Looking for good slasher movies from late '70s and early 80's

[glennstl]

I've just gotten into slasher movies on Blu thanks to buying the complete Halloween 15 box collection. The first two are great, as far as setting the standard. Also a big fan of the Friday the 13th movies, at least the first 4 or so.

I'm asking for opinions of good slashers from this period that are currently on Blu.

So far, I've also seen the following:

- Prom Night ( liked)
- The Town That Dreaded Sundown ( pretty cool)
- Final Exam ( wanted to like, due to th college campus, but not a huge fan)
- started watching Graduation Day and New Year's Evil on Amazon Prime to try them out...but they seemed really cheaply done and poorly acted. Granted, I only watched probably the first 20 minutes of each, so maybe I need to give them another shot?
- Sleepaway Camp ( absolutely love the original....and the ending! )
- The Burning ( awesome movie...liked the Friday the 13th camp vibe)
- Terror Train ( liked a lot due to the mystery and the train setting)
- Funhouse ( enjoyed a good deal)
- The Prowler ( currently watching right now)

Any other slasher recommendations on Blu from this same time period? I'll take any decent ones too. I'm especially interested in any opinions about one's a I haven't seen that might be considered " must see".

Thanks!

[Al_The_Strange]

First one that comes to mind:

[glennstl]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

First one that comes to mind:

Thanks! Not sure how I forgot this one. Enjoyed the atmosphere a lot!

[UFAlien]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

First one that comes to mind:

Which, unfortunately, is OOP and hugely expensive.

Try the original Black Christmas. Great movie if admittedly a fairly disappointing Blu.

[Ray Jackson]

I'm going to assume that you've already seen the original Nightmare on Elm Street?

If not...you need to rectify that immediately.

...also check out anything from the 70s by Dario Argento.

...you will thank me later by becoming my slave.

[RadicalThrasher]

[glennstl]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I'm going to assume that you've already seen the original Nightmare on Elm Street?

If not...you need to rectify that immediately.

...also check out anything from the 70s by Dario Argento.

...you will thank me later by becoming my slave.

Yep, seen all the Halloweens and Nightmare On Elm a Streets. I.m not familiar at all with Dario Argento...going to have to look his stuff up. Thanks!

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by glennstl

Yep, seen all the Halloweens and Nightmare On Elm a Streets. I.m not familiar at all with Dario Argento...going to have to look his stuff up. Thanks!

Start with Deep Red.

Arguably the first modern slasher flick and some would argue...the best.

Start with that.

If you like it...which you will...then proceed to Suspiria.

And no I'm not kidding.

You will be my slave.

[Jay Mammoth]

Halloween
Halloween 2

Never mind just read that you have seen them lol

[bgart13]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Start with Deep Red.

Arguably the first modern slasher flick and some would argue...the best.

Start with that.

Deep Red? A slasher? Uh, no.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by bgart13

Deep Red? A slasher? Uh, no.

Um...yes.

John Carpenter even ripped stuff from it for Halloween.

[bgart13]

Nope.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by bgart13

Nope.

Yup.

[Hubunkey]

Deep Red is a Giallo which is more or less a "spaghetti slasher" so I would say it counts.

You might check out the Going To Pieces doc. It has a ton of cool slashers mentioned

[cakefactory]

Some guys posted these things in a different thread when I asked about Slasher recs and said I had only enjoyed a few, including Halloween, House on Sorority Row and Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker:

Originally Posted by Wernski

Some examples you would probably find more illuminating [than F13th/Scream] I think would be Final Terror, Black Christmas, Rituals, Ravenous, Maniac, My Bloody Valentine or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre... the originals, of course, not so much the remakes or sequels. I think House On Sorority Row and Butcher Baker are both good choices, so we might have similar tastes.

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I love the "golden age of slasher films" that went on from 1978 to the mid-1980s.

Some prominent ones in my own collection include...

Halloween
Halloween II
Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th: Part 2
Friday the 13th: Part 3
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
My Bloody Valentine
Happy Birthday to Me
Just Before Dawn
Graduation Day
Prom Night
Dressed to Kill
Sleepaway Camp
Terror Train
The Burning
The Slumber Party Massacre
Madman
Visiting Hours
The Final Terror
Curtains
New Year's Evil
Final Exam
The House on Sorority Row
Death Valley
Sweet Sixteen
Sorority House Massacre
Blood Rage
Mortuary
...and others...

