre , while Visiting Hours pitted liberal feminism against macho right-wing bigotry with exploitative results. Friday

6592-431: The character of Art the Clown for his short film The 9th Circle (2008) and then created another short with Terrifier (2011). These shorts would generate interest for what became the anthology film All Hallows' Eve (2013), which contained both segments. With the film, Leone wrote it specifically as a means of showcasing the character of Art and his practical effects work. Leone has since expressed regret for leaving

6695-503: The children?" Less successful were Ray Dennis Steckler 's burlesque slasher The Hollywood Strangler Meets the Skid Row Slasher and Abel Ferrara 's The Driller Killer , both of which featured gratuitous on-screen violence against vagrant people. The election of Ronald Reagan as the 40th president of the United States drew in a new age of conservatism that ushered concern of rising violence on film. The slasher film, at

6798-411: The credits roll." The film received three Fangoria Chainsaw Award nominations: Best Limited Release, Best Supporting Actor (Thornton), and Best Makeup FX (Leone). Between 2021 and 2022, a self-published two-issue limited comic book series adaptation of Terrifier was released by Damien Leone with illustrations by Steve McGinnis. In February 2019, Damien Leone stated that a sequel for Terrifier

6901-402: The depraved, using a "no press is bad press" mantra with The Flesh and Blood Show (1972), Frightmare (1974), House of Mortal Sin (1976), Schizo (1976) and The Comeback (1978). Other filmmakers followed Walker's lead, as posters dubbed Blood and Lace (1971) as "sickest PG-rated movie ever made!", while Scream Bloody Murder (1973) called itself "gore-nography." By 1974

7004-435: The exploitation film battled political correctness and their popularity waned, and while films like The Love Butcher (1975) and The Redeemer: Son of Satan (1976) were accused of promoting bigotry, the low-budget independent film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) became a major hit and the most commercially successful horror film since The Exorcist . The story concerns a violent clash of cultures and ideals between

7107-457: The fear that the genre is meant to prey upon, the idea that killers walk among us." Films with similar structures that have non-human antagonists lacking a conscience, such as Alien or The Terminator , are not traditionally considered slasher films (though many slasher antagonists are superhuman, have supernatural traits, or possess slightly warped or abstract anthropomorphic forms both physically and metaphysically). The final girl trope

7210-559: The feature film debuts of Brad Grey , Holly Hunter , Jason Alexander , Fisher Stevens , Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein . Profits of Halloween and Friday the 13th drew studio interest, to varying success. Warner Bros. 's Eyes of a Stranger (402,386 admissions) and Night School (420,818 admission), Paramount Pictures ' The Fan (1.1 million admissions), Universal Pictures The Funhouse (2.8 million admissions), and Columbia Pictures Happy Birthday to Me (3.8 million admissions). CBS ' TV movie, Dark Night of

7313-627: The film unrated on American screens, sidestepping the MPAA to still sell 2.2 million tickets at the box office. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho 's influence was felt two decades later in Cries in the Night and The Unseen . Joe D'Amato 's gruesome Italian horror film Antropophagus and the Australian slasher Nightmares showed that the genre was spreading internationally. Slasher films reached

7416-410: The height of its commercial power, also became the center of a political and cultural maelstrom. Sean S. Cunningham 's sleeper hit Friday the 13th was the year's most commercially successful slasher film, grossing more than $ 59.7 million and selling nearly 15 million tickets in North America. Despite a financial success, distributor Paramount Pictures was criticized for "lowering" itself to release

7519-432: The innocent, virginal qualities ascribed to putative final girls - and that, in the 21st century, the trope has been filtered through the lens of parody, subversion, and self-aware humour (e.g. Final Girl ) rather than deployed sincerely. When slasher films become franchises, they typically take on villain protagonist characteristics, with the series following the continued efforts of their antagonists, rather than any of

