A killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering people using bladed or sharp tools? Terrifying in the real world but rather interesting in fiction. The appeal of such kinds of stories stretches as far back as the Silent Era, where the film,The Bat— concerning guests in a remote mansion being stalked and murdered by a killer in a grotesque mask — was a huge hit. Interest would once again surge in the ‘60s but it’s in the ‘70s and ‘80s when the genre truly hit its peak.
Today, the slasher continues to be one of the most popularhorrorsubgenres. Ordinarily, movies in this category are never complicated. A killer, most likely with a troubled past, goes on the rampage before we witness a climax with a final girl (or guy, occasionally). However, some directors and screenwriters did a little extra by serving audiences with mindblowing twists.
10‘Scream’ (1996)
High school student Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is still dealing with the trauma from her mother’s death whena masked killer known as Ghostface begins terrorizing the residents of the fictional town of Woodsboro, California.Sidney’s boyfriend Billy emerges as the suspect. But who really is the killer inScream?
They Were Two All Along
Sidney might be in love but she isn’t stupid. Her instincts tell her that Billy is the guy and she seems right. But then the masked killer tries to murder Billy. What’s with that? Should she clamp her palms and say how sorry she is? Not exactly.Billy is the killer, except he isn’t alone. His buddy, Stu, has been helping him, meaning there have been two versions of Ghostface.The twist works because the evidence leans so much towards Billy that audiences hardly ever suspect he has an accomplice.Whether it is him showing up just after Ghostface leaves or him displaying ‘mean dude’ tendencies, he alone exhibits all the signs of guilt.
9‘Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon’ (2006)
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
Behind the Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernonintroduces us to the aspiring killer Leslie Vernon (Nathan Baesel), who is eager to become as prolific as thelegendary slasher villains, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger. Ever the self-promoter, heinvites documentary filmmaker Taylor (Angela Goethals) and her crew to follow him, and they agree, unaware of what they are getting themselves into.
Getting Too Comfortable
The naivety of Taylor and her film crew helps lay the proper foundation for the twist.They foolishly believe they’ll watch Leslie kill other people and then walk away with the footage. Taylor also becomes more interested when Leslie reveals that his chosen final girl will be a virgin. Who is the unlucky person? It turns out it’s her.As a virgin herself, she was the killer’s intended survivor girl all along.
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8‘April Fool’s Day’ (1986)
April Fool’s Day
InApril Fool’s Day, a group of college studentshead to the secluded island estate of their wealthy classmate, Muffy St. John (Deborah Foreman), during Easter weekend.It’s all fun at first, but genre fans have seen enough to know that things never go well in a remote place like this. Soon, people start disappearing, leaving everyone in a panic mode.
You’ve Been Pranked
As soon as the killings start, audiences expect the standard procedure where most people get murdered before the last person puts up a fight. Especially whenit’s implied that Muffy has an evil twin who is carrying out all the killings.Well, you’ve been fooled. It soon emerges that there was never any murder.Everything was a prank orchestrated by Muffy.To her it’s just a dress rehearsal. She hopes to turn the estate into a resort offering a weekend of staged horror.
7‘High Tension’ (2003)
High Tension
High Tensionbegins with French student Alex (Maïwenn Le Besco), travelling to the countryside to visit her family. Her friend Marie (Cécile de France) tags along, but as soon as they arrive,Alex’s parents and brother get attacked by a psychotic truck driver (Philippe Nahon), who then starts stalking the two women.
Watch Who You Befriend
Remote area? No one else in sight? It’s easy to predict that the two women will have a hard time. And the seemingly brave Marie emerges as the hero, especially when she bludgeons the supposed killer to death. Except, that’s not what happens.A tape at a gas station proves that Marie has been the killerand that she is mentally unstable. The truck driver is her imagined alter ego. She is in love with Alex and wanted to kill everyone close to her so that she can have her all for herself. Undoubtedly one of thegreatest French horror movies ever made.
6‘Sleepaway Camp’ (1983)
Sleepaway Camp
Considered one ofthe finest ‘80s slasher movies,Sleepaway Campfollows young Angela, who is forced to live with her aunt, and when her parents are accidentally killed. Years later,Aunty sends her to Camp Arawak, and her arrival is followed by strange murders.Is she responsible?
Most Terrifying Horror Ending?
