The Final Terror is nothing but a poor man's Friday The 13th when it comes down to it, but it's one of the better 1980's "in the woods" slashers. The Final Terror gets a pretty bad rap when it comes to slasher fans and I don't know why. The Final Terror has everything that most of those Friday The 13th clones had, and the movie itself has a cold and claustrophobic atmosphere with a really interesting killer.
As most of these movies start, a group of people- here it's park rangers taking some time off- go into the woods for fun. A local "legend" of a killer is discussed over a fire, and then everyone starts to die. The movie has some pretty big names like Daryl Hannah, Joe Pantaliano and Rachel Ward.
Out of all of the movies on this list, The Forest has to be the weakest plot-wise. It centers around a group of friends hiking in the forest. Along the way they meet up with a family living in a cave. Once night fall sets, and some of the gang is missing they set out to find them only to realize that they are all being hunted by a cannibal family. The movie lacks severely in many areas, but still has a very weird and a very eerie feel to it. The soundtrack adds a lot of cheese to the pie, and the theme song, well the movie is worth seeing just for that.
In the end the movie is just a fun popcorn slasher movie directed by genre veteran Donald Jones.
Lunch Meat is basically what you'd get if you gave a few hardcore Texas Chainsaw Massacre fans $3,000 and a VHS camcorder. The movie takes place mostly in some remote woods location. It centers around a car full of annoying kids who are going to the hills for a weekend getaway. On the way there they run into a pickup truck full of cannibal rednecks who are selling meat to the restaurant in which the teens are eating. The cannibals follow the teens back to the woods, and what do ya know? Right in the same area where the cannibals live, so of course they hunt them down and kill them.
Lunch Meat is a weird very low budget movie, but the production value is great. The movie itself delivers, and I consider it one of the best in the "Camcorder Coppola" era. Lunch Meat isn't even listed on IMDB, so I'm not even sure how scarce this movie really is.
Ranking right under Lunch Meat is probably the most infamous and critically acclaimed shot on video slasher movie of the 1980's. Directed by "Camcorder Coppola" himself, John McBride this movie is basically no different then the rest- a van full of friends head to the woods for some fun only to be deterred by a cannibalistic murderous family.
Cannibal Campout boasts a great atmosphere, nice production, awesome gore and pretty damn great shooting locations. If this was shot on 35mm or 16mm, it would rank in the top 5.
One of the cheesiest and fun experiences in any 1980's slasher movie. Don't Go In The Woods... Alone! mixes intentional comedy with blood and gore in a beautiful wooded mountain location. Director and Cinematographer James Bryan adds his own creative touch to the film with truly remarkable photography. This movie is no different than the rest- we have the teens, the woods and a maniac killer.
One of the best slasher movies to watch when you are wanting to have a good time. Gotta love the overdubbed audio throughout the entire movie.
Being one of the very few slashers of the 2000's that actually delivers, Stevan Mena's atmospheric Malevolence blends action with slasher with homages to our favorite genre around every corner. The movie starts out slow as we witness a bank robbery, and the assailants find an abandon home to use as sort of a halfway house before they skip town. The house ends up being near an old slaughterhouse where a young boy has been kept captive for more than 20 years after being kidnapped. The boy snaps and kills his captor and then stalks the house in Michael Myers fashion.
This movie usually gets horrible reviews, but other than the very slow beginning the movie gets going. It's a true back woods slasher classic.
Easily one of the best camp and woods slashers of the 1980's, Madman's true genius lies with the unintentional humor in the film. The movie is no different than the countless summer camp slashers of the 1980's but adds a more laid back element in camp counselors winding down at the end of the camping season. A local legend about a madman who murdered his family is told over the obligatory campfire, and then again, people start to die. Sounds over used, right? Well it's a welcomed repetition in my book.
Easily one of the more atmospheric slashers, and we have a fucking great theme song to sing along during the credits.
Being the pioneer for the summer camp, back woods and campfire slasher movie, Friday The 13th is a hard 3rd place. The movie has great direction, great writing and one of the most known stories in all movie cinema. For the people who don't know, the movie revolves around an old summer camp being updated for a new season. Murders start to happen and the would be camp counselors are offed one by one... by the end rolls around we learn about the history of the camp and why the murders are happening.
Before the credits role we meet Jason Voorhees, the most iconic slasher of all time. Even though it's a camp slasher, and it will make my list of "top 10 camp slashers" it still has a lot of "woods" to it.
Easily one of the best, if not the best slasher of the 2000's, Wrong Turn is about a family of inbreds in the hills of West Virginia. A group of teens become stranded after a car accident and become hunted by the mutated cannibals. The movie offers some true scares, blood, gore and some amazing killers done up by legend Stan Winston. Director Rob Schmidt doesn't hold back, and the movie is a true throwback to the 1980's with a very solid cast.
Just stay away from the shitty sequel- Wrong Turn 2: Dead End.
Most people would call this a camp slasher, but since most of it takes place in the woods of Western New York, my home town, I have to put it at the top of my woods slasher list. The Burning, much like Wrong Turn delivers with a great story topped with some great blood and gore by the hands of another legend Tom Savini. The Burning has a lot of fun in it with shenanigans that you'd find in a Meatballs film crossed with scares, blood and boobs- the 3 pre-requisites of slasher cinema. One thing that plays well in the movie is the amazing Western New York woods, rivers and rock adding a lot to the movies photography and atmosphere.
The Burning is easily a classic amongst the slasher genre, rumored to be in production before Friday The 13th making it similar and not a clone of Friday The 13th. The movie is full of stars including Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter and Fisher Stevens.
