Subgenre Sampler

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Scream (2022): Dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Feat. Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding, Jenna Ortega…; The fifth installment in the SCREAM series of slasher films, acting as a direct sequel to 2011's SCREAM 4, and the first to be made without the late…
Halloween (2018): Dir. David Gordon Green
Feat. Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak…; Jamie Lee Curtis makes a triumphant return to the Halloween franchise as Laurie Strode, now a badass grandma who has been waiting her whole life to…
Strangers, The: Prey at Night (2018): Dir. Johannes Roberts
Feat. Christina Hendricks, Bailee Madison, Martin Henderson; An ironic retro–soundtrack typifies this frivolous sequel to THE STRANGERS (2008) in which a family of innocents are terrorised by a trio of…
Pet (2016): Dir. Carles Torrens
Feat. Dominic Monaghan; Dominic Monaghan plays a man whose obsession with an old crush leads him to hold her captive underneath the animal shelter where he works. A lurid…
Guest, The (2014): Dir. Adam Wingard
Feat. Dan Stevens, Sheila Kelley, Maika Monroe; The director of YOU'RE NEXT returns with another entertainingly lurid thriller about a returning soldier ingratiating himself to a family whose son…
Bates Motel (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, Max Thieriot…; A creepy, character–rich exploration of Norman Bates' formative years and the relationship with his overbearing mother, played deliciously by…
Scream 4 (2011): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette…; Ghostface is back in this series 'reboot', with Campbell returning to the unfortunate town of Woodsboro and bringing with her more…
Hatchet 2 (2010): Dir. Adam Green
Feat. Danielle Harris, Kane Hodder, Tony Todd; More gory homaging from Adam Green in this even nastier sequel that has our nominal heroine returning to the swamp with a crack team of killers to…
Last House On The Left (2009): Dir. Dennis Iliadis
Feat. Sara Paxton, Monica Potter, Garret Dillahunt…; Predictable remake to the 70s original sees a group of killers unknowingly take refuge with the vengeful parents of one of their victims.
Mum and Dad (2008): Dir. Steven Sheil
Feat. Perry Benson, Dido Miles, Olga Fedori…; Acidic, low–budget Brit horror centered around a Polish immigrant airport worker who gets trapped in the nightmarish house of a sadistic family…
Prom Night (2008): Dir. Nelson McCormick
Feat. Idris Elba, Jessica Stroup, Johnathon Schaech; Lame duck remake of the 80's teen horror, with a picture perfect cast being chased around by a deranged killer on their…
Shuttle (2008): Dir. Edward Anderson
Feat. Tony Curran, Peyton List, Cameron Goodman…; An airport shuttle ride turn into a nightmare for its nubile passengers in this tightly contained indie adbuction thriller from first–time…
Girl Next Door, The (2007): Dir. Gregory Wilson
Feat. Blythe Auffarth, Daniel Manche, Blanche Baker…; Sickly torture porn number details the misfortunes of two adolescent girls sent to live with their psychotic aunt after their parents pass…
Hills Have Eyes 2, The (2007): Dir. Martin Weisz
Feat. Michael McMillian, Jessica Stroup; Predictably grisly, largely pointless sequel to Alexandre Aja’s remake of Wes Craven’s cult survivalist film, which pits a group of National…
Vacancy (2007): Dir. Nimrod Antal
Feat. Kate Beckinsale, Luke Wilson, Frank Whaley…; A middle–of–nowhere breakdown leaves Beckinsale and Wilson stranded in a hotel room full of hidden cameras – and as stars in a sicko…
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006): Dir. Jonathan Levine
Feat. Amber Heard, Anson Mount, Whitney Able; Above–average slasher flick following a group of Texan teens who invite the unobtainable 'hot girl' at their school to a remote weekend…
Hatchet (2006): Dir. Adam Green
Feat. Joel David Moore; Definitely not for the squeamish, this gloriously gruesome horror involves imbecilic young tourists getting stalked, lopped and hacked up by a…
Cry Wolf (2005): Dir. Jeff Wadlow
Feat. Jon Bon Jovi; Inventive, if light on truly scary moments, this slasher suspenser is set in a posh American prep school, where bored teenagers concoct a fictional…
Hills Have Eyes, The (2005): Dir. Alexandre Aja
