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Is It Time...For A New Slasher?

No. I don't mean another re-make, I mean a whole new breed of slasher that has an incredible back story that's believable.



Myers, Vorhees, Krueger. You know them front to back. They are the specific weapon wielding slasher killers that are unstoppable, unkillable and just will not go away...ever. They have stood the test of time and lived within us nce the 80's.

There are others, but not quite like the big three that could slash their way through any arm, leg, or dream.

So, is there room for another? Is it time for another? Will the most dangerous trio reign the title for eternity? What say the Bidites of the badlands?
aceofspades70 Tuesday 10/11/2011 at 11:53 PM | 84556
I sure hope that we can have others to take the baton so to speak.

We need in the horror community, as well as within culture in general, change.

From the very beginning, filmakers used these characters to bring about what was lurking inde the subconscious (or behind the mask) of America.

Not to delve into historical events too much, but how can we forget about Vietnam or Kennedy's assasnation?

Not only those events, but the overall dread of the Cold War...

Look at history these days.

Do Michael, Jason, and Freddy really personify what's going on in the world today?

I really think that we need new horror icons who will be entertaining, but even more, who we can identify with, though not as being killers, but as people who don't have to hide behind a mask.

Maybe we need a horror icon(s) who can not only represent the evil in the world but also show that good can be done, essentially in horrific ways.

Might I suggest Hobo with a Shotgun?

How about Ellen Page's character in Hard Candy.

Maybe we should have horror characters that aren't always out to kill a victim, but who have a grounding understanding of the natural dualities of human nature and who will strive for as much "good" as "evil".
Madloomis78 Wednesday 10/12/2011 at 04:11 AM | 84598
Well as far as a new breed there getting better...I like Jeepers Creepers and hatchet....But they will never replace my all time favs...Krueger..myers...and Voorhees...
chardy Wednesday 10/12/2011 at 05:33 AM | 84622
I think there certainly should be another slasher franchise for sure. As chardy says above, The Creeper and Victor Crowley both make for wonderful candidates, along with a few others in the past few years.

In my opinion though, I don't think we're going to see a slasher reach a legendary status such as Halloween, F13, Nightmare etc. mply because the horror genre is not what it is today compared to what it was in the 80s. In the 80s, horror was arguably the biggest genre in the movie bizz. Now most horrors apart from the occaonal anomaly such as Saw or Paranormal Activity hardly make a dime...

It's a sad fact, but I'm afraid it's the truth
joshk1986 Wednesday 10/12/2011 at 07:24 AM | 84658
@ MADLOOMIS78

" I really think that we need new horror icons who will be entertaining, but even more, who we can identify with, though not as being killers, but as people who don't have to hide behind a mask. Maybe we need a horror icon(s) who can not only represent the evil in the world but also show that good can be done, essentially in horrific ways."

You pretty much described DEXTER to a T. But I agree wholeheartedly that we need a valid character. Sadly though I don't think it can be done. I think the existing characters are as far as we can go at this point. The closest thing we've gotten in the last 20 years is ghostface, but even he was a reference to the originals with a heavy nod toward the villain in 'when a stranger calls'.

This christmas let's all ask Santa for a miracle on elm street
Illinois-Michael Wednesday 10/12/2011 at 08:18 AM | 84680
no. We already have them. If this question was posed 6 or 7 years ago, I would have said DEFINITELY!

Now, we've got Victor Crowley, Chromeskull, Leslie Vernon, and Babyface on the market, and tosng another name/figure in the mix just doesn't make sense unless we're dealing with a film thats got FANTASTIC writers, director, actors, and a great foundation story, which rarely happens in this genre.

PLENTY of new age slashers out there at this time, now it's about establishing which ones will survive. All of them could survive, but Crowley and Chromeskull certainly look ahead of the pack right now. Once the second Leslie Vernon flick is wrapped and released, we'll have a better idea of who's really going to take over. As it stands, the best story lies within the folds of Behind the Mask; hopefully the sequel will match the first and he'll emerge as the new front runner.

