Halloween movie recommendations: slasher films to binge

Nicholas Alexander on October 10, 2022

With Halloween coming in a few weeks, what better way to get into the spirit of the spooky season than by watching some horror movies?

However, horror branches out into many sub-genres, and the focus of this article is to take a look at some of the best movies in the slasher genre.

Psycho (1960)

Psycho is about Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), who leaves after stealing money from her employer to run away with her lover (John Gavin).

However, she makes a stop at the Bates Motel, run by the polite and quiet Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), apparently dominated by his ruthless mother.

Alfred Hitchcock’s psychological horror may not have been the father of slasher films, but it’s often touted as one of the pioneering slasher films.

Psycho is easily one of the most recognizable films, and the shower scene has become one of the most iconic moments in film history.

The film’s music has also become synonymous with the slasher film genre.

Friday the 13th (1980)

Friday the 13th follows a group of teenage camp counselors as they try to fix and reopen an abandoned summer camp.

Aside from the challenge of renovating the old summer camp, they have to survive as someone tries to kill them.

Although there have been several slasher films, Friday the 13th is arguably the most influential of them all.

The cliché of a group of teenagers killed one by one in a field began with this 1980 slasher film.

Friday the 13th was responsible for initiating the “stalker” subgenre in slasher films that show the killer’s perspective as he follows his victims.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Five hippies embark on a journey through rural Texas to investigate a case of grave vandalism.

Along the way, however, they arrive at a farm where they must survive a family of cannibals and a chainsaw maniac.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential films in the horror genre.

For many, it raised the bar and introduced the public to blood that wasn’t as common at the time.

One of the most iconic horror characters, Leatherface, is the archetype of the hulking silent killer with no personality.

Many horror directors have credited The Texas Chain Saw Massacre as a huge influence on their works, including Alien, The Hills Have Eyes, and House of 1000 Corpses.

Halloween (1978)

On Halloween night in 1963, six-year-old Michael Myers brutally murdered his 15-year-old sister, which led to him getting confined in an asylum.

Fifteen years after his murder, Myers manages to escape from the psychiatric hospital and the riots in his hometown.

Before Jason Voorhees, there was Michael Myers, who laid the groundwork for the masked silent killer who walked silently as his victims tried to escape.

The movie helped take the slasher genre to the next level and introduced the latest female trope.

Halloween also paved the way for others in the genre to follow.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

The Elm Street teenagers say they’ve all had nightmares and, surprisingly, dream of the same character.

After one of them dies in his sleep, they realize that in order to figure out how to defeat Freddy Kreuger (Robert Englund), it’s important to uncover the truth.

Before Vecna from Stranger Things, Freddy Kreuger was the character that haunted people’s nightmares.

He is easily recognizable by his burnt flesh, his beige fedora, his red and green sweater, and, of course, his metal claws.

A Nightmare on Elm Street also introduced the eerie use of surreal settings, with a haunting nursery rhyme about the villain.

Child’s Play (1988)

After being shot, a killer (Brad Dourif) uses dark magic to transfer his soul into a nearby doll.

A woman (Catherine Hicks) unknowingly purchases the possessed doll for her son (Alex Vincent).

When it comes to the slasher genre, it’s impossible to exclude the biggest killer doll from the list.

Chucky has given many children nightmares by bringing the killer doll concept to life on screens.

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

The sequel to Friday the 13th will hit theaters a year later.

However, the storyline takes place five years after the event, with much of the same storyline.

The main difference is that this film marked the debut of the iconic character Jason Voorhees as the antagonist.

In this film, Jason remains the behemoth he knows today, but it wasn’t until Friday the 13th Part III (1982) that he wore his iconic hockey mask.

Scream (1996)

If there was a movie that took every element of the horror genre and created something new.

Filled with meta references, Scream makes countless references to the unspoken rules of the slasher and horror genres.

Scream spawned six sequels and a short-lived series, redefining the horror genre from the 1990s to the early 2000s.

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

Urban legends have been the source of many horror films, and in the case of this film, they certainly cemented the hookman as a horror staple.

Four friends driving to the beach accidentally hit a pedestrian and dumped him in the harbor, vowing never to talk about the accident.

A year later, they are chased one by one and killed by an unknown attacker who uses a hook as a weapon.

I Know What You Did Last Summer, along with Scream, helped revive the horror genre in the 1990s.

Prey (2022): More Than Just Another Hollywood Reboot

Edward Anderson on August 15, 2022

Prey is Hollywood’s latest remake/reboot film and continues the story of the alien hunter that debuted in the late 1980s.

Rather than continue the mess left by the 2018 movie Predators, Prey director Dan Trachtenberg decided to start over and bring audiences back to one of the earliest Predator stories.

Warning: spoilers ahead

Movie synopsis

“A skilled Comanche warrior protects her tribe from a highly evolved alien predator that hunts humans for sport, fighting against wilderness, dangerous colonizers, and this dangerous creature to keep her people safe.”

Plot

Prey introduces viewers to a time when machine guns didn’t become our first line of defense against alien threats.

In 1719, we meet Amber Midthunders Naru, a Comanche who yearns to prove herself as a warrior.

Naru sees the Predator’s arrival and believes it is a sign that she is ready to undergo the ritual to cement her status as a warrior.

When one of their hunters goes missing, Naru and her brother Taabe go in search of one of them.

