With Ghostface returning to theaters earlier in 2026 in Scream 7 and the slasher movie spoof Scary Movie coming back in June, the genre remains as popular as ever. Add in new 21st-century additions like The Strangers and Art the Clown in Terrifier, and the market is still huge for this horror subgenre. However, it is hard not to think back to the 1980s, when slasher movies ruled the genre and nothing was bigger at the box office than these unstoppable monsters killing young adults.
The 1980s were the home of long-running franchises with slasher killers named Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Chucky, and more. Even in the 1990s, when the genre was starting to falter, killers like Candyman and Ghostface still proved that there was a little gas left in the tank. However, over that same era, as well as into the 2000s, there have been several slasher killers who haven't gotten the respect they deserve.
There were a few that ended up getting some studio attention, with movies like My Bloody Valentine even seeing a reboot over two decades later. However, there were also some genuine cult slasher figures in the genre, like Horace Pinker and Mary Lou Maloney, who were fantastic additions to the genre but failed to remain popular after their movies screened. These slasher killers all deserve a revival, whether in a new remake of the classic films or with a reboot, bringing back the iconic slashers for a new generation.
Harry Warden (My Bloody Valentine)
Harry Warden was the slasher killer from My Bloody Valentine. Warden is a miner wearing a gas mask and coveralls who murders his former negligent mine supervisors responsible for an accident. When a killer targets people in Valentine Bluffs with a pickaxe on Valentine's Day, people believe Warden has returned. My Bloody Valentine is a cult favorite from the 1980s, thanks to the lengths it went to show the horror and gore. It was heavily censored when it was released, with around nine minutes cut from the movie, although the uncensored cut was released years later on Blu-ray.
Hollywood has already tried to revive Harry Warden once before with the 2009 remake starring Jensen Ackles. It was a decent box office success, although most of the talk went to its early use of 3D in that film format's revival in the early 21st century. In 2023, Thanksgiving told a similar story, and the debt it owes to My Bloody Valentine is obvious. It's time Harry Warden returned, and in a bloody homage to the original film, rather than the more sanitized 2009 remake.
Cropsy (The Burning)
The Burning is one of the 1980s' forgotten and highly underrated slasher movies. Cropsy is the severely burned summer-camp caretaker in one of Miramax's first movies. The final result was so gory and disgusting that it was one of the first of the Video Nasty titles banned in the United Kingdom in the 1980s. The raft massacre remains one of the goriest scenes in slasher movie history.
The cast was impressive, with Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter, and Fisher Stevens appearing in early movie roles. Modern horror releases like the Fear Street trilogy helped renew interest in movies like The Burning, and having Cropsy make his return, in all his charred glory, could create a great new horror release today. There was a 2009 documentary called Cropsey released, but a reboot or remake still hasn't made its way to production yet.
Leslie Vernon (Behind The Mask)
There might not be another slasher movie as inventive as Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. The movie's first half plays out as a found footage mockumentary, with a fictional documentary film crew following a slasher killer named Leslie Vernon to see how he plans out his massacres. He then shows how he sets up the house to force accidents and why a slasher who looks like he is barely moving always manages to catch up. This part is brilliantly executed.
The movie turns things on its head when the crew learns they are the next targets, and the movie switches from found footage to a regular slasher movie with Leslie Vernon killing the filmmakers one by one. There is no way to have a sequel with the same format, but Leslie Vernon survives the first film, and seeing him back, and putting the audience in his POV again, could make for a brilliant follow-up. There is a Behind the Mask sequel in the works, but the release remains unknown.
Victor Crowley (Hatchet)
One of the recent additions to the slasher genre is Victor Crowley from Hatchet. To be fair, Victor Crowley did get four movies, although most of them were overlooked. That said, the slasher franchise with Friday the 13th veteran Kane Hodder as the disfigured Victor Crowley delivered the best slasher action since Scream arrived in the 1990s. The movie takes place in the swamps of New Orleans, Louisiana, which already sets it apart from its competitors.
The first movie, by Adam Green, showed a true love for its slasher roots and even brought in Tony Todd (Candyman) and Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street) for small roles, meaning three of the biggest slasher killers in history were represented in this movie. The movie franchise deserves better, and it is time to bring Victor Crowley back for more.