From a person getting shot in the neck with an arrow, to someone unleashing a swarm of bees on a bully while he is in the bathroom,Sleepaway Campoverflows with brutality.We’d expect the twist to revolve around who is and isn’t the killer, but the movie does even better. Angela is the killer, alright. She was bullied and people have to pay.
Except,Angela isn’t Angela. “Angela” is actually Peter, her thought-to-be-dead brother, who has been dressing up as a girl this entire time. It is revealed that the real Angela died in the accident with her parents and Peter survived. After their aunt gained custody, she decided to raise Peter as the girl she always desired, since she already had a son. The final shot of a nude, growling, and blood-covered “Angela” with male genitalia in full view will haunt you forever.
5‘Happy Death Day’ (2017)
Happy Death Day
InHappy Death Day, college student Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe), gets murdered on the night of her birthday. With time,she realizes that she is reliving the day of her murder again and again.This pushes her into investigative mode as she tries to find out who murdered her, and why ‘he’ did it.
Another Crazy Friend
The horror genre has made us believe that masked killers are mostly men, so audiences rarely expect anything else. Well, it turns out that the killer was Tree’s sorority housemate Lori, and she was just jealous. Like Tree,Lori was having an affair with a married professor named Gregory, and the man’s preference for Tree drove her crazy.
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4‘Urban Legend’ (1998)
Urban Legend
Urban Legendconcerns a group of Pendleton University students who are stalked by an unknown killer.The murders point to the methods used by famous urban legends, so Natalie Simon (Alicia Witt) begins to suspect that these notorious killers are responsible.
She Knows What They Did Last Summer
A story involving urban legends committing murders would still be intriguing, but the movie spares you of such basic stuff. Andeven when it is revealed that the notorious killers are not responsible, the blame keeps getting shifted away from the actual culprit.You’ll be convinced that Professor William Wexler, the sole survivor of a previous massacre, is the guy, but in a twist,a student named Brenda reveals herself as the murderer. Her reason?Natalie and a few other students accidentally hit and killed her fiancé with their car.
3‘The House on Sorority Row’ (1982)
The House on Sorority Row
The House on Sorority Row,also known asHouse of Evil, is inspired by the 1955 French film,Les Diaboliques. The mayhem begins whena group of sorority girls perform a fatal prank on their domineering house mother and try to cover it up by hiding her body in the pool.Soon, someone starts murdering them one by one.
Justice for Mommy
The girls and the audience become convinced that the house mother is still alive when her body suddenly goes missing from the pool. And she hates the girls, so she seems to be the only one mean enough to pull off the brutal murders we witness. One of the victims even gets stabbed with the house mother’s cane, so, yeah. It must be her, right? No.Her deformed son has been secretly living with her in the house all along,and he isn’t happy about what was done to mommy.
2’All the Boys Love Mandy Lane' (2006)
All The Boys Love Mandy Lane
Mandy (Amber Heard) fromAll the Boys Love Mandy Laneis being chased by all the boys in school. The same boys consider her best friend Emmet to be weak, so they constantly bully him.When Mandy gets invited by the boys to a party on a ranch, people start turning up dead.
Inverting the Final Girl Trope
Slasher villains tend to be people who have been bullied or oppressed in some form, so Emmet fits the profile perfectly. Not only is he angry about getting bullied, but he feels Mandy has betrayed him by hanging out with the boys. However, we soon learnthe potential final girl is the mastermind.She and Emmet planned the killings. In addition to that, they had a suicide pact but Mandy had no intention of going through it. This makes Emmet furious so he tries to kill her but she is saved by another boy. In the end, no one ever knows Mandy had anything to do with the murders.
1‘Identity’ (2003)
InIdentity, 10 people seek refuge inside an isolated motel when a storm strikes. At the same time, serial killer Malcolm Rivers (Pruitt Taylor Vince) awaits execution for murdering several motel guests.Someone starts targeting the 10 individuals, but who could it be, yet Rivers is behind bars?
A Story Agatha Christie Would Love
All clues point to the presence of a separate killer, but don’t be fooled. Rivers is behind everything.However, it is not in the way you would expect. The killer has dissociative identity disorder, hence has 11 distinct personalities. Which means there are no victims. Everything is happening in Malcolm’s brain and the killer just happens to be his most violent personality, while the other 10 people are the nicer personalities. Clever
