Here’s the set-up…a doomed group of teens isolated on location X -- a campsite, fairground..dorm. A psychopathic killer, often disfigured, stalks them…brandishing sharp weapon X…many are killed in graphic, gory ways until only final girl X survives…cheered on by the adrenaline-surged audience...
For a few blood-curdling years in the late 70s to early 80s, the slasher movie ruled the box office. Its appeal, writes longtime fan J. A. Kerswell, was based on our craving for safe thrills and lethal predictability…horror at its most basic and enjoyable. Kerswell is founder of the website Hysteria Lives! and author of The Slasher Movie Book a compendium of grisly horror film artwork, and a history of the sub-genre that has terrified millions of viewers around the world.
