1. Psycho
2. Halloween
3. Black Christmas
4. Peeping Tom
5. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
6. Alice, Sweet Alice
7. Don't Look Now
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is more disturbing than all of those combined, but I don't think it can be classified as a slasher movie.
So I'll go with Psycho.
I did see the new Halloween that just came out (with Jamie Lee Curtis as an old lady). It was pretty entertaining. I do plan on going back and checking out the first.
Granted it hasn't aged well, but it was terrifying the first time I saw it in the theatre.
As for Halloween, the theme song still gives me the creeps all these years later.
Apparently I'm not the only one. I went looking for a youtube vid of the Exorcist theme song, and found this. The Exorcist song starts playing at 3:18.
I have never seen Black Christmas or several on JimBasil's list, will have to give them a try.
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Can't watch them, mostly they're just laughable like the scary ride at a two bit traveling carnival where stuff jumps out at you every time the car jolts suddenly to another direction. Have never seen Halloween, or Freddie Kruger, Scream, Nightmare films - I did see the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (for about 20 minutes)
Lots of good horror films that could be categorized as slashers
Black Christmas (I guess this is considered the first true slasher film - possibly the best of them all - filmed in Montreal)
See no evil - (Mia Farrow)
Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte - definitely a horror film
Die Die my Darling - not sure what it would be, but it scared the crap out of me. Haven't been able to watch it since I was a child.
A Made for TV film - House on Green Apple Road was truly disturbing.
Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte is overrated.
There were actually several made-for-TV movies in the 70s that were quite good and better than some theatrical releases that garnered more hype.
Halloween is a great film, period.
If I go dark, I prefer spooky, freaky movies rather than slashers.
The name of this genre can be misleading in many cases. That's actually one of the remarkable things about Halloween: it has virtually no blood, yet it inspired all these copycat movies that are wall-to-wall blood and guts. John Carpenter is a great movie director, but he'll never get his just due because he's forever associated most with a genre that isn't taken seriously.
I will watch "John Carpenter's Vampires" anytime it's on TV. Ditto "They Live" and "Escape from New York".
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