Who says bloody carnage and cuddles don’t go together? These five great slasher films will make your next date night one to die for.
Imagine you meet someone great on a dating site. When it’s time to plan a fantastic first date, he or she suggests enjoying a slasher film together. It might seem like an odd choice, and not a very romantic way to spend the evening with someone you’re crushing on. But it’s actually the perfect invitation to share some scares and snuggles. Forget cliched comedies or soppy romance. Cowering together while some homicidal maniac rampages across a screen will create shared adversity. A bond will develop much quicker than if you were to ogle some silly rom-com.
If you’re game enough to put this theory to the test, here are our top five movies that were chosen by dating advisors from this website.
1. Wrong Turn (20o3-2021)
Wrong Turn isn’t so much a film as a franchise — a series of seven features based on an original storyline of teenagers who take an ill-advised detour and end up being stalked in the backyard of inbred cannibals, the US Appalachian Mountains.
The franchise got its start with the release of the 2003 slasher film Wrong Turn, directed by Rob Schmidt. In the film, a group of college students experiences car trouble while on a camping trip in the mountains. Of course, they make their way to an isolated cabin but are horrified to find human body parts in the house. Forced to hide when the residents return, they see three cannibalistic inbred mountain men proceed to dismember and eat one of their latest victims. When they attempt to escape, they find themselves running for their lives through the forest, while being chased by the sadistic, backwoods killers.
WHERE TO WATCH: Both the original Wrong Turn (2003) and the 2021 reboot are available to rent on most VOD platforms.
2. Halloween (1978)
Next on our list is another film that launched one of the most successful horror franchises of all time. Although the original Halloween is a slasher movie dating back to 1978, directed by horror maestro John Carpenter, it is a landmark of the genre that has spawned numerous blood-soaked imitations. Prepare for this year’s highly anticipated sequel to David Gordon Green’s Halloween reboot, Halloween Kills, by watching the beloved and highly influential film credited with giving rise to the slasher sub-genre.
The storyline concerns a mental patient, Michael Myers, committed to a secure unit after murdering his older sister on Halloween at the tender of six years old. Now a mute man in his 20s, he manages to escape the asylum and return to his hometown of Haddonfield to finish what he started. All the while, he is pursued by his psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis (the brilliant Donald Pleasence), who is convinced Myers is nothing less than evil incarnate. Loomis tries to warn the townsfolk of the impending danger while stopping Michael before he can claim more victims, including babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her high school pals.
WHERE TO WATCH: Currently, you are able to watch “Halloween” streaming on Shudder, Hoopla, IndieFlix, AMC Plus, DIRECTV or for free with ads on The Roku Channel.
3. Haunt (2019)
One of the newest entries in the slasher sub-genre, Haunt tells a familiar story. But it’s told really well, with strong performances and nail-biting suspense.
If you’ve ever been to a haunted house and thought, “What if one of the chainsaw-wielding maniacs wasn’t an actor but a stowaway psychopath,” this is the film for you. It takes that terrifying premise and ratchets it up to the maximum level of intensity. In the film, a group of partygoers enters a haunted house attraction where they are asked to give up their mobile phones and sign rather ominous liability waivers. They find themselves entering a labyrinth where they are forced to confront a series of ever-perilous hurdles while being hunted by a gang of mask-wearing slashers.
This critically celebrated and fan favorite film is one that will have you terrified to return to a funfair ever again!
WHERE TO WATCH: Currently, you can watch “Haunt” streaming on Shudder Amazon Channel or AMC Plus. You can also rent it on most VOD platforms.
4. Brahms: The Boy II (2020)
There is something truly terrifying about dolls seemingly possessed with daemonic entities. Brahms: The Boy II is a sequel to 2016’s The Boy but works perfectly well as a standalone for your killer date night. In fact, for this particular sequel, it almost works better if you haven’t seen the original film, as this sequel turns the entire story on its head.
The film concerns a couple moving into a new house with their son, struck dumb by a traumatizing home invasion. After he becomes attached to a life-like doll, various events unfold that give rise to his mother’s (Katie Holmes) suspicion that there is far more to this mannequin than meets the eye. A horrifying backstory of supernatural murders involving children unfolds.
This one is perfect for fans of films like Annabelle and Child’s Play. Which brings us perfectly to our last slasher recommendation…
WHERE TO WATCH: “Brahms: The Boy II” is now streaming on Showtime, Showtime Amazon Channel, fuboTV, and DIRECTV.
5. Child’s Play (2020)
While we are on the subject of slasher films featuring killer toys, let’s talk about the 2019 reboot of the iconic 80s slasher film Child’s Play. The 2020 rebirth of Chucky, the killer doll possessed by a sadistic serial killer, stars Mark Hammil (of Star Wars fame) as the voice of Chucky.
The latest entry in the popular franchise reimagines Chucky’s origin story. In this tale, a family becomes terrorized by a high-tech doll who gets tampered with during production and becomes self-aware — and subsequently murderous. The situation is made even more dramatic by the fact that the dolls are now being sold on a widespread basis, unleashing a potential wave of terror on an unsuspecting public.
This modern-day rebirth of an 80’s horror icon was praised for ramping up the playfulness and nastiness of the original, delivering a film that’s both gruesome and entertaining.
WHERE TO WATCH: “Child’s Play” is available to stream on Prime and Hulu.
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