Feat. Ted Levine, Kathleen Quinlan, Aaron Stanford…; Abject and rather kitschy remake of Wes Craven's 1977 B–grade classic which pumps buckets of blood and gore onto the tale of an…
House of Wax (2005): Dir. Jaume Collet-Serra
Feat. Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Paris Hilton; A remake only in name of Vincent Price's 1953 classic, this brutal excursion has a group of young victims have a car breakdown in a 'forgotten' and…
Lost, The (2005): Dir. Chris Siverston
Feat. Alex Frost, Marc Senter; Mass murder erupts in small–town America, courtesy of a dead–beat motel manager whose penchant for black clothing, cowboy boots, and…
Ab-Normal Beauty (Sei mong se jun) (2004): Dir. Oxide Pang
Feat. Race Wong, Rosanne Wong; Dir. Oxide Pang's solo followup to THE EYE is also a voyeuristically themed nerve–shredder, set around a young and rich photography student…
High Tension (Haute tension, Switchblade Romance) (2003): Dir. Alexandre Aja
Feat. Cecile De France, Maïwenn; A grisly yet indeed tense French horror movie directed with stunning virtuosity, about two women whose rural weekend getaway turns horrific when they…
Fear Dot Com (Fear.com) (2002): Dir. William Malone
Feat. Stephen Dorff, Stephen Rea, Natascha McElhone; Incoherent horror flick that goes on–line with the plot of Japanese horror film RING, this will be most compared to the American remake of that…
May (2002): Dir. Lucky McKee
Feat. Angela Bettis, Jeremy Sisto, James Duval…; A twisted, slow–burn black comedy about a disturbed young veterinary student whose only real 'friend' is her doll. When her search for a…
Willard (2002): Dir. Glen Morgan
Feat. Crispin Glover, Jackie Burroughs, R. Lee Ermey…; Stylistic update of the 70s mini–classic of the same name, with cult actor Crispin Glover as the meek office clerk who befriends and trains a…
Session 9 (2001): Dir. Brad Anderson
Feat. Peter Mullan, David Caruso, Josh Lucas…; A “haunted house” movie with a difference, this is an intense, thinking person’s spook session involving a team of tradesmen hired to clean up…
Valentine (2001): Dir. Jamie Blanks
Feat. Denise Richards, David Boreanz, Jessica Capshaw…; The dir. of URBAN LEGEND brings us a Valentine’s Day slasher–massacre, centred round a cupid–masked serial–killer out to avenge…
Wendigo (2001): Dir. Larry Fessenden
Feat. Patricia Clarkson, Jake Weber, Erik Per Sullivan; Elaborating on a renowned ‘urban legend’ with a refined script and a no–nonsense commitment to storytelling, this is a project fostered in…
Bruiser (2000): Dir. George Romero
Feat. Jason Flemyng, Peter Stormare, Leslie Hope; Jason Flemyng plays a weak–willed and miserable office executive who wakes to find he's literally lost his identity. His 'blank face' becomes…
Cherry Falls (2000): Dir. Geoffrey Wright
Feat. Brittany Murphy, Jay Mohr; A mystery psycho–killer's penchant for slaying virgins presents life–saving opportunities for the geeks and jocks of a small–town…
Cut (2000): Dir. Kimble Rendall
Feat. Molly Ringwald; Solid Australian variation on SCREAM, with an imported Molly Ringwald helping complete a horror film abandoned some years before due to an…
Ed Gein (In the Light of the Moon) (2000): Dir. Chuck Parello
Feat. Steve Railsback, Carrie Snodgrass; Sombre biopic of the 1950s Wisconsin serial–killer, whose macabre exploits were the basis for PSYCHO and many other movies. Steve Railsback…
Scream 3 (2000): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette…; Less comic than before but otherwise it's more ironic psycho–trouble on the Woodsboro lot for regulars Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David…
Audition (1999): Dir. Takashi Miike
Feat. Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina; An almost–masterpiece of the macabre that sets up and sustains itself brilliantly with a restrained pace and jewel of a premise, then careens…
Criminal Lovers (Amants criminels, Les) (1999): Dir. Francois Ozon
Feat. Natacha Regnier, Miki Manojlovic; Before he made the lighter 8 WOMEN, dir. Ozon established his credentials with this twisted wee horror, which fearlessly ventures into sadistic and…
Halloween H20 (1998): Dir. Steve Miner
Feat. Jamie Lee Curtis; Or Halloween Twenty Years Later, adjourns from the original classic, undistracted by the whole lamentable trail of sequels (six at last count).…
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1998): Dir. Jim Gillespie
