The slasher is one of the most popular subgenres in horror cinema. They all follow a very familiar formula — a mysterious killer shows up and starts picking off the protagonists, usually leaving behind a final girl who saved herself by abstaining from sex and drugs — but within that familiar formula is the opportunity to create an unforgettable horror masterpiece.
John Carpenter’s Halloween is one of the movies that defined the slasher genre and gave fellow filmmakers a template to work with. Michael Myers, also known as “The Shape,” is the ultimate slasher villain, but he has plenty of competition from the Freddys and Jasons of the world.
Michael Is The Best: He’s The Faceless Embodiment Of Evil
Although he’s been identified as Michael Myers in the larger Halloween canon and in the original 1978 movie itself, the character was initially credited as “The Shape.”
This is because John Carpenter envisioned his bloodthirsty killer as a faceless shape of evil. He doesn’t have any morals or values or even a particular motive; he just goes out and kills people unless something prevents him, like being institutionalized.
Alternative: Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th)
The villain of the first Friday the 13th movie was not actually Jason Voorhees, but rather his mother, Mrs. Voorhees, who killed sexually active teenagers to avenge the death of her son, who supposedly drowned when a pair of camp counselors let their guard down to sleep together.
However, the sequels brought Jason back from the dead, gave him a hockey mask and a machete, and turned him into one of the most iconic villains in the history of horror cinema.
Michael Is The Best: He’s An Unstoppable Killing Machine
Almost all slasher villains are unstoppable killing machines, but Michael is particularly unstoppable, because even when Laurie literally stops him — like throwing him out a window or burning her house to the ground with him in the basement — he just gets up and wanders off.
There’s nothing specifically paranormal about the Halloween lore, like the more clearly defined mythology of A Nightmare on Elm Street, but there’s an ambiguous supernatural element that gives Michael a kind of invincibility.
Alternative: Stuntman Mike (Death Proof)
Quentin Tarantino’s contribution to the double feature Grindhouse, carsploitation-meets-slasher Death Proof, is generally considered to be the director’s weakest movie. But it has a juicy slasher premise and plenty of effective vehicular scares.
Kurt Russell plays Stuntman Mike, a Hollywood stunt driver who spends his nights driving around in his “death-proof” stunt car, crashing into young women to derive sick pleasure from killing them.
Michael Is The Best: The Shatner Mask Is Delightfully Unnerving
The mask worn by a slasher villain can make or break the movie. The prop department gave John Carpenter four options for Michael Myers’ mask. The Emmett Kelly clown mask was arguably the most immediately terrifying, but it ultimately wouldn’t have the longevity that Carpenter’s final choice has had.
Instead of the clown mask, Carpenter went with a William Shatner mask. The washed-out Shatner face is a wholly unique look — and a delightfully unnerving one.
Alternative: Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street)
While the most memorable portrayal of the dream world on the big screen is Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending sci-fi opus Inception, Wes Craven brought a horror bent to this concept in A Nightmare on Elm Street. The slasher had been clearly established by the time Craven made Nightmare, but the movie did introduce supernatural elements to the genre.
Robert Englund’s Freddy Krueger targets teenagers in their dreams and inflicts injuries that affect them in the real world. Freddy is revealed to be the Springwood Slasher, a child murderer who was burned at the stake by his victims’ parents.
Michael Is The Best: The Opening Flashback Humanizes Him
The opening flashback in Halloween doesn’t necessarily make Michael sympathetic, as it’s a long point-of-view shot in which he wanders into his older sister’s bedroom in his Halloween costume and murders her.
But when he emerges from the house and his disturbed parents remove his mask, it’s revealed that he’s just a little kid. Showing Michael as a child humanized him ahead of his on-screen serial killings.
Alternative: Norman Bates (Psycho)
Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller masterpiece Psycho is widely regarded to be the first-ever slasher. The first half of the movie is set up as a crime movie as Marion Crane goes on the lam with a small fortune she embezzled from her boss, but it becomes a full-blown horror movie when she’s stabbed to death in the shower of her motel room.
The audience is led to believe that the killer is Norma Bates, Norman Bates’ mother, but the unnerving final twist reveals a far more sinister truth. Anthony Perkins’ performance as Norman is truly terrifying.
Michael Is The Best: He’s Perfectly Matched Against Laurie Strode
When Michael escaped from his psychiatric hospital, he expected the babysitters of Haddonfield to be easy targets. What he didn’t count on was one badass babysitter, Laurie Strode, with the ability to fight back.
Michael found himself perfectly matched against Laurie. Just as Michael is the ultimate slasher villain, Laurie is the ultimate final girl.
Alternative: Leatherface (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre)
With the ironic bite of Sally Hardesty being targeted by a cannibal after her family spent years profiting from the meat industry, Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is the ultimate pro-vegetarian movie. It’s also one of the most perfectly crafted horror movies ever made.
Leatherface is already a hulking, intimidating menace before he has a chainsaw in his hands and a mask made of human flesh on his face. He wanders around the backwoods of Texas, slaughtering unsuspecting people and cooking them for his cannibalistic family.