While slasher films are a sub-genre unto themselves, fans will tell you there is a wide range of variation to be found within. Tonally, films can blend elements of comedy, drama, or action with their horror. You also have films that aim for brutal realism, as well as those that want to throw a ridiculous excess of blood and gore at the audience.
Yet, one of the more endearing mash-ups in the slasher sub-genre is a dash of mystery, making it a “whodunit,” which teases the audience to try to figure out who the real killer is, along with those terrorized on the screen. These ten movies will keep you guessing and squirming until the very end.
10
‘Blood Rage’ (1987)
Twin brothers Todd and Terry share a dark and violent history, with Terry having murdered a man and setting up his brother Todd for the crime, resulting in his imprisonment. Ten years later, when Todd is finally released, he looks to exact revenge and set up his brother for a string of murders so he experiences the same trauma he did. Todd begins a violent killing spree in an apartment complex, with Terry and his friends the only ones who can stop the killings.
Double the Kills with Twisted Twins
Blood Rage is an underappreciated ’80s slasher that melds elements of ‘whodunit’ into the story by constantly blurring the lines between which twin is responsible for the killings. Like most great ’80s slasher movies, Blood Rage also delivers more than just mystery with a healthy helping of blood and violence. Campiness, dark humor, and a killer ’80s synth score are just the cherry on top.
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10 Slashers With Really Surprising Twists
The slasher subgenre tends to offer straightforward thrills. But once in a while, there is a twist to remember.
9
‘Evil Dead Trap’ (1988)
Evil Dead Trap
- Release Date
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May 14, 1988
- Runtime
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100 minutes
- Director
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Toshiharu Ikeda
-
-
Yūji Honma
Daisuke Muraki
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Hitomi Kobayashi
Rei Sugiura
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Eriko Nakagawa
Rya Kawamura
A late-night TV producer, Nami Tsuchiya, receives a mysterious fan letter, which turns out to be a snuff video showing the murder of a woman who looks like her. Seeing the possibility of a hit for her show, she heads to an abandoned factory that was on the return address with a small crew. However, once they arrive, the crew is picked off one after another, and Nami meets a mysterious man who claims to know the killer and is there to investigate.
A Stylish Japanese Horror Film With a Bizarre Twist
Evil Dead Trap is a Japanese film heavily influenced by Western cinema, particularly Italian crime thrillers, with a focus on crafting sleek, artsy, and shocking kills. Yet, behind its sensational gore, Evil Dead Trap presents several mysteries for the audience to unravel. The film’s climax and reveal of the killer kind of come out of left field, but that is part of the charm of this one-of-a-kind slasher film from Japan.
8
‘The Bird With the Crystal Plummage’ (1970)
Sam Dalmas is an American writer vacationing in Rome who, one night, witnesses an attempted murder in a museum, getting a clear view as he is unable to break through the closed glass doors. His being the sole witness becomes more complicated as a series of murders begins to happen in Rome, with the police believing Sam to be the only one to have seen the killer. Working with the police, Same must try to piece together the events of the night, looking for any clue he can.
An Italian Horror Masterpiece
When it comes to combining horror with a whodunit mystery, countless Italian films emerging from the giallo genre could easily fit the bill. In many ways, The Bird With the Crystal Plummage is the definitive whodunit horror movie, seamlessly merging the crime and horror genres to create a sleek vision of intrigue and terror. Here, the constant replaying of a singular event also prompts the audience to reflect on what happened and attempt to solve the mystery alongside the film’s protagonist.
7
‘My Bloody Valentine’ (1981)
Set in the small mining town of Valentine Bluffs, 20 years after a mine accident on the day that took the lives of many. The accident occurred after two supervisors left to go to the annual dance, leading to an accident where all but one miner died. Harry Warden, who went insane from the ordeal, resorted to cannibalism to survive. Now, with the town planning to try to start up celebration again, a killer appears dressed as a miner, stealing the hearts of his victims, with many believing Harry has returned.
A Dark and Dreary Gem From the Mines of Canada
One of many phenomenal Canadian horror movies made in the ’80s, My Bloody Valentine is an endearing cult classic thanks to its unique setting, tone, and a re-evaluation of the film over time; the movie is also infamous, with some of it existing as lost media, with 9 minutes cut from the original by censors. As a whodunit slasher mystery, the movie sets up a few red herrings and manages to keep audiences guessing until the end.
6
‘April Fool’s Day’ (1986)
April Fool’s Day
- Release Date
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March 27, 1986
- Runtime
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88 minutes
- Director
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Fred Walton
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-
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Deborah Foreman
Muffy / Buffy St. John
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Deborah Goodrich
Nikki Beshears
A group of college friends head to a remote mansion to celebrate Easter together. Shortly after arriving, they find the house has been set up with “prank traps,” which they first take in jest, that is, until some of them start disappearing over the weekend. Those remaining start to suspect there is something sinister going on, especially after communication with the outside world is cut off after receiving news of an escaped patient from a mental institution.