7622-479: The killer in an isolated villa. Umberto Lenzi 's Eyeball (1975), which unfolds in an Agatha Christie manner, is noted by some as a slasher precursor, as American tourists are targeted by a killer wearing a red raincoat. The influence of Hitchcock's Psycho extended also to gialli , with films such as The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971), The Case of the Scorpion's Tail (1971) and The Crimes of

7725-444: The killer's disposable victims, including any individual entry's heroes or final survivor(s) (who, in so far as they continue to appear within the series, are often killed off immediately after their next on-screen appearance, which has become its own trope). Examples of antiheroes around whom the respective series have become centered include Michael Myers , Freddy Krueger , Jason Voorhees , Chucky and Leatherface . The antagonist

7828-636: The mid-1970s as diminishing returns forced budget cuts. Films such as Play Motel (1979) and Giallo a Venezia (1979) exploited their low-budgets with shocking hardcore pornography . The early 1970s saw an increase in exploitation films that lured audiences to grindhouses and drive-ins by advertising of sex and violence. Robert Fuest 's And Soon the Darkness (1970) set off the '70s exploitation wave by maximizing its small budget and taking place in daylight. The Jekyll and Hyde Portfolio (1971) follows an insane killer who stalks and murders victims at

7931-407: The movie a sleeper hit that was selected to screen at the November 1978 Chicago Film Festival, where the country's major critics acclaimed it. Halloween grew into a major box office success, grossing over $ 70 million worldwide and selling over 20 million tickets in North America, becoming the most profitable independent film until being surpassed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990). Though

8034-443: The necessary funds for the project in exchange for a producer credit. In The 9th Circle , the short film Terrifier , and All Hallows' Eve , Art was played by Mike Giannelli, who opted not to return to the role for the feature film Terrifier due to not wanting to pursue any more major acting roles. Instead, the role of Art was recast to David Howard Thornton. Thornton was already familiar with All Hallows' Eve when he auditioned for

8137-522: The news anchor, Monica Brown, makes cruel comments to her boyfriend about the woman's appearance, only for the woman to burst out of hiding and mutilate her. On Halloween night of 2017, two friends, Tara and Dawn, drunkenly leave a party and encounter Art the Clown , who follows them to a pizzeria. Art is kicked out by the restaurant's owner for smearing his feces over the bathroom walls. The girls discover that Dawn's car tire has been slashed, and Tara calls her sister Victoria to pick them up. Art returns to

8240-627: The other, though frequently tied together by a single theme, premise, or author. Sometimes each one is directed by a different director or written by a different author, or may even have been made at different times or in different countries. Anthology films are distinguished from " revue films " such as Paramount on Parade (1930)—which were common in Hollywood in the early decades of sound film , composite films , and compilation films . Anthology films are often mistaken with hyperlink cinema . Hyperlink cinema shows parts of many stories throughout

8343-538: The performances of Kanell and Corcoran in that they "are attractive leads and hold the attention." Higgins also praised the film's balance of suspense and gore. Anton Bitel of the British Film Institute described the film as a "subtext-free thrill-and-kill ride which openly advertises the sheer senselessness and gratuity of all its on-screen cat-and-mouse deaths by numbers" and "an unapologetically ‘pure’ genre entry, confronting – and amusing – us with all

8446-571: The pizzeria and kills the owner and a worker. While waiting, Tara asks a pest control worker, Mike, to be let into the apartment building he is working in to use the restroom. There, she encounters the Cat Lady, a deluded squatter who believes the doll she carries is her infant child. Art attacks Dawn and subdues Tara with a sedative. Tara awakens, bound to a chair, to see Dawn suspended upside-down. Art forces her to watch as he saws Dawn in half . Tara escapes but Art shoots her to death, then attacks Mike. The Cat Lady discovers Art with her doll, and in

8549-477: The protagonists of gialli are frequently (but not always) jet-setting adults sporting the most stylish Milan fashions . These protagonists are often outsiders reluctantly brought into the mystery through extenuating circumstances, like witnessing a murder or being suspected of the crimes themselves. Much like Krimi films, gialli plots tended to be outlandish and improbable, occasionally employing supernatural elements. Mario Bava 's A Bay of Blood (1971)