Feat. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Geller; A slick teen horror outing from the writer of SCREAM gives an ironic lift to several old Urban Legends, only this time with a straight…
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998): Dir. Danny Cannon
Feat. Jennifer Love Hewitt; While unpredictable in its specifics, this sequel follows the same straight–faced, moderately scary path as its predecessor. Jennifer Love…
Urban Legend (1998): Dir. Jamie Blanks
Feat. Alicia Witt, Danielle Harris; A serial killer is offing students in the manner of various urban legends (grisly rumours that become so commonly known they're accepted as fact).…
Jack Frost (1997): Dir. Michael Cooney
Feat. Scott MacDonald, Christopher Allport, Stephen Mendel; A modern Ed Wood–style horror comedy about a killer snowman terrorising a small rural community. While uneven, this is mostly better than it…
Scream 2 (1997): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette…; Neve Campbell and friends get revisited by another round of cell–phone threats, masked stalkers and spotty, self–referential…
Uncle Sam (1997): Dir. William Lustig
Feat. Leslie Neale, David "Shark" Fralick, Isaac Hayes…; Solid cast of exploitation 'character actors' lifts this quasi–satirical slasherfest about a Gulf War casualty who rises from his resting place…
Scream (1996): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Neve Campbell, Drew Barrymore, Skeet Ulrich…; The horror genre gets a long overdue (if tongue–in–cheek) revamp but you needn't be an aficionado to experience the thrill of this…
Guilty As Charged (1992): Dir. Sam Irvin
Feat. Rod Steiger, Isaac Hayes; Resourceful and 'well–executed' black comedy stars Rod Steiger as a religious zealot who fries sinners in his home–made electric chair.…
Trauma (1992): Dir. Dario Argento
Feat. Christopher Rydell, Asia Argento, Piper Laurie; A young girl becomes convinced she will be the next victim after a seance reveals a murderer in their midst. Argento's first American film will…
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991): Dir. Rachel Talalay
Feat. Robert Englund; Apparent conclusion to the long tired 'Elm St.' series has ol' pizza face invading the dreams of adolescents nationwide in 2001. Further installments…
Leatherface: the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 (1990): Dir. Jeff Burr
Feat. William Butler, Miriam Byrd-Nethery; Judging by the title this makes a bid in the horror franchise stakes, but death–by–chainsaw just never quite caught the teenage…
Misery (1990): Dir. Rob Reiner
Feat. James Caan, Kathy Bates; You'll have a far from miserable experience watching novelist James Caan nursed back to health by his psychotic number one fan (Kathy Bates in an…
Shocker (1990): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Michael Murphy, Peter Berg; Horace Pinker, a psychotic TV repair man meets his maker on death row...or has he? A frenetic mix of coal black humour and graphic violence from the…
Intruder (1989): Dir. Scott Spiegel
Feat. Elizabeth Cox, Renee Estevez, Dan Hicks…; Under–seen late entry from the 80's slasher cycle from EVIL DEAD co–writer Scott Spiegel. A claustrophobic thriller set entirely in a…
Stepfather 2, The (1989): Dir. Jeff Burr
Feat. Terry O'Quinn, Meg Foster; Terry O'Quinn returns for more slaying in suburbia in a better–than–average sequel. Highlight is a sequence that gives literal meaning to…
Terror at the Opera (Opera) (1989): Dir. Dario Argento
Feat. Cristina Marsillach, Ian Charleson, Urbano Barberini…; A sort of DIVA of the horror genre, Argento happily abandons plot mechanics to provide a bravura display of his technical skill. Contains at least…
American Gothic (1988): Dir. John Hough
Feat. Rod Steiger, Yvonne De Carlo, Sarah Torgov; Creepy psychos living on a remote isle make life hell for holiday–making teens. Sound familiar? It is, but done with a certain inventive…
Anguish (1987): Dir. Bigas Luna
Feat. Zelda Rubinstein, Michael Lerner, Talia Paul…; What starts off as a run–of–the–mill slasher suddenly takes a turn into a highly effective movie–within–a–movie.…
Flowers in the Attic (1987): Dir. Jeffrey Bloom
Feat. Louise Fletcher, Kristy Swanson, Victoria Tennant; Adaptation of the Virginia Andrews book, about attic–bound children.
