Best Slasher Horror Movies
Stacey Grant
We've compiled a list of 36 slasher horror films spanning across seven decades. From "Halloween" to "Terrifier," get ready to be scared out of your wits.
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Seventeen
The horror movie genre takes many forms, but one of the most well-known subcategories is the slasher film. The premise of a slasher film is pretty straightforward. It involves people in a somewhat confined setting who are being stalked by an unknown assailant or entity. The kills tend to be over-the-top with next-level gore compared to your average horror film.

Slashers require two major things, according to Paste Magazine: the villains need to be somewhat human (aka not a Xenomorph from the Alien franchise or a werewolf) and there needs to be a body count. One-and-done kills don't cut it — pun intended — in the slasher world.

If this sounds like your speed of scary, there are plenty of horror movies to fall in love with, including some classics from the '80s and '90s. So, if you're in the mood to be scared out of your wits, we've compiled a list of the best, must-see slasher movies spanning seven decades.

For folks looking for less of a scare, there are still plenty of options for your ~spooky~ movie-watching mood. Check out both our lists of funny and non-scary horror films.

If you've never seen a slasher film and are looking to dip your toe into the genre, this quintessential movie is the perfect place to start. There are currently six films in the franchise, with the latest one having premiered in March 2023. All of them are amazing in their own special way, but the first one really sets the tone for the series.

A masked killer is stalking the fictional town of Woodsboro, and one teen girl, Sydney (Neve Campbell), seems to be at the heart of the mayhem. The opening scene alone will leave you shook.

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Technically, this is a TV episode for Hulu's Into the Dark horror series, where every episode is centered around a holiday or major event, such as "back to school." However, this is the length of a movie, so we're including it on our list.

No connection to Peyton List's School Spirits Paramount+ show, School Spirit is like Scream meets The Breakfast Club. Starring Corey Fogelmanis, this horror film follows a group of misfits who end up in detention together, only to slowly start dying one by one.

"It’s weird. I was a fan of Into the Dark before I was on it," Corey told Seventeen in 2019. "So, when the possibility of me being on it came about, I was like really excited because I think it’s super out of the box and I feel like they’re taking cool, weird risks with the stories that they’re telling, so I was excited about it."

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Pennywise the Dancing Clown from the IT movies was incredibly scary, but wait until you meet Art the Clown. He doesn't talk and he does not show mercy to anyone unlucky enough to cross paths with him on Halloween night. Art's rampage is extremely gory but it's also campy fun.

In October 2022, the long-awaited sequel, Terrifier 2, premiered in theaters. It's a box-office success and made over $5 million on a $250,000 budget. (However, if you are squeamish, this probably isn't the movie for you. Many people have reportedly fainted and/or thrown up while watching the movie.)

In June 2023, Variety shared Terrifier 3 was happening and writer/director Damien Leone said he plans to "top" the first two movies' goriest scenes.

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