Retro Slashers

The production for Michael A. Simpson’s back-to-back Sleepaway Camp sequels, Unhappy Campers and Teenage Wasteland, would take place over a six-week period at Lakewood Studios in Atlanta and Camp Younts near Waco in Georgia, although the last day of filming would see the crew relocate to downtown Atlanta for the opening sequence of Sleepaway Camp [...]

Remakes by their very definition are derivative. No matter how much a filmmaker injects new themes and ideas into a movie, the very fact that it is a recycled concept means that there will be various plot points and set pieces that resemble its predecessor, much like with a sequel. But it is how that [...]

‘Should we then ban the News at Ten?’ asked an article in The Times as the furore surrounding the video nasties increased to ridiculous proportions. It was an interesting point; if the parliament and tabloids were so concerned about upsetting or corrupting the public with scenes of sex or violence, there was nothing as shocking [...]

Whilst they no doubt launched her career and horror fans may still consider them amongst the best work that she has done, when Jamie Lee Curtis first entered the movie industry with a string of low budget slasher films critics were less-than-enthusiastic about her performances, whilst Curtis herself expressed frustration at having to play the [...]

Tom Savini seemed to have had an obsession earlier in his career with destroying heads. First, the scalp of a zombie was removed by a helicopter propeller in Dawn of the Dead, then Betsy Palmer was decapitated at the end of Friday the 13th, whilst Farley Granger would meet his demise at the end of [...]

The 1980s was a dark time for artistic freedom, with both music and movies being heavily censored by those that simply did not understand and were out of touch with what younger audiences found entertaining. Whilst musicians in the United States became targets of Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center (ranging from Judas [...]

Although A Nightmare on Elm Street would become one of the most popular horror franchises of all time, even as production on the first movie came to an end during the summer of 1984, none of the principals involved had given any thought to the possibility of a sequel. Writer-director Wes Craven had forfeited his [...]

Sometimes slasher films fail to live up to their titles – The Toolbox Murders, The Driller Killer, Nail Gun Massacre and countless others were nothing more than yawn-inducing drivel.

When I spoke to Romano Scavolini back in September 2007, he still insisted that the special effects for his notorious video nasty Nightmare (more commonly referred to as Nightmare in a Damaged Brain) were designed and created by makeup legend Tom Savini.

As well as toys, the other thing we horror geeks refuse to give up are our comics. There’s something about seeing limbs hacked to pieces and intestines being spewed out onto the floor that makes for an entertaining read.

Most fans get into slasher films from a young age, and it was no surprise that studios and toy companies have exploited this over the last twenty-five years with countless attempts at shameless merchandise. I don’t know about you, but I’m a sucker for it.

After three successful, if somewhat critically mauled, feature films, Paramount finally decided to lay their lucrative Friday the 13th franchise to rest with what promised to be The Final Chapter.

By the mid-nineties, the slasher film seemed like a bad dream. ‘Horror’ had become a dirty word and filmmakers were instead producing what had become known as ‘psychological thrillers.’

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

To hell with the ones sites have been posting from the Comic-Con event, here’s the real thing. Finally we’re starting to see some progress with the publicity for A Nightmare on Elm Street, due out next April and making a presence at this year’s high profile event.