A House Full of Potential Killers
April Fool’s Day earned some infamy for offering a subversive twist on the slasher genre that does not reveal itself until the film’s climax. Before that, the film is a reasonably straightforward whodunit, with an obvious red herring and enough twists to keep the identity of the real killer vague. Here, there is a lighter and more playful tone, making it ideal for those who enjoy murder mysteries without excessive violence.
Related
‘My Bloody Valentine’: Does the Original or Remake Deserve Your Heart?
1981’s ‘My Bloody Valentine’ and its 2009 3D sequel have their share of charms, but which one deserves your undivided attention on Valentine’s Day?
5
‘Happy Birthday to Me’ (1981)
Happy Birthday to Me
- Release Date
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May 15, 1981
- Runtime
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110 minutes
- Director
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J. Lee Thompson
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Glenn Ford
Dr. David Faraday
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Melissa Sue Anderson
Virginia Wainwright
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Lawrence Dane
Hal Wainwright
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Sharon Acker
Estelle Wainwright
Popular high school student Virginia “Ginny” Wainwright is recovering from the recent loss of her mother in a car crash that also left her with memory loss and blackouts. When her friends, a clique called the “Top Ten,” start turning up dead, the group races to try to figure out who the killer is, with Ginny’s blackouts not putting her above suspicion.
No One Is Above Suspicion in the Early ’80s Slasher
Happy Birthday to Me does an exceptional job of keeping the viewer guessing, even offering the protagonist as a potential killer due to her memory loss and blackouts. The reveal is, admittedly, somewhat disappointing, but the movie has still garnered a fan base due to its creative kills and a well-built suspense leading up to its final moments.
4
‘Thanksgiving’ (2023)
A Black Friday at the local Right Mart leads to the death and injury of several people in the city of Plymouth, Massachusetts. For the daughter of the owner, Jessica Wright (Nell Verlaque), the night was a traumatic one, having her boyfriend leave her after being injured and feeling responsible for starting the chain of events. With protests starting the following year with the planned sale again, matters are made worse when a killer is on the loose, targeting everyone he (or she) believes played a role in the deadly night.
A Festive Themed Slasher Whodunit
Thanksgiving starts on an intense note with a night of violence at a supermarket, followed by some exposition that instantly paints several characters as potential killers. The approach here is pretty straightforward, but there are enough red herrings thrown about to keep the audience guessing up until about the halfway mark, when a few clues start to drop. Overall, Thanksgiving is a fun throwback to classic slashers with an emphasis on gory kills.
3
‘Cherry Falls’ (2000)
Cherry Falls takes place in the fictional, titular town where virgins are being targeted by a killer. The movie follows Jody Marken (Brittany Murphy), the daughter of a sheriff, who becomes entangled in the mystery as her friends become targeted. Able to trace back the crimes to an assault on a woman that happened 25 years previous and was covered up by government officials, Jody has to try to figure out who would want to seek revenge for past events before more of her friends die.
Turning a Horror Trope on Its Head
Cherry Falls places Brittany Murphy’s Jody Marken in the role of solving a decades-long case, while going through a slew of red herrings before uncovering a killer at the film’s climax. Digging into the town’s dark history offers a nicely packed mystery, offset by a series of ghastly murders. Besides being a well-constructed whodunit, Cherry Falls has established a cult following among horror fans, thanks to its clever premise on flipping a common trope, and a strong script that delivers dark humor and social commentary in equal measure to its violence.
2
‘Scream’ (1996)
High school student Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) finds herself and her friends targeted by a mysterious, masked, horror movie-obsessed serial killer known as Ghostface. As the body count rises, suspicions between the friends only continue to grow, along with distrust of each other. Scream would spawn one of the most successful horror franchises of the 1990s and is considered by many to be director Wes Craven’s best work.
The Definitive Horror Whodunit of the 1990s
For all the ’90s kids, consider this a nod to both Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, as both movies defined the slasher genre of the decade, utilizing a mystery-heavy plot to lure people in. While both are great films, it is hard to deny the pop-culture impact of Scream, and how much it reshaped the slasher genre for the years to come. The meta-slasher that also acts as a love letter to the genre itself is considered a classic for a reason.
1
‘Happy Death Day’ (2017)
Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) finds herself caught in a bizarre loop when she is murdered by a masked killer on campus, only to wake up the next day to relive the day of her murder again. Every night, she tries to escape her death, but any changes she makes still lead to her being murdered. Yet, with each instance, she learns a bit more about the killer and moves towards stopping them before the time of her death.
A Time Loop Horror Mystery
Groundhog Day meets slasher is an idea that, on paper, could have flopped very hard, but the cyclical nature of the many deaths of Tree, combined with a whodunit mystery, turned out to be one of the best horror movies of the 2010s. A delectably absurd premise that delivers with a dose of gore and dark comedy, as far as modern mash-ups of horror and mystery, there is not much out there that compares to Happy Death Day; the second film, Happy Death Day 2 U, is also worth checking out.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
