Top 10 Most Underrated Slasher Movies of All Time

#10: The Prowler (1981)

Released just as slashers were truly coming into their own in the early 80s, The Prowler was a down-and-dirty film that helped solidify the genre. Underappreciated and underseen in its time, the film followed a group of California college students who were stalked and killed by the titular prowler. While it helped solidify several tropes, it also subverted a number of them by making the villain a WWII veteran. Coming out when many were returning from Vietnam, it raised many questions about how we treat our veterans. The film was also revolutionary in its special effects, even with a shoestring budget. Legendary effects artist Tom Savini designed the intricate and beautifully gory murder sequences, which hold up to this day.

#9: Intruder (1989)

After an abundance of slashers in the 1980s, where shadowy killers stalked teens staying in cabins or on cul-de-sacs, Intruder switched things up with a rather different setting. Following a group of teens working in a to-be-closed- grocery store, the film effectively captured the feeling of retail hell that many of us felt in a crappy first job. Even worse than just working a terrible, dead-end job, the teens were also being hunted down and killed. Messages about the disposability of minimum wage workers and small roles from Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell merit a second look for Intruder.

#8: Blood Rage (1987)

Featuring a twisting plot involving a murderous identical twin, this film was initially cut down and heavily censored as Nightmare at Shadow Woods. Regrettably, the theatrical version had almost all the spectacularly bloody special effects excised. It wasnt until the VHS release that these scenes were finally included, and it was retitled Blood Rage. Confusingly, on screen for that home release, it had a third title, simply Slasher, while TV airings kept the theatrical version. For decades, tracking down the better and therefore underrated version could be quite a chore. However, an Arrow video release of the DVD in 2015 contained both versions, as well as a third composite cut, which finally made it easily accessible.

#7: The Burning (1981)

Conceived in the vein of the low-budget slasher films of the 70s and early 80s, particularly the first two Friday the 13th movies, The Burning followed a killer hunting down teens at a summer camp. The murderer, out for revenge on the camp counselors, a burn victim, notably three years before the release of A Nightmare on Elm Street, was inspired by an urban legend. The film fully leaned into that inspiration with campers telling the story sitting around the fire. While The Burning was trashed by critics in its day, many involved with it have gone on to huge success. Aside from helping establish indie film company Miramax, it launched the careers of Jason Alexander and Academy Award winners Holly Hunter and Fisher Stevens.

#6: You're Next (2011)

Like so many slashers before (and since), in Youre Next, a group of young people are hunted down by a group of home invaders. True to slasher conventions, the mysterious invaders wear masks and leave threatening messages in blood. The film even follows what seems to be a typical final girl with Erin. Slowly but surely, however, the typical genre tropes are turned on their head. Erin is able to fend off her attackers and sets traps for them, revealing she grew up in a survivalist cult. The hunted becomes the hunter as she takes out the masked men in a spectacular final act that cements it as an underrated cult classic.

#5: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)

Exploring the very conventions of the slasher genre, this mockumentary follows an aspiring masked killer training to become one of the greats. The black comedy shows the titular Vernons intense training regime to get his body in shape while also meticulously planning how to execute his spree, down to sabotaging his preys potential weapons. The film intentionally plays with and subverts familiar slasher cliches in a final act that shifts away from the documentary style. These include the killers childhood trauma, victims tripping on nothing, and, of course, the virginal final girl. Despite positive buzz after a festival circuit, the film only received an incredibly limited release and remains largely unknown to all but the most dedicated horror fans.

#4: Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)

Releasing eight films in the eighties, few, if any, slasher franchises have so wholly defined a decade as Friday the 13th. However, as the masked killer Jason had been definitively killed off in a prior entry, the producers had to get creative with how to continue the series. As the title suggests, Jason Lives brings him back from the dead via a bolt of lightning, turning him from nearly invulnerable to literally supernatural. The film manages to strike the right balance between terror and campy fun and would set the tone for the series moving forward. While other entries may be better remembered, Part VI is arguably the best we got.

#3: Death Proof (2007)

Part of the reason Death Proof might be underrated is that it was initially released as part of a double feature that underperformed at the box office. Unsurprisingly, the film contains all the pop culture references and over-the-top violence one would expect from a slasher directed by Quentin Tarantino. He also intentionally tweaked the traditionally formulaic structure of the slasher film to challenge audience expectations. With a lead performance from Kurt Russell as a deranged stuntman and featuring several talented stunt performers, the film was also a love letter to the people who put their bodies and lives on the line to make these kinds of films.

#2: Hush (2016)

Perhaps best known for his Stephen King adaptations and numerous supernatural horror series for Netflix, director Mike Flanagan had made a little-known slasher film for the streamer early in his career. Hush was co-written by Flannigans wife and frequent collaborator Kate Siegel, who also stars in the film as deaf and mute author Maddie Young. This led to an atmospheric and tense film with sparse dialogue that provided social commentary on ableism via a serial killer targeting Maddie, assuming she would be an easy target. However, she proves to be anything but, with many in the deaf community praising the film. Those outside the community were impressed as well by the creative script, unique sound design, and great performances.

#1: Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)

Horror films have always pushed meta boundaries, commenting on and even completely going against their own tropes. Wes Craven, creator of A Nightmare on Elm Street, famously did this with the Scream franchise, but years earlier went even more meta for this off-the-wall entry in his Nightmare franchise. Featuring a plot where Freddy Krueger enters the real world and begins terrorizing the cast and crew of the films made about him, the film had much to say about the slasher genre itself. This concept, and a more sinister, less quippy Freddy, may have scared some audience away, as it was regrettably the lowest-grossing Nightmare film. Nevertheless, it silently became one of the most influential horror films ever made, not to mention one of the scariest.

Are there any underrated slashers you love that didnt make the cut? Let us know in the comments below!