Definitely no need to introduce another at this point IMO.
Matt_Molgaard Wednesday 10/12/2011 at 02:30 PM | 84794
Great responses everyone, thank you. Madloomis78, you have some serious thought going on there. I'm with you guys on good writers. They are the essential part of a film and must create the characters with a good back story and who they are as a person.

I find that writing is very difficult because you must be careful with the "language" a character has. It has to fit.

Personally as a viewer, I'd like to see another slasher. As a filmmaker, I must admit, I'd like to create one.
aceofspades70 Wednesday 10/12/2011 at 03:50 PM | 84803
Of course there can be another slasher, but I'd prefer one that would emerge low key, and grow due to good writing and a good over all story. None of the usual bullshit trappings that seem to come with every other slasher these days......"THE NEW HORROR ICON!!!!"; "MOVE OVER FREDDY AND JASON!" that kind of shit. No one needs to reinvent the wheel or genre, just make a solid, scary, GOOD movie and the rest will unfold.
ny ghoul Wednesday 10/12/2011 at 05:30 PM | 84812
I think it could happen, but it'll definitely be done by an independent filmmaker or an up-and-coming studio.

Hollywood and film studios just aren't ambitious anymore. We need more people like Moustapha and Bob Shaye.
creephouse Wednesday 10/12/2011 at 06:01 PM | 84816
If it's good, there's always room for more.



It doesn't matter if we already have Victor Crowely or Chromeskull or baby face... think how many slashers came out in the '80s. There were tons of them. My Bloody Valentine, The Prowler, Funhouse, the Burning, Edge of the Axe...

Granted, a lot of those more obscure movies went way under the radar, and are not (as) iconic like Jason, Michael Myers, etc. Keep in mind Jason, Freddy, Michael Myers didn't start off iconic. They became iconic over the course of many years and many (sometimes bad) sequels.

I'd love to see more new slashers (I'm a fan). If the Scream series can create a new iconic killer in the mid to late '90s, post 80's era, then there's no reason a new breed can't emerge today. It just takes something special. Something more than just an iconic killer...

It takes a good movie.

the_vengeful_machete Wednesday 10/12/2011 at 09:22 PM | 84823
The new slashers I discovered are Chromeskull, Victor Crowley, and Leslie Vernon but they're all from independent films. Too bad they weren't released in theaters, otherwise they would get more popularity. I think Hollywood should start hiring more independent writers.
CleanCut Wednesday 10/12/2011 at 09:33 PM | 84825
If it's good, there's always room for more.



It doesn't matter if we already have Victor Crowely or Chromeskull or baby face... think how many slashers came out in the '80s. There were tons of them. My Bloody Valentine, The Prowler, Funhouse, the Burning, Edge of the Axe...

Granted, a lot of those more obscure movies went way under the radar, and are not (as) iconic like Jason, Michael Myers, etc. Keep in mind Jason, Freddy, Michael Myers didn't start off iconic. They became iconic over the course of many years and many (sometimes bad) sequels.

I'd love to see more new slashers (I'm a fan). If the Scream series can create a new iconic killer in the mid to late '90s, post 80's era, then there's no reason a new breed can't emerge today. It just takes something special. Something more than just an iconic killer...

It takes a good movie.I agree completely. In this day and age, it is hard to make any money off of horror, as we all know. In order to have an iconic slasher that can stand the test of time as Jason, Michael, Freddy have done, the movie itself needs to as iconic as the slasher. I'm talking lence of the Lambs good. Hannibal Lector is iconic, and that movie is amazing. And I think that a straight-up slasher can be as culturally iconic, even in this day and age.

darkdeepwoods16 Thursday 10/13/2011 at 12:09 AM | 84850
Of course there can be another slasher, but I'd prefer one that would emerge low key, and grow due to good writing and a good over all story. None of the usual bullshit trappings that seem to come with every other slasher these days......"THE NEW HORROR ICON!!!!"; "MOVE OVER FREDDY AND JASON!" that kind of shit. No one needs to reinvent the wheel or genre, just make a solid, scary, GOOD movie and the rest will unfold.

Gotta say, this is the perfect thread to suggest looking into my film BLOOD WAS EVERYWHERE.

