Retro Slashers

Last time we presented a retrospective celebrating 30 years of Scalps, a shocking slasher that would differentiate itself from the pack with its Native-American supernatural elements. This time around, we speak to the director himself. Read on as Fred Olen Ray peels away the layers of the 1983 production.

With the recent news of Scorpion Releasing’s slasher titles on tap for DVD – Humongous, House on Sorority Row, Final Exam, The Carpenter, The Incubus and American Nightmares as well as other genre titles – Retro Slashers conducted a brief q&a with company president Walter Olsen (yes, brother of Bill Olsen who runs Code Red [...]

Charlie Sheen, Alison (Nellie Oleson on Little House on the Prairie) Arngrim, and radio personality Rush Limbaugh star in Sam Kinison’s The Honeymoon Killer now in post-production. The late Sam Kinison’s take on the slasher genre, which was previously covered here, deals with an unhappily married man who targets brides on their wedding day.  During a recent [...]

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers has long since divided fans of the series, with some feeling that the movie failed to live up to the comeback of The Return of Michael Myers and others appreciating the European feel that Swiss filmmaker Dominique Othenin-Girard brought to the picture. Arguably the movie’s stand-out moment is [...]

1986′s Dreamaniac was a product of the times – made during the genre’s infatuation with Freddy Krueger, it was a Faustian tale that reversed the mainstay gender roles – the main character is a male, a rock musician who makes a deal to achieve personal success, at the cost of all the women around him being offed [...]

Joe Giannone’s Madman (shot in 1980, released 1982) has experienced a resurgence with slasher fans in recent years similar to the Sleepaway Camp movement. Yet this has all been contrary to the increasing rarity of the film since Anchor Bay’s DVD went out of print. But that’s about to be remedied as Code Red DVD [...]

James Winburn has worked on probably half of your favorite horror or action films in a stuntman capacity – even donning the Michael Myers mechanics outfit and mask in the first HALLOWEEN – and also directing the retro horror video staple EVIL ALTER! But you can get his exhaustive list at IMDB. We’re here to [...]

By “SkaryMoviez”: Every once in a while, a retro slasher arrives to little or no fanfare, only to be recognized years later, thus attaining what we like to call cult status. Charles Kaufman’s 1980 classic Mother’s Day arrived into theaters only to be looked down upon by fans of the then more popular Friday The [...]

Lori Lethin was a mainstay of episodic television in the 80s, appearing in everything from The Dukes of Hazzard to Hill Street Blues. But it was her genre work that earned her cult status (although her role on Charlie’s Angels was pretty dang cool too!). Lori Lethin’s pretty and petite girl-next-door beauty may have ensured [...]

1993′s SAVAGE VENGEANCE is one odd duck. It’s supposed to be a merely a tribute to the classic revenge film I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (1978), yet it has the star of that film Camille Keaton reprising the same “Jennifer” role and vaguely referencing events from that film. With that in mind, I finaly got [...]