Behind the Couch

2014 Dirs. Jen & Sylvia Soska Slasher films are infamous for instigating a seemingly unending chain of sequels. Cynically speaking, slasher sequels are generally inferior titles (though there are exceptions) that simply rehash the plot of the original in a desperate bid to capitalise on its success. Speaking as the owner of various slasher franchise boxsets, some sequels can of course surpass expectations and actually enhance the impact of the original, fleshing out characters, exploring back stories and expanding mythos. Of all the slasher films you’d expect to spawn a sequel - and a rather belated one at that - See No Evil  (2006) probably wouldn’t be high on your list. A conventional, if rather unremarkable affair, it featured WWE star Kane (Glen Jacobs) as a reclusive psychopath brutally murdering a group of young offenders who, as part of their community service, are sent to clean up the old abandoned hotel he resides in. While commercially successful, it was essen...

Dir. George Mihalka Slasher films typically feature a cast of teenaged characters cavorting in an isolated location and falling victim to a (usually) masked psychopath brandishing various sharp implements. The teens are systematically picked off until only one (usually) female character is left. She’s nearly always someone who abstains from indulging in drugs, alcohol and pre-marital sex - unlike her peers - and must use her resourcefulness to defeat the killer. Highly conservative in their morality, many slashers feature a sex equals death formula, with killers avenging past misdeeds committed against them or someone close to them, and sating their bloodlust by offing copulating couples. For hardened horror fans such as myself, they offer a strange sense of comfort due to their familiar structure and conventions, which rarely change from title to title. Of course, it’s always great when a slasher deviates from the rigid formula, but as long as there’s tension, atmosphere and a su...

1980 Dir. Roger Spottiswoode A group of college kids responsible for a prank gone wrong several years prior, are menaced by a masked killer as they throw a New Year’s Eve costume party on-board a train. The early Eighties is now regarded as the Golden Age of the slasher film. From 1978 to about 1985, cinemas were saturated with gory flicks featuring masked psychos stalking teenagers in lonely locations, gruesomely killing them off one by one. The popularity of these movies was ignited by John Carpenter’s Halloween , and their rigid template was confirmed by Friday the 13th . Each successive title layered on the violence, gore and nudity, neglecting to realise that what made Carpenter’s film so effective was its use of suspense, mood, and the anticipation of violence. Terror Train was one of the first (and in my humble opinion, best) slashers to be produced in   the wake of Halloween’s success. It epitomises the sub-genre, sticking to its conventions as tightly as Jam...

1984 Dir. Wes Craven When a group of high school friends begin to die while they sleep, level-headed Nancy soon discovers that she and her friends are being stalked in their dreams by the vengeful, now demonic, child killer their vigilante parents murdered years ago. Can she stay awake long enough to put a stop to his bloody killing spree and save her own skin? One, Two, Freddy’s coming for you… A Nightmare on Elm Street really needs no introduction. Wes Craven’s ground-breaking slasher was released at a time when cinemas were saturated in body-count movies featuring teenagers being stalked and murdered in isolated locations by vengeful (and morally conservative) bogeymen. Despite sticking to the by-then conventional narrative structure of the slasher movie, Craven injected new life into it by deploying a supernatural twist and delving into the most primal fears known to mankind. The director effortlessly preys on childhood fears of the ‘bogeyman’ and scores a major coup by ...

Dir. Rob Zombie After massacring his family on Halloween, disturbed 10 year old Michael Myers is committed to a mental institution. 17 years later, he violently escapes and heads back home to Haddonfield to find his baby sister Laurie, brutally murdering anyone who crosses his path. In November 2005, Halloween producer Moustapha Akkad and his daughter, Rima Akkad Monla, were killed at a wedding party when Al-Qaeda bombed the Grand Hyatt in Amman, Jordan. As the champion of the series since its inception, his tragic death was a blow for the future of the franchise. This, coupled with Dimension Film execs realising (maybe) the error of their ways with Halloween Resurrection , looked set to see the end of the Halloween films. However, following a trend of remaking old horror films from the Seventies and Eighties such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Black Christmas, Dawn of the Dead, The Hills Have Eyes, The Amityville Horror and When A Stranger Calls , producers recognised that H...

2002 Dir. Rick Rosenthal Four years after mistakenly killing a man she thought to be her brother (really, Dimension Films? Really ?), long-suffering Laurie Strode is eventually hunted down by her actual not-really-dead brother, the murderous Michael Myers. Making his way back home to Haddonfield, Myers discovers the crew of an online reality show has taken over his house (!) to broadcast a Halloween special featuring a group of teenagers dared to spend the night in the infamous house. Naturally he goes on yet another killing spree. And it's all caught on camera and broadcast online for all to see. Yes, all of this actually really happens. It really fucking happens. The silent stalker of the original Halloween is a distant memory - Myers is now the reluctant star of an internet reality show.  Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later did not warrant a sequel. It was initially intended as a twentieth anniversary celebration of John Carpenter's classic chiller . It also broug...

1995 Dir. Joe Chappelle Six years after she and her psychotic uncle Michael Myers were abducted from the Haddonfield police station by the mysterious Man in Black, Jamie Lloyd and her newborn baby go on the run again with Myers’ in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, relatives of the family that adopted Laurie Strode have moved into the old Myers house and befriended Tommy Doyle, whose obsession with Myers’ leads to the discovery of a family curse that drives the killer to violently eradicate his bloodline – which is bad news for the Strodes. Teaming up with Dr. Loomis, they set out to stop Myers and the cult that protects him once and for all. With Miramax having purchased the distribution rights to the Halloween franchise, it was their intention to give the flailing series something of a reboot and to release further instalments through its newly established genre arm, Dimension Films. Following in the wake of the leaden Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers - complete with its amb...

1989 Dir. Dominique Othenin-Girard One year after surviving her blood-drenched ordeal at the hands of her murderous uncle, psychotic killer Michael Myers, young Jamie has been committed to the Haddonfield Children’s Clinic, rendered mute from her traumatic experiences. The presumed dead, though actually just comatose Myers, awakens and returns to finish what he started. Meanwhile, Jamie develops a strange psychic link with him, which her psychiatrist, Dr Loomis, plans to exploit in a bid to stop Myers once and for all. But wait! Who is that mysterious man in black who also stalks the streets of Haddonfield? And why is he so seemingly interested in Jamie and her uncle? Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers was successful enough to lead producer Moustapha Akkad to believe it warranted a follow up. Initial drafts of Halloween 5’s script dutifully acknowledged the ending of Part 4 in which Jamie was established as Michael Myers’ murderous successor, however producers rejected ...

1988 Dir. Dwight H. Little Ten years after his bloody killing spree and attempts to murder his sister Laurie Strode, a comatose Michael Myers awakens and returns to Haddonfield to kill Laurie’s daughter, seven-year-old Jamie, on Halloween. Dr Loomis, who also survived the explosion in the hospital thought to have finished Myers’ off, once again sets out to stop his former patient once and for all. After the commercial failure of Halloween III: Season of the Witch , producers realised that fans of the burgeoning series were baying for more of Michael Myers’ psychotic exploits. With the original Halloween instigating a boom of slasher movies that continued well throughout the Eighties, Moustapha Akkad decided the time was right to bring the brutal serial killer back. As a result, John Carpenter and Debra Hill, who had hoped to develop the series as an anthology with a new Halloween-season related plot in every sequel, backed away from the series and had nothing more to do with i...