Slasher film

from: Wikipedia 'Slasher films'

A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic term for any horror film involving murder, film analysts cite an established set of characteristics that set slasher films apart from other horror subgenres splatter films and psychological horror films.

Critics cite the Italian giallo films and psychological horror films such as Peeping Tom (1960) and Psycho (1960) as early influences. The genre hit its peak between 1978 and 1984 in an era referred to as the "Golden Age" of slasher films. Notable slasher films include The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Black Christmas (1974), Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th (1980), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Child's Play (1988), Candyman (1992), Scream (1996) and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). Many slasher films released decades ago continue to attract cult followings. The slasher canon can be divided into three eras: the classical (1974–1993), the self-referential (1994–2000) and the neoslasher cycle (2001–2013).

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It should be noted that Italian giallo films post-date the Z films / Sexploitation films of the mid-1960s and early-1970s produced by the likes of Russ Meyer, Doris Wishman, David F. Friedman, Joseph W. Sarno, Michael, and Roberta Fidley .