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| Scene from A Nightmare of Elm Street (1984), ranked number 2 slasher film. |
Welcome to our Reel Fives pre-launch movie rankings for the best slasher horror films of all time. Our Reel Fives team has found 26 published ranked lists of the top slasher horror movies published online and ended up with 40 movies that made the list. For each ranked list of greatest movies for the slasher genre, we have taken the top five ranked slasher films. The movie rankings on top slashers that we aggregated are included at the bottom of this post and include rankings of the best slasher movies created by movie experts as well as rankings from polling sites.
Slasher films involve lots of blood, which may scare or entice a person. Most people like slashers because they involve some horror elements. However, slasher films deserve a genre of their own because of the way they scare people. One person haunts a group of normally young people. Consider Halloween (1978), the all-time best slasher film, which features a mentally ill man ready to kill in his hometown. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), ranked second, makes people fear falling asleep as a dead serial killer is on the loose attempting to murder people in their dreams and see these become a reality. Serial killers are maniacs who cannot stop killing. Slasher fans are obsessed with serial characters because they make for interesting characters and most importantly, while the serial killers often have an assortment of motivations to kill, they often end up killing blindly. Freddy Krueger haunts a group of teens in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), as does Michael Myers in Halloween (1978). In some sense, slasher films are supposed to be misunderstood, in that serial killers are complex beings with the desire to kill. Slashers use the fear of the unknown and combine it with the blood of those killed, creating a scary film for the masses.
Slashers have similar plotlines: serial killer is on the loose and people attempt to survive, but no matter what, lots of people will encounter death. Slashers also leave room for sequels. Halloween II (1981), ranked 30th, continues to follow serial killer Michael Myers who once again wants to kill Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). There have been ten Halloween slashers, including the original film. A Nightmare on Elm Street has nine movies in its series, and Saw (2004), ranked 14th, has had six films since the original. Why does this happen? Well, the film industry will keep producing films as long as audiences are willing to pay for them. Slashers do not cost much to make and can produce high profits. This provides the business incentive. For the audience, slashers, while scary, are also predictable. This is part of the reason audiences will continue to watch several iterations of the same movie.
The rankings, while predictable, pay homage to slasher greats. Halloween (1978) should be ranked first considering its ability to keep producing sequels and also setting the genre's standard. The rankings also show the power of inexpensive horror films and their ability to keep audiences coming. We do like that the originals remain the top ranked, not their remade versions. It keeps the genre pure. This is not seen in other genres such as the superhero or post-apocalyptic genres. Black Christmas (1974), ranked seventh, was remade in 2006, but the remake did not appear on our lists. Sequels did not make the list too many times. This could be due to the fact the movies do not differentiate from each other. Overall, we do not think the slasher genre will go away anytime soon, as Halloween is a ripe time for a slasher film.
| Top 54 Movies based on 46 published rankings | |
| Percent of online top fives movies appear in shown | |
| 1 . Halloween (1978): 89.1% | |
| 2 . A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984): 71.7% | |
| 3 . Scream (1996): 56.5% | |
| 4 . Friday the 13th (1980): 52.1% | |
| 5 . Psycho (1960): 39.1% | |
| 6 . The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974): 30.4% | |
| 7 . Black Christmas (1974): 23.9% | |
| 8 . American Psycho (2000): 10.8% | |
| 9 . Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI (1986): 8.69% | |
