Retro Slashers

I’m the kind of horror fan who goes the extra mile to find something I haven’t seen yet. I love the obscure, the rare and the unreleased. To say I collect horror films would be putting it lightly. More accurately speaking, I stop at NOTHING to get what I’m after. Money, travel and uncertainty can’t [...]

In 1983 a sleazy little slasher film hit screens titled Scalps. It’s the story of a group of college students who set out for the desert in (illegal) search of Indian artifacts. However, they awaken a vengeful Indian spirit who possesses and attacks them one-by-one causing a supernatural, gruesome bloodbath.

I had a plan. T’was a fine plan – watch Silent Night Deadly Night parts 1-5 over the Christmas holidays. How hard could that be? They even had numbers on them so I wouldn’t lose my way. Except it didn’t exactly go to plan… in fact, it went out the door before I even started. [...]

In the mid 80′s when the VHS boom was taking off, several SOV (shot-on-vhs) horror titles started popping up on the shelves. With the cheaper accessibility to VCR’s came cheaper home camcorders. Nearly anyone who “shot” a feature length horror film in the 80′s could have it pieced together and distributed.

Parties play a major role in many slasher films. Sometimes the party sets off the killer (My Bloody Valentine, The Prowler) and sometimes people pick the wrong place to have a good time (Killer Party, Hell Night, House on Sorority Row). We’ll start with the best ones and work our way down.

Never finished or released movies like Maniac 2: Mr Robbie – a whole new level of “forgotten horror”.

Harpool claimed the law was designed to keep children under 17 from renting or buying any video that included graphic materials.

The film played for one week then vanished. It has never been mentioned since… until now.

We’re “soft launching” a Retro Slashers DVD label with lost sequel Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor, released in finished form for the first time ever next week after 20 years of uphill battle. The spine serial number is RS001 – and as a test case we’re piggybacking on this project which initiated over at companion [...]

Let’s face it, every slasher freak knows that the 1980′s was the decade of the Slasher film. However, a decade is ten years, and ten years is a long time. Taking a look back over those years, a steady progression of evolving (perhaps for the worst) plot lines and stories can be seen.