Your favorite slashers

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Victim of The Night

I also watched Squirm from the same director, and in terms of rural Southern atmosphere that one almost achieved Boggy Creek levels of authenticity, if not quite getting there. I recommend that one too. (on Tubi)
I oddly enjoyed Squirm in its way.



Victim of The Night
The Squirm appreciation pleases me. I watched that one when I was a kid (with my mom!) so I was pleased to find that it was enjoyable beyond the nostalgia factor.
Amazing poster.



Changed my favorite slasher (and top horror movie) to Scream. It grounds itself in a unique realism that does what no other horror movie has done for me: make the sincere self-parody flat out scary.



So I've now seen Just Before Dawn, and I think it's definitely worth checking out, if you're willing to watch that Dailymotion post above. (Looked OK on my TV) It's also on BluRay for those of you who are in the habit of blind-buying stuff.

This is just a personal preference, but when it comes to slashers I'm always going to gravitate towards the gritty rural variety and this definitely fits that description. The kills aren't very creative, with one exception, but I "felt" them if you know what I mean. We've all seen countless people get stabbed, but some of these made me say "ouch" out loud. And then there was the one kill that was...something else. Not even sure what the official cause of death would've been, but it was novel.
The characters were mostly likable, something I often struggle with in this genre.
But if I'm attempting to pitch this one and peer-pressure a bunch of you into watching it, I'd say that there's an interesting twist on the final girl element that I don't think I've seen before (keep in mind my limited experience with the genre). There's also a wrinkle involving the killer that deviates from the norm. Can't really explain further without spoilers, I'm afraid. But yeah, I liked it.

I also watched Squirm from the same director, and in terms of rural Southern atmosphere that one almost achieved Boggy Creek levels of authenticity, if not quite getting there. I recommend that one too. (on Tubi)
Ok, just watched this one and I think we're on the same page. Hard to really call it a standout example of the genre, but you watch enough of these and you start to savour the small differences in each one and I think this has a few.


WARNING: "Just Before Dawn" spoilers below
I understand the director was influenced by Deliverance, and technically The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes did some variation on it earlier, but it did feel somewhat novel to get a sense of the killers as part of a family unit. And obviously the twin killers instead of just one distinguishes it as well.


Regarding the ending...yeah, I know other slashers have tried to depict their heroines processing trauma, but I don't know if I've seen another one play out exactly this way, with the heroine internalizing the violence around her and acting out, first with the makeup and then with her brutal dispatching of the killer. Hardly the most graphic thing I've seen in a movie, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't squirm. The violence in this movie didn't feel quite as gendered as in some other examples, but the donning of the makeup and the relatively masculine wardrobe for most of the movie did feel like the movie was aware of and trying to subvert genre dynamics. Not sure how smoothly these things were executed, but I appreciated the effort.



Also, I'm a sucker for movies that use their environment well, and I did enjoy the soft, picturesque wilderness cinematography.


On a side note, I understand these characters weren't exactly teens, and that movie "teenagers" tend to be played by older actors, but Gregg Henry, whose hairline is not in the greatest shape in his Brian De Palma movies, sports an awful mop cut in this and looks a decade older than most of his co-stars. He would have been better cast in the George Kennedy role, tbh. I like the guy but he does not look young.



Ok, just watched this one and I think we're on the same page. Hard to really call it a standout example of the genre, but you watch enough of these and you start to savour the small differences in each one and I think this has a few.
Exactly.

WARNING: "Just Before Dawn" spoilers below

Regarding the ending...yeah, I know other slashers have tried to depict their heroines processing trauma, but I don't know if I've seen another one play out exactly this way, with the heroine internalizing the violence around her and acting out, first with the makeup and then with her brutal dispatching of the killer. Hardly the most graphic thing I've seen in a movie, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't squirm. The violence in this movie didn't feel quite as gendered as in some other examples, but the donning of the makeup and the relatively masculine wardrobe for most of the movie did feel like the movie was aware of and trying to subvert genre dynamics. Not sure how smoothly these things were executed, but I appreciated the effort.
WARNING: "Just Before Dawn" spoilers below
And there's also the fact that she technically wasn't the "final" survivor. Her boyfriend was still alive, but sat there useless while watching her kill the guy. I mean, I think boyfriend was wounded at that point but I didn't interpret his inaction as being due to the injury, but rather that he'd just shut down mentally. Again, there's a bunch I haven't seen but "girl defeats killer while able-bodied male watches" was a new wrinkle for me.



C'mon, everybody. Look at all that sweet spoiler text. Don't you wanna watch the movie to find out what's inside?



Victim of The Night
C'mon, everybody. Look at all that sweet spoiler text. Don't you wanna watch the movie to find out what's inside?
I do actually, but I do not currently have a working television.



Victim of The Night
[spoiler]And I couldn't believe he just caught the arrow in mid-air! How cool was that!!!1!1![spoiler]
Clown.



Huh, so the Blu-ray for Just Before Dawn has a 102-minute international cut. Curious as to what's in the extra footage (not curious enough to buy it at the moment, however). Not a movie I would have thought needed additional runtime (the 91-minute version I watched felt just fine), but happy to be proven wrong if I do get around to the longer version.



If you do see that version, @Rockatansky let me know what you think, because I've only seen the 102 minute version. Just the once but I thought it was really good.
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5-time MoFo Award winner.



Bumping this thread and responding to an 8 month old post to try to get your long list of slasher recommendations because the posters in this thread failed us and did not prod you into sharing.

Hopefully you see this.

Hi there! I should get to compiling then.



Scream
Nightmare on elm street
The fog
Friday the 13th
Sleepaway camp



The one I reach for the most is Scream 2.



Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Halloween
Freddy vs Jason
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"Some people just doesn't understand the dangers of indiscriminate surveillance."



It's the only thing about the movie that I hated.