Few subgenres of horror are as beloved as the humble slasher movie. With Black Christmas and Halloween largely viewed as the launching points for this particular corner of cinema, subsequent decades have delivered some absolutely stunning slashers – from franchises like Friday the 13th and Scream, to standalone classics such as The Prowler and The Mutilator.
But not all great slasher pictures receive the attention they deserve, with some crackers having often flown under the radar of the masses and the mainstream. And it’s on those movies that the attention is on here.
Some brilliant slashers may have been hindered by bungled marketing campaigns, the issues often attached with distributing a low-budget film, a mildly daft premise that put potential audiences off, or were simply quietly released to a streaming service with zero fanfare. Despite that, though, some of those movies delivered a fantastic final product and should be on the to-watch list of any and all horror fans.
So with all of that in mind, then, here are ten perfect – or, at least, near-perfect – slasher movies that you’ve likely never heard of.
We all have our visions for that idyllic, lavish house we one day wish to live in, but just how far would you go to get that new abode? Well, for Cheng Lai-sheung, she’s prepared to go to extremely brutal lengths to make sure she gets her own dream home.
Dream Home is absolutely a slasher movie, but it’s that and so much more. Yes, Cheng Lai-sheung ends up killing a bunch of people, yet there’s a little more to it.
As a youngster, her family was evicted from low-rent housing in order for swanky apartments to be built, giving Cheng the dream of one day buying a house for her parents that will overlook Victoria Harbour. Unfortunately, Cheng’s mother dies before this can become a reality, and her father also later succumbs to an illness. Still, as an adult working two jobs, Cheng Lai-sheung does finally have enough money to buy one of these homes… only for the seller to jack the price up at the last minute.
The point being, this home is quite the big deal to Cheng Lai-sheung.
By the end of the movie, Cheng has murdered 11 residents of the apartment complex in a frenzied rage, which conveniently causes the property price to drop.