Trilogy Week #45 - Slasher Flicks (the originals)

A big part of the horror genre that started the ball rolling was Halloween's Michael Myers, that took off with a murderous fever in the 80's. So this week we are focusing on the three biggest names in slasher horror. Just a hint, if you are a horny teen, you will be killed by a masked serial killer.

Title: Halloween

Year: 1978

Director: John Carpenter

Cast: Donald Pleasence, Jaime Lee Curtis, Tony Moran, P.J. Soles 

Rated: R

Running Time: 1hr. 27mins.

My Review: This is by far John Carpenter's most famous film. It's funny to think that none of the big studios wanted to distribute this film. So the executive producer Irwin Yablans decided to start a company called Compass Internation and distribute it himself. It went on to be one of the highest grossing independent films in history. But does it hold up today? I would say yes. The pace is slow, but you see the killer watching his victims, waiting for the right time to strike, so the pacing works well, keeping you in suspense to see when the killer will attack. And his attacks aren't gory or ultra violent like you would see in a lot of slasher flicks. Michael likes to touch his victims by strangling them, or getting really close and stabbing them, then stepping back and watch as their last breath leaves their bodies. That to me is really scary. 6 out of 10 William Shatner masks

Title: Friday the 13th

Year: 1980

Director: Sean S. Cunningham

Cast: Besty Palmer, Kevin Bacon, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor, Robbie Morgan 

Rated: R

Running Time: 1hr. 46mins.

My Review: When you think of Friday the 13th, the first thing that pops in your mind is Jason Voorhess. Well if you haven't seen this movie, you will be very disappointed  because Jason is not the iconic killer in this movie. I won't spoil it and say who it really is but, I will say that it is very disappointing when you find out who it really is. This movie is very slow, you never see the killer until the end. In fact most of the murders happen off screen, you only see their dead bodies as the last survivor finds them. The only cool thing is Kevin Bacon's murder. For years I could never figure out how they did it. But you can just look on Youtube to see that clip.  4 out of 10 Arrowheads to the neck

Title: A Nightmare on Elm Street

Year: 1984

Director: Wes Craven

Cast: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Johnny Depp, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia

Rated: R

Running Time: 1hr. 31mins.

My Review: I would say out of the three, this one is the funnest to watch. Very creepy, and Robert Englund is so wacky as Freddy Kruger, that's it's one of the only times where I root for the bad guy. I'm just excited to see what he's going to do next. The most supernatural of the three, so you get some pretty weird scares and death scenes which I'm a big fan of. A must watch for the Halloween season. 7 out of 10 French kissing telephones