Retro Slashers

You are browsing the archives of 1983.

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.

Since its initial release in 1983, Sleepaway Camp has developed a cult reputation, in part due to the film’s final reel twist, and in part due to its lead, Felissa Rose.

There is something so sumptuous and lush about Mark Rosman’s directorial debut, The House on Sorority Row. If you’ve ever heard the phrase “classy slashers”, they must have been referring to this beautiful horror film. From the music to the women to the photography, House gets it just about perfect. The movie starts out with [...]

What do you get when you disguise a Canadian movie as an American slasher flick when it’s really more like an Italian giallo? You get American Nightmare, a 1983 stripper-stalker directed by Don (The Haunting of Lisa, Mrs. Ashboro’s Cat) McBrearty. A concert pianist searches for his missing sister. His search leads him first to [...]

Throughout his half a century career, Alfred Hitchcock had always resisted directing a sequel.

By 1983 there had been so many slasher films – both independent and studio financed – that the best way for a movie to stand out amongst the pack was by adding a ‘money shot.’

 Somehow Mortuary fell through the cracks. Released in 1983, which we all know was right smack in the middle of the heyday of the slasher; this lost classic disappeared and is hardly mentioned anymore. Mortuary centers on Christie (Mary Beth McDonough from The Waltons), who saw her father murdered but has blocked out the actual [...]

So June might bring summer, picnics and vacations galore, but this year summer also brings shot on video madness! This June I will take a look at a few of the classics in the SOV genre that we all love and/or despise so much.

Sequels by their very nature are comprised of recycled elements of a previous success, but there have been occasions when they have surpassed fan’s expectations  by matching the original in both style and popularity

When arthouse meets the grindhouse what do you get? Well, you’ll get a little number called Disconnected. And don’t hang up! Because this admittedly convoluted slasher is just weird and interesting enough to seek out. Frances Raines (star of The Mutilator and niece of acting legend Claude Raines) plays twin sisters, Alicia & Barbara Ann. [...]