These slasher movies from that era were often gruesome, but they also had an oddly fun-spirited innocence about them, and they were ingenious with the makeup effects before the days of computer-generated images.

After this "golden age of slasher films", the more recent fare became less interesting to me.

Originally Posted by dissention

Happy Birthday to Me is one of my favorites. It's leisurely paced and quite atmospheric, then goes completely gonzo with the ending. If the ending to Sleepaway Camp tickled you, you'll have fun with the Scooby Doo ending of this one. Guaranteed. Another good one by the same director (J. Lee Thompson) is 10 to Midnight with Charles Bronson. It's rarely included or regarded as a slasher, but it's got many elements of one.

Slumber Party Massacre is a unique beast, written by a feminist author and possessing some of the funniest dialogue of any slasher movie out there. I recommend it for the laughs, but as a parody, it's only mildly successful.

Visiting Hours has great performances from Lee Grant and Michael Ironside & a particularly vicious opening, but it's more of a thriller than anything. Ditto Death Valley.

Graduation Day, Final Exam & New Years Evil will do nothing to change your mind about slashers and may just as well turn you off of them even more, IMO. They're pretty bottom of the barrel.

Have you seen Alice Sweet Alice? That's one of my favorites, too.

Originally Posted by HorrorBlu

Some notable "golden era" omissions from that list (78 - 84) would be:
Alone In The Dark
Tourist Trap
Night Warning (aka Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker)
The Initiation
Hell Night

Superstition is a really great one, and surprisingly it still plays on TV all the time (I caught part of it on Cinemax the other day, but IFC and TCM occasionally air it as well). It's status as a slasher movie is maybe debatable though, since the killer is a bit more supernatural.

House Of Death is a favorite of mine that often gets overlooked. It's a must-see for fans of Blood Rage or The Mutilator. Hopefully Arrow will get ahold of that one as well, as it's ripe for rediscovery.

Originally Posted by HorrorBlu

I realized The Prowler was missing from that list as well.

And since this is a blu-ray forum, I have to give Blue Underground's The Prowler blu-ray my highest recommendation because that transfer is a real stunner, especially for the grain fans out there. A lot of people find this one a bit slow, but I think it makes up for it in atmosphere, and the final scene is really beautiful and haunting.

[Al_The_Strange]

Speaking of Giallo films, I saw Tenebrae recently and thought it was a pretty good-looking movie.

I know Ray Jackson mentioned in the Tenebrae thread that Argento's other films are better -- haven't seen them yet.

[kylec123]

I'm no horror expert, but I'd, personally, consider Deep Red to be part slasher. Yeah, its Giallo. Yeah, its mystery. Yeah, its thriller. Yeah, its ****ing awesome. Just watch it.

I'd definitely recommend Tenebrae as well. Same with Pieces and Blood Rage.

Aside from stuff already listed in here, fresh on my mind is "Intruder". I watched it earlier today and thought it was pretty fun. Supermarket slasher.

[jarrod_inf]

I'm kicking myself for not getting House on Sorority Row when I had the chance.

[Val Lewton]

Originally Posted by jarrod_inf

I'm kicking myself for not getting House on Sorority Row when I had the chance.

It's OOP, but you can get it on the Code Red bigcartel page. Apparently the only ones left have been opened:

http://codereddvd.bigcartel.com/prod...row-bluray-oop

[cakefactory]

Based on what you liked, I'd like to highlight Just Before Dawn from Owl's post, which you can also get from Code Red (maybe, I haven't checked stock on it). It takes place out in the woods, has great atmosphere and photography, and is a lot better-made than some of the other woods movies like the goofy Madman or Don't Go in the Woods.

House on Sorority Row I also can't recommend enough. Very stylish and very creepy.

Happy Birthday to Me is completely ridiculous and worth watching. I don't know what the blu-ray is like, though. I assume it's not very good quality, but it is in a double feature with the original "When a Stranger Calls," which is a well-known movie of the genre and which has a fantastic first 15 minutes (and you can safely turn it off after that ).

I tend to prefer Giallos to slashers, and if you liked Terror Train for the convoluted mystery of it, you might get into that genre as well. Deep Red and Tenebre and Bird with the Crystal Plumage are usually the first recs you'll get.