The entire concept of BWE revolves around this very question. IS there room for a new kind of slasher? Can you top Michael, Jason and Freddy? Can a slasher movie actually be a GOOD movie? "Good" meaning in terms of writing, acting, cinematography, direction, etc. What if there was a slasher movie that AVOIDED the conventions of the genre? What if the filmmakers purposely changed the formula and went as far as to make a slasher film that's kind of "artsy fartsy"? What if the mutant child of David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick and Quentin Tarantino made a slasher movie? lol...

I've wanted to create my very own "slasher" nce I was a kid. As an adult I have a very different perspective than I did as a child, so when I went about creating one I decided that he would have to be something new, something familiar yet totally mysterious, and above all else REALISTIC!

BLOOD WAS EVERYWHERE is a film for movie fans, people who like quality cinema over cheap thrills and easy to digest Hollywood fodder. It is also a love letter to slasher movie fans. It says "slasher movies can be good movies, too. Forgive the past filmmakers who cheated you with bad plot devices, poor character development, lazy screenwriting, ineffective cheap scares, cheesy one liners, and over the top gore that's supposed to make you forget that the rest of the movie is shitty and boring. Forgive them, they didn't know, they were just trying to make a buck off a very lucrative genre. BLOOD WAS EVERYWHERE is here to make it all better".



https://www.facebook.com/bloodwaseverywhere

http://youtu.be/DH3OHL4UKTs

BRING BACK THE SCARY! BRING BACK QUALITY FILM MAKING!

I'm sorry for the blatant self promotion, but I seriously made this movie with this thread's topic in mind, so it's totally relevant! Hahaha, anyway, to all slasher fans: This movie is for you!

-Jason Torrey
BloodWasEverywhere Friday 10/21/2011 at 03:38 PM | 85624
While I do love sequels, I'm paradoxically also an advocate of NEW MATERIAL. I conder myself a book worm, constantly reading something, anything. I've read SO many good horror novels, with insanely awesome villains that I'd love to see on the big screen. How do we get these directors and movie producers to READ? lol. I mean damn... Yes they make movies off of the 1# National Best Sellers. But they don't even read the damn books, or do any research to see what else might be fantastic but fell through the cracks! Brian Lumley's Necroscope series would be great to see on the big screen. Like Hannibal Lector? Shane Stevens' "By Reason of Insanity" was written WAY before Thomas Harris ever conceived of Dr. Lector. Way better story too, IMHO. "Song of Kali" by Dan mmons scared the living piss out of me when I read it my senior year in High School. Ask any lead director who Dan mmons is, they'd be like "Dan WHO?"

I guess safe bets are better than gambling on risks. They can make 50 Nightmare on Elm Streets (and I'd watch every one of them), mply because they know there is a dedicated fan-base. As Admiral Ackbar would say, "It's a fucking TRAP!". And the slasher movies are essentially all the same. You have the Bad Guy...doesn't really matter what his name is. Doesn't really matter what he looks like either. Give him something gimmicky. Hockey mask, ok fine. Now he just needs victims. Who's easy to kill and unsuspecting? I got it! Let's have him kill a bunch of horny teenagers at camp. Alrighty then. Create a lly mythos about him, and you're good to go for 13 sequels. Directors/Producers/Screenwriters know you can do that for any horror villain/slasher movie, because essentially at their fundamental level, they're all the same. Villain never dies, bodies pile up in creative interesting ways, and you can't stop the guy. If you could stop the guy, there'd be no profit and no new movie to put out for around Halloween of next year.

Yes I know I am Captain Obvious ;(
Jonny Sicko Friday 10/21/2011 at 11:40 PM | 85654
I agree with ny ghoul and Vengeful machete an icon can start low key and grow. Has anyone seen -Beware- ive watched this movie like 10 times already. its good indie horror. This movie made me feel how i did when i watched thos e clascs for the first time. so did

the killer.

dont get me wrong its friday the 13th all over again but just something about the movie that feels different then most. Its mple and knows it.
Jack123 Thursday 10/27/2011 at 02:41 AM | 85927