Summary
- The most iconic slasher villains in horror movie history have racked up the kills while terrifying audiences, often across entire franchises.
- The likes of Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kruger, and Ghostface helped define the slasher subgenre throughout the '80s and '90s.
- Meanwhile, characters like M3GAN, The Grabber, Pearl, and Art the Clown are defining the modern era of the slasher movie.
When it comes to slasher villains in horror movies, their history dates back to 1960, although the slasher horror genre didn't exist under that name until the 1970s. The earliest movie that many consider to be the grandfather of slasher movies was the Alfred Hitchcock horror movie Psycho, but it wasn't until the 70s that movies like Black Christmas and Halloween actually created the genre, with the rules and staples that many fans know to this day. From the babysitter killer motif and the murder of young adults in remote locations to the idea of the Final Girl, by the time the 1980s rolled around, slashers were horror's most popular subgenre.
However, slasher movies fell out of favor by the 1990s as more self-referential horror movies came into favor, and while there were still slashers created in that decade, they had to change and grow with the times to fit into the new horror subgenres. Today, there are great slasher movies that exist in various forms, often melding with found footage, self-referential, and even torture porn, allowing the modern-day slasher villains to make a comeback when directors figure out how to revive them in genres that Hollywood prefers to put its money into for modern-day sensibilities.
15 Best Horror Movies Of All Time, Ranked
What are the best horror movies of all time? Every fan has their opinion, but these movies have stood the test of time to become certifiable icons.
30 Mr. Slausen
Tourist Trap
Tourist Trap
- Director
- David Schmoeller
- Release Date
- March 16, 1979
- Cast
- Chuck Connors , Jocelyn Jones , Jon Van Ness , Robin Sherwood , Tanya Roberts , Dawn Jeffory
- Runtime
- 90 minutes
A lesser-known early slasher, Tourist Trap is a weirdly charming, or perhaps just charmingly weird take on the classic setup. Mr. Slausen runs the titular tourist trap that the carefree and soon-to-be-dead young people of the movie stumble into and appears as a kind and folksy presence who only wants to protect the kids from his evil brother. But it turns out that Slausen doesn't have a brother, and he's been toying with his victims the whole time.
Nevertheless, the charm of actor Chuck Connors (Lucas McCain from The Rifleman) shines through, even if his sad backstory is likely all a lie. The movie shares an inspiration with more surreal projects by directors like Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo) and Luis Buñuel (Un Chien Andalou). This was also an early attempt at making the slasher villain supernatural, as Mr. Slausen has psychokinetic powers. The movie was a cult favorite but was never big enough for a sequel.
29 Billy
Black Christmas
Black Christmas
Black Christmas is a 1974 horror movie from A Christmas Story director Bob Clark. The Canadian slasher centers on sorority girls who are stalked and killed by a crazed killer during the holiday season. Throughout the film, the teenagers get strange and threatening calls from the killer known as Billy. Black Christmas recieved mixed reviews upon release but has since become a cult classic.
- Director
- Sophia Takal
- Release Date
- December 11, 2019
- Cast
- Imogen Poots , Cary Elwes , Aleyse Shannon , Brittany O'Grady , Lily Donoghue , Madeleine Adams
- Runtime
- 92 minutes
Billy may be one of the most significant killers in the development of the horror genre. Black Christmas served as a source of inspiration for John Carpenter's Halloween and all that followed it. This was the first slasher movie for many, especially if they don't count Psycho as part of the genre. However, what keeps Billy from matching up with other slasher killers is that he is never really seen in the original movie, adding to the sense of unease. He is mostly just heard through the obscene phone calls he places to the victims.
Billy was the precursor for Jason, Michael Myers, and many more to come.
Whatever Billy's precise hangups are, they seem deeply rooted in misogyny, and what little the audience knows makes him disturbing. The movie's slasher villain is also iconic as he sets the table for the future antagonists who hide in houses, remain unseen, and only come out when it is time to kill a new young victim. Billy was the precursor for Jason, Michael Myers, and many more to come.