Stepfather, The (1987): Dir. Joseph Ruben
Feat. Terry O'Quinn, Shelley Hack; This psycho doesn't waste time with marriage guidance when a few waves of a machete is the quick and easy solution! Superior…
Cassandra (1986): Dir. Colin Eggleston
Feat. Tegan Charles, Tessa Humphries, Dylan O'Neill…; Quite watchable Aussie horror is set around a young woman's visions of her brother stabbing somebody to death during her childhood years. Using a…
Stagefright (Deliria) (1986): Dir. Michele Soavi
Feat. David Brandon, Barbara Cupisti; Highly admired by some, this stylish Italian slasher–horror concerns an insane actor who escapes confinement and stumbles into the rehearsals…
Hills Have Eyes 2, The (1985): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Tamara Stafford, Kevin Spirtas, Michael Berryman; Revisiting the same mutant–inhabited desert terrain of the original, this has a band of motorcross enthusiasts raise the appetite of the same…
Phenomena (Creepers) (1984): Dir. Dario Argento
Feat. Jennifer Connelly, Daria Nicolodi; Argento once again forgoes plot to concentrate on his strengths, namely stalk and slash set pieces and kinetic visuals staged like a bad dream. VHS…
Psycho 2 (1983): Dir. Richard Franklin
Feat. Anthony Perkins; Much better than expected sequel sees Anthony Perkins reprise his role 23 years later as endearing nutcase Norman Bates. Thoughtful and suspenseful.
Sweet Sixteen (1983): Dir. Jim Sotos
Feat. Aleisa Shirley, Bo Hopkins, Susan Strasberg…; Forgotten slasher from the 80's that instead slashes the boys instead of the girls, when a soon–to–be sixteen–year–old girl…
Halloween 3 - Season of the Witch (Halloween III) (1982): Dir. Tommy Lee Wallace
Feat. Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dan O'Herlihy; Interesting, if largely unreleated departure for the HALLOWEEN series temporarily abandons the curse of Michael Myers for a muddy sci–fi plot…
Tenebrae (Unsane) (1982): Dir. Dario Argento
Feat. Anthony Franciosa, Daria Nicolodi; Compelling Argento thriller, with a typically contorted plot design – about a crime writer, whose books stimulate copycat killings – used…
Burning, The (1981): Dir. Tony Maylam
Feat. Brian Matthews, Leah Ayres, Brian Backer…; A proficient slasher in the wake of FRIDAY THE 13TH in which a former summer camp caretaker plots bloody revenge on the teenagers who accidentally…
Halloween 2 (Halloween II) (1981): Dir. Rick Rosenthal
Feat. Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence; Obligatory sequel to John Carpenter's horror landmark sees Michael Myers more invincible than ever, returning to terrorise the surprisingly durable…
Rosemary's Killer (The Prowler; The Graduation) (1981): Dir. Joseph Zito
Feat. Vicki Dawson, Chris Goutman, Farley Granger…; Wholesale but effective slasher terrorizes a high school graduation dance with a military–themed serial killer. Gore by Tom Savini.