8652-498: The protagonists underdeveloped. Leone tried to raise funds for the Terrifier feature film with an Indiegogo campaign, which fell short of its goal. However, producer Phil Falcone helped contribute funds to help make the film in exchange for a producer credit. Mike Giannelli, who portrayed prior incarnations of Art, retired from acting before production began, and David Howard Thornton replaced him as Art. Terrifier premiered at

8755-685: The public of adult action thrillers that were popular in the 1980s, Sylvester Stallone 's cop-thriller Cobra (1986) is a thinly-veiled slasher film advertised as an action movie, and sold 13.2 million tickets. The home video market made stars out of character actors such as Terry O'Quinn and Bruce Campbell , whose respective independent horror-thrillers The Stepfather (1987) and Maniac Cop (1988) found more support on home video than in theaters. Quinn returned for Stepfather II (1989) but chose not to reprise his role in Stepfather III (1992), Destroyer (1988), while Campbell followed

8858-603: The real-life crimes of Richard Speck , promoted star Charles Bronson 's justice-for-all character above its horror themes. Robert Hiltzik 's Sleepaway Camp was a home video hit, being unique for its pubescent victims and themes of paedophilia and transvestism . Sleepaway Camp featured homosexual scenes, which were taboo at the time. In Canada, whodunit Curtains had a brief theatrical life before finding new life on VHS, while criticism toward American Nightmare ' s portrayal of prostitutes, drug addicts, and pornography addicts hurt its video rentals. Sledgehammer

8961-581: The role of Art in Terrifier , and was cast in the role after improvising a kill scene in mime . Terrifier premiered at the Telluride Horror Show on October 15, 2016. It was later screened at the Horror Channel FrightFest on October 28, 2017, and was subsequently picked up by Epic Pictures Releasing for a limited theatrical release on March 15 and March 16, 2018. In April 2023, it was announced that Terrifier would be released theatrically in 700 theaters on July 19, 2023. Terrifier

9064-505: The same general plot as Prom Night (1980) with guilty teens stalked and punished for a terrible secret. The Final Terror borrows visual and thematic elements from Just Before Dawn (1981), as Sweet Sixteen borrows from Happy Birthday to Me (1981). The most successful slasher of the year was Psycho II , which sold over 11 million theatrical admissions. The film also reunited original Psycho (1960) cast members Anthony Perkins and Vera Miles . 10 to Midnight , inspired by

9167-907: The shot of a toilet flushing. The film featured an iconic score by Bernard Herrmann that has been frequently imitated in slasher and horror films. That same year, Michael Powell released Peeping Tom , showing the killer's perspective as he murders women to photograph their dying expressions. Psycho was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins garnering universal acclaim for his role as Norman Bates . This notice drew bankable movie stars to horror films. Joan Crawford starred in William Castle 's Strait-Jacket (1964) and in Jim O'Connolly 's Berserk! (1967), while Albert Finney starred in MGM 's Night Must Fall (1964) (a remake of

9270-479: The silent film The Bat (1926), about guests in a remote mansion menaced by a killer in a grotesque mask. Its success led to a series of "old dark house" films including The Cat and the Canary (1927), based on John Willard 's 1922 stage play , and Universal Pictures ' The Old Dark House (1932), based on the novel by J.B. Priestley . In both films, the town dwellers are pitted against strange country folk,

9373-594: The sinister masked vicariousness of the Halloween spirit." Cody Hamman of Arrow in the Head awarded the film a score of 8 out of 10, calling it "a very simple film, providing 84 minutes of stalking and slashing that occurs largely within the confines of one location. Leone directs the hell out of that simple scenario, though, milking every possible bit of tension from each moment. It's a thrilling, brutal, gory '80s throwback that I recommend checking out, especially if you have

9476-434: The slasher genre, and its popularity had declined substantially. The home video revolution, fueled by the popularity of VHS , provided a new outlet for low-budget filmmaking . Without major studio backing for theatrical release, slasher films became second only to pornography in the home video market. The drop in budgets to accommodate a more economic approach was usually met with a decline in quality. Holdovers filmed during

