When it comes to the golden age of slashers, most people will say it was the 1980s, but the 1990s should not be overlooked.
When it comes to the golden age of slasher movies, most people would say it was the 1980s, but the 1990s shouldn’t be overlooked as they brought us an amazing bunch of movies and some remakes. explanation of the subgenre (including one that’s getting its fifth sequel this weekend). Here’s our list of the Best Slasher Movies of the 90s:
Wishmaster (1997)
This one is considered a fantasy slasher, so whether or not it is a slasher is somewhat controversial. For this list, let’s consider it as one. It’s fantastic and Andrew Divoff is 98% of why it’s so good. He has this movie and he makes it as good as it can be. His performance is both charming and menacing, giving his character an aura that makes the entire film what it is. He’s creepy, he’s got great kills, and the cameos in this one are to die for. Seeing Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Reggie Bannister, Tony Todd, and hearing Angus Scrimm not only gave the film real credibility, but helped make it a fan favorite. from the beginning. The special effects are still decent, proving that practicality wins over CGI any day and that hiring someone like Robert Kurtzman to direct a script by Peter Adkins (Hellraiser II and III) could make for a fun movie.
Urban Legend (1998)
A film that takes urban legends and brings them to life, something that many have wanted to see more of in cinema. The fact that it is also a slasher film is great. Another strong point here is the cast that includes Joshua Jackson (whose horror was a surprising choice), Jared Leto, Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart, Michael Rosenbaum, Tara Reid, Danielle Harris, Loretta Devine, and Robert Englund, so that team is stacked. Or at least it was back in 1998. That being said, the movie has some great kills and some really scary set pieces with a dark sense of humor that is just perfect. The way they take things a bit meta with the class about urban legends and how they aren’t really helped to put this film in a world Scream and New Nightmare. An Urban Legend I got a sequel in 2000 that felt a little more like a B movie but is also very entertaining and another sequel in 2005 that was based on the urban legend of Bloody Mary and was best left alone.
Candyman (1992)
A film that even MoMA recognizes as a high-quality film, Candyman a movie that even over 30 years later is still scary and makes full grown adults check closets and avoid mirrors. It’s the real deal and probably one of the best adaptations of a Clive Barker story. Significant changes were made to the story to bring it to the screen and these only served to heighten its themes and make it less of an urban legend. The performances by Tony Todd as the title character and Virginia Madsen as Helen Lyle are still strong to this day. The remake/sequel took the film and took it somewhere different while keeping its heart. The two films make for a great double feature.
Scream (1996)
The master of reinvention at this stage, Wes Craven, who brought one of the best slasher killers of the 1980s to the screen, created by Scream a whole new subgenre of slasher: the self-referential meta slasher where the victims know what a slasher is. Indeed, they know the rules, and they know how to survive, but they all die one by one, some in obvious ways, others in new and interesting ways. Craven directed the film, but he is not the only one who deserves credit for reinventing the subgenre as written by Kevin Williamson, so the whole story, directed by Craven, is something that is neglecting at times. Scream has since led to many copycats and five sequels to date. This original cast is strong, and they give great performances, including those of Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, and Rose McGowen, to name a few. Jamie Kennedy is probably the most memorable for film nerds Randy who is a showman without going completely crazy here, giving the viewer the basic character, the one they can also relate to while as they watch this slasher about slashers.
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)
Before he did Scream, Craven did a dry run for the “meta horror film” with New Nightmare. He takes the lead Night on Elm Street and setting them in a world where they are themselves, movie stars who have worked on one of the most successful horror franchises, and setting Freddy after their “real” lives. This one is a clear preview for him Scream and it’s all Wes Craven, showing that he understood more than a little about the genre he helped make popular and how he should turn it to recreate it. The cast is led by Heather Langenkamp playing a fictional version of herself, Robert Englund pulling double duty as himself and Freddy, John Saxon as himself, and Miko Hughes as Dylan, Heather’s fictional son. The team here had to work with an unusual style of script, and they nailed it. The film is scary, almost creepier than the original and is really violent in a new way. Here’s how to resume and end a franchise (Freddy vs. Jason in spite).
Second place: Ice cream man (1995), Bride of Chucky (1998), I know what you did last summer (1997)
Did we forget an important title? Did we skip your favorite? Let us know!