While tracking down their tribe members, Naru is the only person to notice the unusual footprints and skinned rattlesnake – the remnants of the Predator’s hunt for a worthy opponent.

Naru helps Taabe track down the cougar who injured their hunter.

Naru weakens the wildcat before being knocked out in a fall after witnessing a burst of light from the forest.

Back in the village, Taabe takes the honor and title of the chieftain, leading Naru to hunt down the greatest threat to the tribe.

Accompanied by her dog Sarii, Naru comes across a field full of skinned bison.

On the journey, she is attacked by a grizzly bear who corners her in a beaver dam before witnessing the threat and brute strength of the Predator.

Naru narrowly escapes before encountering members of her tribe who have been sent to find her.

They take her by force before meeting the Predator, who efficiently reduces their number.

Again, Naru escaped before being captured by the French colonizers.

They use her and a captured Taabe as bait to lure the Predator, which quickly kills the French colonizers.

Naru returns to their camp and helps an injured Raphael Adolini, by giving him herbs that reduce his body heat, making him invisible to the Predator.

A step on his injured leg causes him to scream in pain, and he is killed, but Naru now knows how to get the upper hand against her enemy.

Taabe arrives on horseback to save his sister as he weakens the Predator.

However, the alien manages to kill Taabe. Naru takes Adolini’s rifle and escapes.

She later captures one of the French and uses him as bait for the Predator.

The Predator falls for it, and Naru uses the herb to sneak up behind it and shoot it in the head, disabling its helmet.

She drags the Predator into a swamp and uses its helmet’s projectile weapons against it.

The Predator dies from its wounds, and Naru decapitates the Predator before painting her face in its blood, taking its head and Adolini’s weapon with him.

Returning to the tribe, she is celebrated for her victory and becomes the new war chief.

Towards the end of the credits, a cave painting depicts three Predator ships emerging from the sky.

The cast

Amber Midthunder as Naru
Dakota Beavers as Taabe
Dane DiLiegro in the role of the Predator
Stormee Kipp as Wasape
Bennett Taylor as Raphael Adolini
Michelle Thrush as Aruka
Julian Black Antelope as Chief Kehetu

Review

One of the best sequels for the (small) screen, Prey combines modern technology with a nostalgic formula.

In a time when movies rely primarily on the green screen to tell a story, this Predator sequel takes viewers back to where the series began: in the wild.

The story works perfectly and shows the Predator before it became one of the deadliest hunters chasing Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny Glover and Adrien Brody in its game.

Although not as technologically advanced as previous films, the film’s Predator features everything that made it a sci-fi icon – the invisibility cloak, projectile weapons (replacing cannons with mini darts) and the retractable blade.

The Predator’s helmet is also different, using a skull-like design that fits the era perfectly.

Prey didn’t have to rely heavily on CGI effects for his monster (aside from the invisible cloak scenes) and kept it pretty much the same as in previous films.

Dane DiLiegro has done a spectacular job that truly honors the legacy of the late Kevin Peter Hall, the original Predator.

In addition to the significant details of the Predator look, the production team’s efforts to portray the Comanche tribe in the film deserve credit for its accurate clothing, village setting, and hunting lifestyle.

Also not to be missed is the performance of Amber Midthunder.

Midthunder may be a new name for many, but she’s been in Hollywood for over two decades.

While online critics would quickly point to Naru’s characterization as another “Mary Sue,” their sentiments seem to be based on the trailer alone.

Throughout the film, Midthunder’s Naru showed intelligence in understanding the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses (noting the use of its shield and vision).

Rather than being “the last girl,” she displays the same spirit as beloved characters like Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley and Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor.

Despite the short run time, director Dan Trachtenberg managed his time wisely by enriching the backstory of Amber Midthunder’s character and the Predator before their eventual confrontation.

Trachtenberg has found the right balance to give viewers enough story to root for Naru as he built the Predator’s revelation, a task that usually ends with sloppy execution.

Prey also did well in attracting mainstream and Comanche audiences by shooting the film in both English and Comanche.

Overall, Prey managed to hit all the right notes.

Links to previous movies

Prey offers something new and familiar, which is why he receives positive words from all over the world.

Here we look at what connects Prey to other Predator standalone films.

Predator (1987)

The father of the franchise, Predator is famous for its story, which pits a group of seasoned veterans against an unknown enemy.

Predator and Prey share the same natural environment, so fans were excited to see how the final product would turn out, especially as Naru was without the weapons Schwarzenegger had at his disposal.

However, people tend to forget that even Schwarzenegger’s character gave up bullets to use his wits to take on the Predator – the same way Midthunder’s Naru finished off her enemy.

Dakota Beavers Taabe also repeats the iconic line, “If it bleeds, we can kill it.”

Predator 2 (1990)

The often overlooked sequel, Predator 2 is the movie that ties directly into Prey as the former Predator throws the same gun at Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) that Naru took.

The gun might hint that a sequel might be underway, and the reception only reinforces that sentiment.

Predators (2010)

The 2010 action movie was the first to feature the different types of predators.

Prey continues this trend by wearing a Predator design initially used for the 1987 film and later used in the 2010 sequel.

It is possible that the helmet used here came from the same creature that attacked Adrien Brody in the film.

The Predator (2018)

Prey’s predecessor is the only film unrelated to it.