[Editorial] Top 21 Slasher Horror Films of All Time

Horror is full of amazing sub-genres, but there’s no denying that perhaps the most classic of them all is the slasher. For many people, when we think about horror movies, we think about a killer in a mask, stalking a group of teens before the final girl kicks his ass and saves the day. 

I adore slashers movies and while I thought writing this list would be easy, it was still incredibly tough to narrow it down to just 21 slashers I could watch on repeat every day. Every slasher on this list is one I’ve seen on multiple occasions and fallen a little more in love with each time. These are my favourites that I couldn’t live without, but even if this list was 100 movies long, I think I still would have had a tough time cutting it down. Long live the slasher! 

21) Happy Death Day (2017)

Happy Death Day gave us an excellent slasher concept teamed with a time loop, meaning we get to see final girl, Tree, repeatedly die before she eventually discovers who is trying to kill her and triumphs. 

Rather than having a high body count and killing off beloved characters, Happy Death Day gives us all the gore we need by killing Tree off in a number of interesting and inventive ways. It’s also great to see Tree’s character development over the course of the film as she starts to value her life and work through her past traumas.

20) Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000) 

I went to university to study film in 2005, and as a result, I was completely obsessed with this sequel set at a fancy film school. The killer has swapped their hooded parka for a fencing mask, but they are still taking out university students using urban legends as the inspiration for each murder. 

Urban Legend: Final Cut works so well because it finds a whole new selection of excellent legends to use, including my personal favourite, waking up in a bathtub full of ice with an internal organ missing. 

19) Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

Right from the opening where Freddy manipulates Jason into killing for him from hell, to the final shot of Freddy’s winking head, Freddy vs. Jason is a wild and fun ride. After being wiped from Springwood and being forgotten by everyone, Freddy uses Jason to drum up fear in the town once again so he has enough power to return. 

While it definitely veers into cheesy sequel territory, Freddy vs. Jason is the perfect blend of both these characters and it also explores interesting themes such as collective trauma and the legacy a killer like Freddy can have when he keeps hitting the same small town over and over.

18) My Bloody Valentine (2009)

Our first remake on the list, My Bloody Valentine, was a slice of 3D perfection when I first saw it in the cinema. The set-up is slightly different to the original movie but gives us a killer miner who seemingly returns to the town of Harmony years after a mining accident to take his revenge on those he believes wronged him. 

My Bloody Valentine is a lovely whodunnit, keeping you guessing until those final moments. It also has some fantastic kills including the excellent supermarket kill and poor Tom Atkins getting a pickaxe to the jaw.

17) Candyman (1992)

The killer may be more on the supernatural side, but Candyman is still an excellent slasher movie and one which is genuinely terrifying. In terms of slasher killers, Candyman should be relatively easy to avoid as long as you don’t say his name five times in a mirror, but people cannot help themselves. 

The kills in Candyman are wonderfully brutal, and it’s all the scarier knowing he can strike anywhere, even in broad daylight. The scene that makes this film go down in slasher history is definitely when the smug Dr Burke is sliced open when he forces Helen to summon Candyman to prove her version of events. 

16) Shrooms (2007)

Set in the forests of Ireland, Shrooms follows a group of American students heading to the Emerald Isle to reunite and do some drugs with their old friend, Jake. Jake is knowledgeable about the magic mushrooms in the area, telling his friends to avoid death bell mushrooms. Unfortunately, Tara doesn’t listen to Jake and soon begins experiencing the ill effects of the dangerous mushroom. 

Not just your standard slasher, Shrooms also works an urban legend about an old children’s home into the mix, giving us creepy visuals and a perfect unreliable narrator story. This is the type of film that works even better on a rewatch, allowing you to really absorb everything that is happening.

15) Valentine (2001)

If you think the horror genre is full of remakes and sequels, Valentine crashed onto the slasher scene in 2001 in a bid to give horror audiences something a little bit different. The story follows a group of female friends who suddenly find themselves the target of a vengeful serial killer as Valentine’s Day approaches.

The body count isn’t high in this movie, but Valentine gives us a central group of friends that we care about and don’t want to see die. And even though there aren’t a lot of onscreen deaths, it doesn’t mean the deaths we do get to see aren’t epic! 

14) The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)

There’s no denying how terrifying The Strangers (2008) is, but when the sequel came along 10 years later it provided something that was the perfect mix of scary and fun, meaning I can enjoy it without being terrified of every dark corner in my house. This time the story is set in an empty trailer park as a travelling family stops for the night and encounters the three masked killers. 

In this sequel, the killers are given a larger location to work with, meaning we get to see some amazing set pieces. I’d be remiss to talk about this movie and not mention the completely perfect swimming pool scene set to ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’. It’s both scary and beautiful, meaning you won’t be able to stop thinking about it once you’ve seen it.

13) Urban Legend (1998)

We’ve already talked about the sequel, but now it’s time to head back to 1998 to talk about the first Urban Legend movie. There are few horror openings as iconic as Brad Dourif screaming “Someone’s in the back seat!” as torrential rain pours down around him. 

Every single death scene in this movie is fantastic, and the care that goes into perfectly lining each kill up with an urban legend only makes them more iconic. Plus Danielle Harris as the grumpy goth roommate, and Tara Reid’s Sasha dishing out sex advice on the radio elevate this movie to legendary status.

12) I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

There’s so much I love about I Know What You Did Last Summer. The panning shots over the dark sea, the ‘90s soundtrack, everything Sarah Michelle Gellar does, and especially Jennifer Love Hewitt screaming “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR” as she twirls in the street. 