Boogeyman, The (1980): Dir. Ulli Lommel
Feat. Suzanna Love, John Carradine, Ron James…; Supernatural slasher directed by Fassbinder regular Ulli Lommel, who was part of the New German Cinema movement. An American production starring…
Fade to Black (1980): Dir. Vernon Zimmerman
Feat. Dennis Christopher, Tim Thomerson, Gwynne Gilford; Film buffs should appreciate this inventive black–comedy about a weirdo movie addict who kills people in the style of his various film heroes.
Friday the 13th [Franchise] (1980-1989): Dir. Sean S. Cunningham
Feat. Betsy Palmer, Kevin Bacon; The most successful film to exploit the '80s stalk–and–slash formula, characterised by disposable teenagers being endlessly slaughtered…
Motel Hell (1980): Dir. Kevin Connor
Feat. Rory Calhoun, Paul Linke, Nancy Parsons; Comedy black enough to convert one to vegetarianism about rednecks who use a special kinda meat for 'Farmer Vincent's Fritters'! The duelling…
Prom Night (1980): Dir. Paul Lynch
Feat. Jamie Lee Curtis, Leslie Nielsen; 'Halloween' stalk'n'slash protege with Jamie Lee Curtis returning as one of a group of teens with a guilty secret menaced by the ubiquitous masked…
Terror Train (1980): Dir. Roger Spottiswoode
Feat. Jamie Lee Curtis, Ben Johnson, Hart Bochner…; Fresh from HALLOWEEN, Jamie Lee Curtis reprises a 'scream queen' for this teen slasher pic set aboard a chartered locomotive. A gamut of masquerade…
Tourist Trap (1979): Dir. David Schmoeller
Feat. Chuck Connors, Tanya Roberts, Jocelyn Jones; Claustrophobic horror with four friends pursued through a ghostly museum by mannequins under the control of an old man with telekinetic powers.…
Halloween (1978): Dir. John Carpenter
Feat. Jamie Lee Curtis; Landmark horror film is distinguished by direction that gives a constant sense of impending doom, yet provides constant surprises – unlike the…
Shout, The (1978): Dir. Jerzy Skolimowski
Feat. Alan Bates, John Hurt, Susannah York…; An intelligent, enigmatic chiller about an asylum inmate with mystical powers who upsets the lives of an avant garde music composer and his wife in…
Fight For Your Life (1977): Dir. Robert A. Endelson
Feat. William Sanderson, Robert Judd; A racist hillbilly and two sadistic jail–breakers terrorize a black minister and his family, who eventually fight back and take bloody…
Hills Have Eyes, The (1977): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Susan Lanier, Robert Houston, Martin Speer…; Wes Craven takes the townies–breakdown–in–the–desert chestnut to its logical extreme, where it turns out the hills also have…
Last House on Dead End Street (1977): Dir. Roger Michael Watkins
Feat. Roger Michael Watkins; Both notorious and obscure, this 1970s shocker concerns a drug–dealer who upon being released from jail enters the shady world of porno…
Deep Red (1976): Dir. Dario Argento
Feat. David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi; David Hemmings plays a touring pianist in Rome who witnesses the slaying of a psychiatrist. Cat–and–mouse murder mystery is one of the…
Blue Sunshine (1975): Dir. Jeff Lieberman
Feat. Zalman King; Clinical, worthy Cronenberg–style horror about people who took an experimental strain of LSD in the 60's to emerge 10 years later as balding,…
Black Christmas (1974): Dir. Bob Clark
Feat. Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder…; A superior precursor to psychological 'slasher' films like HALLOWEEN, this is set around a group of women in a sorority house, about to return home…
Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (1974): Dir. Tobe Hooper
Feat. Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain; Unbearable tension builds when a group of teens are preyed upon by a notoriously psychotic family in the squalid atmosphere of the Deep South. The…
Candy Snatchers, The (1973): Dir. Guerdon Trueblood
Feat. Tiffany Bolling, Ben Piazza; An unheralded gem of the 70's exploitation 'golden age', this subversive yet taut and surprisingly controlled abduction thriller concerns the brutal…
Deranged (1973): Dir. Alan Ormsby
Feat. Roberts Blossom, Cosette Lee, Leslie Carlson; Closely modelled on the exploits of Ed Gein (whose notoriety also inspired PSYCHO and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE), Roberts Blossom is…
Sisters (1973): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. Margot Kidder; This early De Palma film is a gripping account of a woman (Margot Kidder) who discovers her twin sister is a homicidal maniac. Features an…
Theatre of Blood (1973): Dir. Douglas Hickox
Feat. Vincent Price, Diana Rigg, Ian Hendry; Vincent Price plays a hammy stage actor who avenges the critics that have vilified him, staging their deaths like scenes from Shakespearian plays. No…
Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972): Dir. Robert Fuest
Feat. Vincent Price, Robert Quarry, Peter Cushing…; Vincent Price reprises the Phibes, and this time gets to go to Egypt.
