The top 10 slasher movies of all time

Some might say that we’ve left the golden age of slashers back in the ’80s and ’90s, but even in the modern era of horror, there’s the occasional slasher that truly takes us by surprise. One recent example would be Ti West’s X, which was followed by sequel-prequel Pearl (and expecting a second sequel), and then the likes of Bodies Bodies Bodies, all of which attempted to take a tried and true formula and reinvent it for the 2020s, which are becoming in and of themselves a groundbreaking generation for horror. But there’s no shame in going back to the roots of a genre, and we’d say that the ’90s in particular were most influential in shaping the modus operandi of slashers.

There’s a strong likelihood that many of the titles on this list are familiar. Although we’d like to choose some weird and wonderful movies that are out-of-the-box, that wouldn’t be an accurate list of all the horrors that defined decades worth of final girls, high body counts, and insanely effective yet remorseless killers. We invite you to join us as we sound off on the greatest slashers ever made, many of which shouldn’t come as much of a shock.

1. The Strangers (2008)

An incredibly low budget of $9 million managed to carry The Strangers to a whopping $82 million haul at the box office. Although the concept seemed standard enough, the true draw for slasher fans was the tagline “inspired by true events,” which always elevates a sub-par horror into a revolutionary one. Director Bryan Bertino based The Strangers on several break-ins that occurred in his neighborhood as a child, as well as the multiple-homicide Manson family Tate and LaBianca murders. Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman star as a couple vacationing in a secluded home who becomes the target of three masked strangers who infiltrate their lodgings. The movie spawned a sequel titled The Strangers: Prey at Night, and a third installment is currently in development.

2. The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

Although the original released in 1977, under the direction of Wes Craven, the remake of The Hills Have Eyes performed considerably better than its predecessor. Alexandre Aja takes over from Craven in the 2006 version, which adapts the same story; that of the Carter family, which consists of retired detective Bob, wife Ethel, kids Lynn, Brenda, and Bobby, Lynn’s husband Doug and daughter Catherine, and two German Shepherds, Beauty and Beast. When the Carters’ car breaks down in the Nevada desert, they become the victims of cannibalistic mutants living in the hills. A year later, in 2007, the movie spawned a sequel, but it didn’t perform nearly as well, similarly to Craven’s own sequel. The cast includes Aaron Stanford, Kathleen Quinlan, Vinessa Shaw, Emilie de Ravin, Dan Byrd, Robert Joy, and Ted Levine.

3. Candyman (1992)

The fact that Tony Todd returns as Candyman in the 2021 sequel, coupled with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s portrayal of Anthony McCoy, makes it a worthy successor to the 1992 original, but nothing could ever beat Virginia Madsen’s  Helen Lyle. It wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest that she carried that entire movie, as did Todd. Although esteemed horror director and screenwriter Jordan Peele had a hand in the sequel, there’s something show-stopping about Bernard Rose’s direction in the 1992 version. Candyman became such a cult classic that it spawned not one but two sequels, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh and Candyman: Day of the Dead. The movie was based on Clive Barker’s short story “The Forbidden,” which recounts his childhood of poverty, segregation, and discrimination living in poor urban Liverpool, England.

4. Child’s Play (1988)

Can you believe Child’s Play came out in 1988? And even 35 years later, creator Don Mancini continues to pump out Chucky content, including the recent second season of Syfy’s Chucky series, which is currently filming its third season. Brad Dourif stars as the voice of Chucky, previously known as Charles Lee Ray, a notorious serial killer who — while dying from blood loss — transfers his soul into a Good Guy doll and thereafter goes on a vengeful killing spree. Alex Vincent, who reprised his role in the aforementioned Chucky series, also stars as Andy Barclay, a six-year-old who’s gifted Chucky for his birthday and finds himself becoming the killer doll’s latest target. There’s also an undeniably convincing portrayal from Catherine Hicks, who plays Karen Barclay, Andy’s skeptical mother. The 2019 remake, starring Mark Hamill as Chucky, totally bombed at the box office, which once again proves that there’s no beating the originals.

