From Hitchcock's primal scream to modern meta-slashers: these twenty titles form the canon of the slasher genre. Perfect for a bloody movie marathon, and for learning exactly which rules you shouldn't break.
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Halloween (1978)
Michael Myers escapes and turns a quiet Halloween in Haddonfield into a nightmare of white masks, silence and pure suspense.
Psycho (1960)
Norman Bates' motel, a shower and a shrieking violin crescendo: Hitchcock's classic wrote the blueprint for the modern slasher.
Fair ranking honestly. (12)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Freddy Krueger attacks teenagers in their dreams, because falling asleep is deadlier than staying awake.
Freddy Krueger attacks teenagers in their dreams, because falling asleep is deadlier than staying awake.
Friday the 13th (1980)
Camp Crystal Lake becomes the hunting ground of a vengeful killer; teenage hormones meet sharp objects.
Camp Crystal Lake becomes the hunting ground of a vengeful killer; teenage hormones meet sharp objects.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
A sun-scorched ride through hell full of a psycho family, meat hooks and a roaring chainsaw.
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Scream (1996)
Wes Craven delivers meta-horror in which teenagers recite the rules of slasher films... and still die.
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Black Christmas (1974)
Obscene phone calls, a killer hiding in the attic and one of the original scream queens: this Canadian classic helped invent the genre.
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Maniac (1980)
New York nightmares in which a disturbed loner stalks and scalps women to dress his mannequins. Grim and notorious.
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April Fool's Day (1986)
A weekend on an island full of practical jokes turns bloody, leading up to a legendary twist ending.
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The Burning (1981)
Disfigured camp caretaker Cropsy returns with garden shears; look out for early roles by Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter and Fisher Stevens.
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Terror Train (1980)
Jamie Lee Curtis rides a New Year's Eve party train where the killer hides behind a new costume in every carriage.
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The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)
Teenagers, pizza and a power drill: feminist satire hidden in pure '80s gore, written by Rita Mae Brown.
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Prom Night (1980)
High school revenge explodes on the dance floor; disco balls and decapitations go hand in hand.
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The House on Sorority Row (1982)
A prank gone deadly erupts on graduation night; guilt and secrets pile up.
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The Prowler (1981)
A pitchfork killer in a WWII uniform hunts students at a graduation dance; Tom Savini's practical effects steal the show.
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Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Summer camp horror with one of the most notorious twist endings in horror history, still debated today.
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Pieces (1982)
'You don't have to go to Texas for a chainsaw massacre!' A campus-set Spanish-American splatter film with a gruesome body-puzzle premise.
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Happy Death Day (2017)
Groundhog Day meets Scream: college student Tree relives her own murder until she unmasks the killer.
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Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
A killer Santa with an axe: childhood trauma under the Christmas tree leads to holidays full of screams.
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Tourist Trap (1979)
A broken-down car, an abandoned roadside museum full of mannequins and telekinetic murders: pure eerie '70s horror atmosphere.
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Michael Myers escapes and turns a quiet Halloween in Haddonfield into a nightmare of white masks, silence and pure suspense.
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