Flesh and Blood Show, The (1972): Dir. Pete Walker
Feat. Ray Brooks, Patrick Barr, Jenny Hanley…; Horror following the fates of two British thespians who audition for a play being rehearsed at an abandoned theatre by the sea, but the entire…
Last House on the Left, The (1972): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Sandra Cassel, Lucy Grantham, David Hess; Formerly banned in NZ and in many countries around the world, this disturbing film lives up to its notoriety with its documentary–like realism…
And Soon the Darkness (1970): Dir. Robert Fuest
Feat. Pamela Franklin, Michele Dotrice; Minor slasher thriller concerns a pair of holidaying Brits who run into nasty perils on the backroads of rural France. Not as interesting as dir.…
Bird with the Crystal Plumage, The (1970): Dir. Dario Argento
Feat. Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall; The milestone debut from the supreme Italian horror–meister Dario Argento, this set the pattern for his many many subsequent forays into…
I Drink Your Blood (1970): Dir. David Durston
Feat. Bhaskar , Rhonda Fultz, Lyn Lowry; A Manson–style hippie–cult make trouble in a small village but taste the wrath of a young boy who infects their meat pies with rabies –…
Gruesome Twosome (1967): Dir. Herschell Gordon Lewis
Feat. Elizabeth Davis, Gretchen Wells, Chris Martell; Typical H.G. Lewis fare that is both disgusting and amusing. The plot revolves around a wig shop that makes its products by scalping people with an…
Repulsion (1965): Dir. Roman Polanski
Feat. Catherine Deneuve; Polanski's tour–de–force of urban sexual paranoia. Catherine Deneuve has an obsessive fear of men which slowly descends her into madness.…
Dementia 13 (1963): Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Feat. William Campbell, Luana Anders, Bart Patton; An early shocker from Francis Coppola proving that even the best start at the bottom. Quite a blurry print.
Circus of Horrors (1960): Dir. Sidney Hayers
Feat. Anton Diffring, Donald Pleasence, Jane Hylton…; After horribly botching a face–job, plastic surgeon Anton Diffring hides out in a travelling circus with some of his 'beauties', who begin to…
Psycho (1960): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles…; Only Mr. Hitchcock could plunder B–movie conventions and turn in the biggest box–office success of his career. A plethora of…
She-Creature, The (1957): Dir. Edward L. Cahn
Feat. Marla English, Tom Conway, Chester Morris…; A sideshow hypnotist attains fame by predicting murders that are actually carried out by his lovely assistant, under his hypnotic spell. Slow yet…
Beast with Five Fingers (1946): Dir. Robert Florey
Feat. Robert Alda, Andrea King, Peter Lorre; Psychological horror with Peter Lorre hamming it up as only he can when spooked and stalked by the severed hand of a maddened pianist.

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Subgenre Sampler