5. Friday the 13th (1980)

And now, we’re starting to list off some of the real classics. Some of the most famous names of our generation — i.e. Kevin Bacon — got their start in Friday the 13th. Adrienne King, Laurie Bartram, and Betsy Palmer also made names for themselves for their portrayals of Alice Hardy, Brenda, and Pamela Voorhees, respectively. And speaking of Pamela Voorhees, Friday the 13th‘s masked killer, you’d never think that Palmer’s performance could be just as popular as future Jasons like Kane Hodder, but she was. The story follows several camp counselors who finds themselves targeted by a masked murderer seeking revenge for the wrongful death of her son Jason years prior. Sean S. Cunningham, like the other greats, established his career with Friday the 13th, eventually becoming as well-known as Wes Craven. Although some legal issues muddled the franchise somewhat, the dispute has since been settled, so we’re hoping for more Jason soon.

6. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Just as Kevin Bacon got his big break in horror, so did our beloved Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp. Although, Depp isn’t the biggest star in this cast, as that honor goes to Robert Englund, who portrays Freddy Krueger. Who else but Wes Craven could have directed this masterpiece? On an estimated budget of just over $1 million, A Nightmare on Elm Street made $57 million and spawned countless sequels. Largely considered to be one of the greatest horror movies ever made, A Nightmare on Elm Street sees a group of teenagers targeted by Freddy Krueger, an undead child killer with the ability to murder people in their dreams. He seeks revenge on the teens for the actions of their parents, who burned him alive. The movie was one of the first slashers to introduce the famous horror trope of morality play, particularly concerning sexually promiscuous teenagers getting killed.

7. Black Christmas (1974)

Certainly one of the more underrated slashers in the genre, Black Christmas was sadly made more famous by its remakes than the 1974 original. In fact, many viewers never even realized that the remakes were… well, remakes. Likewise with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it should be noted that Black Christmas is one of the OG horror movies, paving the way for many others. Bob Clark directs this Canadian slasher, which was originally titled “Silent Night, Evil Night,” and focuses on a group of sorority sisters who receive threatening phone calls by a stalker who eventually tries to murder them during the Christmas season. The movie is inspired by the urban legend “the babysitter and the man upstairs,” which originated in the 1960s and revolves around a babysitter receiving ominous phone calls from a man who eventually tells her to “check the children.” Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, Andrea Martin, Lynne Griffin, and John Saxon star in a surprisingly bashed horror that gained cult status thanks to subsequent remakes.

8. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Even to this day, we’ll never understand why “chainsaw” isn’t one word in the title of this Tobe Hooper classic, but I digress. There’s no doubt that Leatherface himself Gunnar Hansen and final girl Marilyn Burns are the stand-outs that make this slasher a notch above the rest. Edwin Neal also received praise for his portrayal of Nubbins Sawyer, one of Leatherface’s family members. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was marketed as being based on true events when it was promoted, which attracted a wider audience, but although the character of Leatherface is based on serial killer Ed Gein, the events in the movie are largely fictional. Gein also inspired the likes of Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs. On a budget of less than $140,000, the movie made $30 million, then became known as one of the greatest yet most controversial horror slashers of all time. In fact, The Hill Have Eyes, also on this list, pays homage to Massacre in a big way, so that says a lot about how influential Hooper’s slasher truly is.

9. Scream (1996)

You certainly should have expected to see Scream on this list. This is one of the horror movies — more than any other — that remains endlessly relevant today, especially as the franchise has remained the most consistent of them all. We recently got Scream VI in March, and a seventh is already on the way, so although it’s one of the more recent franchises (starting in 1996), it has appealed to the ’90s and 2000s generations simultaneously by becoming the biggest “meta” slasher ever. Chock-full of self-referential content, Scream has not only carried out its main trio in Sidney, Gale, and Dewey, but it’s established modern scream queens like Jenna Ortega for younger viewers as well. Out of all the slashers, Scream certainly had the biggest cast of the time, including Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, Drew Barrymore, and Skeet Ulrich.

10. Halloween (1978)

There’s absolutely no debating it. Although these slashers are in no particular order, it’s been largely accepted among the horror community that Halloween is the greatest horror ever made, courtesy of John Carpenter. Both Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle became overnight sensations thanks to their lead roles in Halloween, which follows babysitter Laurie Strode who finds herself fighting for her life against a masked killer returning to his hometown after murdering his own sister years prior. Curtis makes her movie debut as Strode, whom she returns as for several sequels and even a reboot trilogy, which officially ended with 2022’s Halloween Ends. Both Psycho and Black Christmas were cited as inspiration for Halloween, which outperformed both of them (and ever slasher on this list by a long shot) with a $70 million box office haul.