| 10 . Child's Play (1988): 8.69% | |
| 11 . Sleepaway Camp (1983): 6.52% | |
| 12 . Saw (2004): 6.52% | |
| 13 . Peeping Tom (1960): 6.52% | |
| 14 . A Bay Of Blood (1971): 6.52% | |
| 15 . The Burning (1981): 4.34% | |
| 16 (tied). My Bloody Valentine (1981): 4.34% | |
| 16 (tied). Urban Legend (1997): 4.34% | |
| 18 (tied). A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987): 4.34% | |
| 18 (tied). New Nightmare (1994): 4.34% | |
| 20 . Deep Red (1975): 4.34% | |
| 21 (tied). Maniac (2012): 4.34% | |
| 21 (tied). Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006): 4.34% | |
| 23 (tied). Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989): 2.17% | |
| 23 (tied). I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997): 2.17% | |
| 23 (tied). April Fool's Day (1986): 2.17% | |
| 23 (tied). Blood Feast (1963): 2.17% | |
| 23 (tied). Sorority Row (2009): 2.17% | |
| 23 (tied). Graduation Day (1981): 2.17% | |
| 23 (tied). Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981): 2.17% | |
| 30 (tied). Saw II (2005): 2.17% | |
| 30 (tied). Saw III (2006): 2.17% | |
| 30 (tied). Audition (1999): 2.17% | |
| 30 (tied). Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986): 2.17% | |
| 34 (tied). Alien (1979): 2.17% | |
| 34 (tied). Silent Rage (1982): 2.17% | |
| 34 (tied). Scream 2 (1997): 2.17% | |
| 34 (tied). Frailty (2001): 2.17% | |
| 38 (tied). Halloween II (1981): 2.17% | |
| 38 (tied). Hatchet (2006): 2.17% | |
| 38 (tied). Alice, Sweet Alice (1976): 2.17% | |
| 38 (tied). The Last House on the Left (1972): 2.17% | |
| 38 (tied). Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988): 2.17% | |
| 38 (tied). Suspiria (1977): 2.17% | |
| 44 (tied). Candyman (1992): 2.17% | |
| 44 (tied). Predator (1987): 2.17% | |
| 44 (tied). The Devil’s Rejects (2005): 2.17% | |
| 44 (tied). Slumber Party Massacre II (1987): 2.17% | |
| 44 (tied). The New York Ripper (1982): 2.17% | |
| 44 (tied). Opera (1987): 2.17% | |
| 44 (tied). Final Destination (2000): 2.17% | |
| 44 (tied). Scary Movie (2000): 2.17% | |
| 44 (tied). Blood and Black Lace (1964): 2.17% | |
| 44 (tied). Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984): 2.17% | |
| 44 (tied). I Spit on Your Grave (1978): 2.17% | |
| Slasher Movie Ranking Sources | |
| Complex | List of top 25 (link) |
| Games Radar | List of top 30 (link) |
| About Entertainment | List of top 25 (link) |
| Ranker | List of top 171 (link) |
| Taste of Cinema | List of top 25 (link) |
| Flickchart | List of top 662 (link) |
| Forbes | List of top 10 (link) |
| Golden Spiral Media | List of top 5 (link) |
| Decider | List of top 10 (link) |
| Culture Crossfire | List of top 10 (link) |
| Culture Brats | List of top 18 (link) |
| Odyssey | List of top 5 (link) |
| The Best Horror Movies | List of top 11 (link) |
| Top 10 Films | List of top 10 (link) |
| Entertainment Weekly | List of top 5 (link) |
| Jinni Blog | List of top 10 (link) |
| Vegan Voorhees | List of top 100 (link) |
| Explore Talent | List of top 10 (link) |
| Love Horror | List of top 10 (link) |
| Digital Dream Door | List of top 100 (link) |
| The Top Tens | List of top 10 (link) |
| Only Good Movies | List of top 100 (link) |
| Rant Lifestyle | List of top 10 (link) |
| High Fidelity Notes | List of top 5 (link) |
| 411 Mania | List of top 5 (link) |
| 411 Mania | List of top 5 (link) |
| 411 Mania | List of top 5 (link) |
| 411 Mania | List of top 5 (link) |
| 411 Mania | List of top 5 (link) |
| 411 Mania | List of top 5 (link) |
| 411 Mania | List of top 5 (link) |
| Made Man | List of top 10 (link) |
| All Time Best | List of top 10 (link) |
| Warped Footage | List of top 5 (link) |
| Jordan's Movie Guide | List of top 10 (link) |
| Movie Pilot | List of top 10 (link) |
| The Distinguished Grizzly | List of top 50 (link) |
| MMGN Australia | List of top 5 (link) |
| We Eat Films | List of top 5 (link) |
| Heckler Spray | List of top 26 (link) |
| Truly Disturbing | List of top 5 (link) |
| Examiner | List of top 5 (link) |
| Polari Magazine | List of top 5 (link) |
| Mountain Top Movies | List of top 5 (link) |
| Slasher Studios | List of top 5 (link) |
| Slasher Studios | List of top 5 (link) |
Identifying the top movies is our mission.
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