Sam (Trick 'R Treat)
Trick 'r Treat was a box office bomb when it was dropped in a limited release by a studio with no confidence in the movie. However, when it hit home video, it became a massive cult favorite. The movie has since become one of the biggest missed opportunities for a studio making horror films, and it still stands the test of time. It is shocking that no one has made a new movie with the main villain here, Sam.
Trick 'r Treat is an anthology movie that takes place on Halloween night in a small town, and it mixes up genres somewhat. The entire theme is that people who break the rules of Halloween die, and this is accomplished by ghosts, werewolves, and the diminutive Sam, a demon who looks like a child wearing a burlap sack costume. Sam is more than overdue for a Hollywood return.
Horace Pinker (Shocker)
One of the most obscure slasher villains is serial killer Horace Pinker from the movie Shocker. Horace is a convicted killer who is executed in the electric chair. However, he survives the execution and transfers his soul through electrical currents. Directed by Wes Craven and starring Mitch Pileggi (The X-Files) as Horace Pinker, this was Craven's attempt at another supernatural slasher after previously creating Freddy Krueger.
However, Horace kills people using electric currents, allowing him to appear in their homes through their devices, but he is not as scary as the dream killer. That said, while fans didn't show up for it, the movie has become a cult classic, and there are several movies that share these themes, including Smile and Dashcam. Dread Central reported that Craven wanted to revisit the slasher killer, and a director could do worse than bringing this monster back for more.
The Collector (The Collector)
The Collector is a 2009 film by Marcus Dunstan about a slasher killer who wears a red mask and booby-traps every room in a victim's home before he starts his attack. It is an interesting setup. Behind the Mask has Leslie Vernon reveal that this is how he makes his kills easier, but this film makes the tactic the entire premise. Every time one of the Collector's victims gets caught in a booby trap, it's like watching Home Alone and cheering for deaths.
There was a sequel three years later called The Collection that raises the stakes when he abducts his victims and then leaves them in a warehouse he has booby-trapped. There hasn't been a new movie in the series since 2012, and it would be nice to see the Collector back for more. The setup is similar to Saw, but without the morality questions, and instead focuses on the fun of watching the booby traps spring on new victims.
The Driller Killer (Slumber Party Massacre)
Slumber Party Massacre is a 1982 slasher movie by Amy Holden Jones that started its life as a parody movie before it ended up being recut as a genuine slasher film. There were two sequels in 1987 and 1990, and there was even a 2021 reimagining that revisited the feminist subtext from this original version. That aspect of the story is why Slumber Party Massacre is one of the 1980s most important female-led slashers.
While the 2021 movie was a nice return to the franchise, and it was well-received and proved that the property had legs, it would be nice to see a sequel to it, or a new franchise that brings back the Driller Killer on a more regular basis. Having more feminist horror revivals is always a good thing, and the Driller Killer gives Hollywood a chance to lean into that aspect of the genre.
Mary Lou Maloney (Prom Night II)
The second movie in the Prom Night franchise introduced one of the best slasher killers in history, and one that needs to be back for more. Mary Lou Maloney is the supernatural prom-queen-from-hell who terrorized high school students in Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II. In this movie, Mary Lou is killed at her 1957 prom after a prank, and she returns three decades later to possess a student and get her revenge.
Mary Lou is one of the only female slasher killers in the 1980s who has real franchise potential, and her quick wit and malicious intentions offer something no other slasher did at the time. There have been several 21st-century horror movies that were influenced by Mary Lou, including MaXXXine and Jennifer's Body, but bringing Mary Lou back would allow a new generation to relive her brilliance once again.
The Tall Man (Phantasm)
The Tall Man had a lot of movies with him as a villain, but most movie fans have never seen anything but the first one or two in the franchise. Don Coscarelli's Phantasm introduces the Tall Man as the unstoppable undertaker from another dimension, with Angus Scrimm playing him in all five films in the series. Sadly, Scrimm died in 2016, so the franchise would need a new actor to replace him, which might be a tall task.
The Phantasm franchise combines slasher movies, sci-fi aspects, and surrealist horror into a story involving one of the creepiest supernatural slasher killers in history. The Tall Man is a villain who should have been a huge marketing success story, and he was underutilized throughout his entire existence. Recasting someone as the next Tall Man, replacing the original, is the way to go, and the Tall Man is a horror slasher killer who deserves to be resurrected today.
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