I Know What You Did Last Summer gives us a revenge plot with more than a few twists, as we try to guess who is under the fisherman’s outfit that’s intent on hooking teenagers to death. It’s another low body count slasher, but seeing the fisherman sneak around wherever he wants so he can stalk his victims makes this movie rank high on the creep factor.

11) Wrong Turn (2003)

The cannibal family trope feels like it’s been overdone by this point, but when Wrong Turn first came out it felt fresh, and the thought of being picked off when out on a woodland hike was pretty scary. 

There’s not a lot of backstory to our killers, except they like to kill and seemingly eat anyone who wanders into their area of the woods, and to be honest, what more do you need? Each cannibal brother has a distinct and horrifying design and their knowledge of the woods means the stranded friends are no match for them.

10) Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

I have a deep love for the whole Halloween (1978) franchise, but Halloween H20: 20 Years Later was the first movie that came out where I was aware of its release and was able to convince my mum to let me rent from the local video shop. As a result, it became a firm favourite and genuinely scared me as a teenager. As well as bringing Laurie Strode back to our screen, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later also centres the story around a group of teenagers again, giving us the classic slasher we all know and love. 

I love the exploration of Laurie’s trauma 20 years after she was almost murdered by her brother, the ambiguity of Michael’s constant presence when Laurie is on screen, and the ending which would have been a fitting send-off to the whole series had Halloween: Resurrection (2002) never happened.

9) Cherry Falls (2000)

Virgins surviving until the end of the movie is a common trope in slasher movies, so Cherry Falls shows us what would happen if the killer was specifically targetting virgins instead of sexually promiscuous teens. Cherry Falls may be seen as just another slasher to come out of the Scream (1996) era, but its look at ‘boys will be boys’ culture is incredibly interesting. 

Brittany Murphy is amazing as the final girl Jody, who has to deal with her overly sexual boyfriend, the fact her dad is the sheriff, and all her classmates are dying around her. 

8) Tourist Trap (1979)

Not a lot of actual slashing happening in Tourist Trap, but every other element of the film including the group of stranded teens, the remote location, and the creepy museum owner just screams slasher movie. Throw in some telekinetic powers and people getting turned into mannequins in various ways, and you’re in for a wild ride! 

Tourist Trap is creepy, has a great killer reveal, and is hilarious without dampening the scares. It’s completely bananas right from the start, and the first kill in the abandoned gas station really sets the tone for the rest of the movie.

7) Scream 2 (1997)

If you ask me what my favourite Scream movie is, I will say Scream 2 because I watched it on repeat during my high school years. However, it is ranking a little lower than its predecessor in this list because the first one is pretty much slasher perfection. 

Scream 2 is almost up there though, with an equally epic opening kill, as well as a range of amazing kills throughout the entire film. It also introduced lots of great new characters while still focussing on the survivors we all know and love. 

6) House of Wax (2005)

House of Wax has been at the top of many a list I’ve written because it never fails to bring me an immense amount of joy every time I watch it. The effects in this movie are outstanding, and it’s a visual feast for the eyes, even if I do still have to hide away from that ankle slicing scene.

I also won’t hear a bad word about Paris Hilton in this movie. I think she’s fantastic and does an excellent job of bringing Paige to life opposite final girl, Carly. From the opening scene to My Chemical Romance’s ‘Helena’ blasting out over the credits, there’s nothing not to love about this movie.

5) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of those slasher movies that I appreciate more every time I watch it. Wes Craven clearly displays why he is horror royalty with this movie, which still manages to give me the creeps after countless viewings. 

Freddy is no jokes and all scares in this first outing for the character and teamed with the best final girl of them all, Nancy, we’re given a final showdown that is amazing in every sense. 

4) Scream (1996)

Ranking just a little higher than its sequel, there’s no denying what Scream did to the slasher genre in the middle of the nineties. It feels like so many other slashers on this list may not have existed were it not for the horror renaissance Wes Craven gave us. 

One element I love so much about the Scream movies is you never know who the killer is, and I still remember the shock when I saw the killer reveal for the first time. All the characters in Scream are also flawless, from Tatum to my beloved Randy, it’s the central group that makes this film so amazing and rewatchable. 

3) Black Christmas (1974)

Even though I went to see the 2006 remake in the cinema when it came out, I didn’t see the original movie till years later when it was on the TV, and I spent the majority of my viewing hidden under my duvet. The sorority sisters spend most of the movie not even realising they’re under attack from a killer as he sneaks around the house, hiding the bodies in the attic. 

The entire final segment, including the now very popular “the call is coming from inside the house” reveal is completely terrifying. Black Christmas also gets major props for giving us such an excellent killer, even though we never get a full reveal of who he is.

2) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Another film I hid under my duvet for most of was The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which I watched for the first time when I was 12 and have loved ever since. Tobe Hooper’s masterpiece is light on gore and likes to mess with your brain to make you think you’ve seen more than you have, leaving you thinking about this movie long after it’s finished. 

Every death in this movie is iconic, and Leatherface’s relentless nature and surprising speed make this hard to watch without your heart rate rising. 

1) Halloween (1978)

While other movies may have swapped positions as I was writing this list, there was only ever going to be one number one for me. I’ve been obsessed with Halloween ever since I first saw it, and for me, Michael Myers is the perfect slasher serial killer.

I love the way he stalks Laurie and her friends for the whole day, in broad daylight, before he strikes. I love that his kills are brutal but not overly gory. I love the level of planning he puts into that final reveal before he finally attacks Laurie. The music, the ending, Lauria Strode herself - there’s nothing about this movie I don’t like. Sure, the Halloween series has taken some strange twists and turns over the years, but that first entry shows why people keep reworking the timeline to try and keep Haddonfield’s boogeyman alive.

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