9579-469: The success of Friday the 13th Part III (1982), though the effect did not translate to the VHS format. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter brought the saga of Jason Voorhees to a close, with his demise the main marketing tool. It worked, with The Final Chapter selling 10 million tickets in North America, hinting the series would continue even if Jason's demise marked a shift in the genre. This shift

9682-408: The undead have nothing to do with the film. Distributors were aware of fading box office profits, and they were attempting to hoodwink audiences into thinking long-shelved releases like Mortuary were different. The public had largely lost interest in theatrically released slashers, drawing a close to the Golden Age. Production rates plummeted and major studios all but abandoned the genre that, only

9785-855: The year behind An American Werewolf in London ). Independent companies churned out slasher films Final Exam , Bloody Birthday , Hell Night , Don't Go in the Woods... Alone! , Wes Craven 's Deadly Blessing and Graduation Day . Fantasy and sci-fi genres continued to blend with the slasher film in Strange Behavior , Ghostkeeper and Evilspeak . The international market found Italy's Absurd and Madhouse and Germany's Bloody Moon . Straight-to-video productions cut costs to maximize profit. The independent horror film Madman opened in New York City's top 10, according to Variety , but soon fell out of theaters for

9888-400: Was a "bloody, senseless kill-for-kicks" flick that exploited unnecessary violence. Despite its modest initial box office run, the film has garnered critical reappraisal, with film historians noting its importance in the horror film genre and some even citing it as the original slasher film. Jumpstarted by the massive success of John Carpenter 's Halloween (1978), the era commonly cited as

9991-431: Was embraced by fans or critics and took steep box office declines from their predecessors; still, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning was a modest hit opening at the top of the box office and finishing its run with 6.2 million admissions. Rushed into production, A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) became the highest grossing horror film of 1985. The success of the first two Elm Street films inspired

10094-465: Was emphasized by the controversy from Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984): Unlike the recent appearance of other Christmas horror films, including the same year's Don't Open till Christmas , promotional material for Silent Night, Deadly Night pictured a killer Santa with the tagline: "He knows when you've been naughty!" According to Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film ,

10197-580: Was in production, with the other sequel's script having already been written. The film went into production in October 2019 with Fuzz on the Lens Productions as co-producers along with Dark Age Cinema. The film was initially delayed during production of its final days of shooting due to the COVID-19 pandemic , but finally resumed in September 2020 and wrapped shooting in 2021. The film debuted at

10300-489: Was released in 2011. These shorts were incorporated into the 2013 anthology film All Hallows' Eve , which marked both Art's first feature film appearance and Leone's feature directorial debut . In 2015, Leone launched a campaign on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo to finance Terrifier , a feature-length spin-off of All Hallows' Eve . After being notified of the Indiegogo campaign, filmmaker Phil Falcone provided

10403-511: Was released in the United Kingdom on September 27, 2024, and grossed $ 122,174. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 62% of 26 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "All about the splashy kills, Terrifier artfully introduces the unpredictable massacrer mime Art, yet fails to carve an entertaining story worthy of his wrath." John Higgins ( Starburst ) praised

10506-444: Was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 27, 2018. The release features audio commentary from Damien Leone and David H. Thornton, behind-the-scenes footage, an interview with star Jenna Kanell, deleted scenes, collectible reversible cover art, and several other bonus features. The film was released on VHS on March 29, 2019, by Witter Entertainment. Terrifier grossed a total of $ 421,798. Terrifier & Terrifier 2 - Double Bill

10609-414: Was shot-on-video for just $ 40,000, with a gender-reversal climax showing Playgirl model Ted Prior as a "final guy." Other home video slashers from the year include Blood Beat , Double Exposure , and Scalps , the latter claiming to be one of the most censored films in history. Releases began to distance from the genre. The poster for Mortuary features a hand bursting from the grave, though

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