FEARSOME PHOTOS: SEVENTIES PROTO-SLASHERS!
While Italy’s wave of ‘giallo’ films were still relatively frequent in the mid to late 70s (inspired by Dario Argento’s seminal 1970 hit THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE), it was John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN in 1978 that paved the way for the modern American slasher flick. But there were other horror movies and thrillers made here in the states before Carpenter’s landmark work that bore similarities to the “stalk ‘n slash” formula…
Some of these 70s “proto-slashers” are classics in their own right, others not so much. But all offer interesting elements that would later become slasher film tropes by the time the 80s rolled around.
Here are posters for a few of them that may have played at your local theater or drive-in, before VHS players invaded our homes. How many of these have YOU seen?
Shawn ‘Wicked, Wicked’ Sheridan
