ANDREW LIMBONG, HOST:
Listen, I'm a grown man, a full-on adult. But if I'm home alone and I'm hopping in the shower, I am locking that bathroom door all because this scene from "Psycho" is imprinted in my mind.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "PSYCHO")
JANET LEIGH: (As Marion Crane, screaming).
LIMBONG: I don't even have to tell you what scene I'm talking about. You already know because that's the power of a well-done slasher movie, whether it is "Psycho" or "Halloween" or "Friday The 13th." The genre's been around for a while now, and while the archetypes may have changed, the draw to these movies has not. And with Halloween, the holiday, just around the corner, we've got our biggest slasher fans in here for our weekly movie conversation. I am joined by ALL THINGS CONSIDERED producer Brianna Scott. Hey, Bri (ph).
BRIANNA SCOTT, BYLINE: Hey.
LIMBONG: And Ryan Benk who, when not indulging in slasher movies, is a producer for Weekend Edition. What's up, Ryan?
RYAN BENK, BYLINE: Weekend Edition is my weekend job - slasher movies every other day of the week.
(LAUGHTER)
LIMBONG: You're also working the other days.
BENK: Yeah, I am. I am. I am.
LIMBONG: Let's tell (ph) your bosses. Let's be - let's not - no time theft here, right?
BENK: It's true. It's true. It's true.
LIMBONG: You're a good employee. You're working on the clock.
SCOTT: (Laughter).
LIMBONG: All right, so we've got you both in here because you love slashers. What is it about them that is so appealing? Ryan, why don't you start?
BENK: I mean, I think it comes down to an element of, I can picture myself in those situations. I don't really think I'm going to come up against a horde of zombies, even though it's fun to talk about what my plan will be for surviving. But I can definitely understand that I probably come into contact with way more serial killers and psychos throughout my daily life than I probably really feel comfortable with.
LIMBONG: Interesting.
SCOTT: (Laughter).
LIMBONG: So it's relatable to you.
BENK: It's in - I mean...
LIMBONG: It's the relatability. That's wild.
BENK: Yeah, I can see myself fighting off a serial killer, not so much fighting a demon.
LIMBONG: Yeah, representation matters. All right, Bri, what about you?
SCOTT: (Laughter) Yeah. I agree. For me, it's always been about putting myself in the shoes of the many characters being chased around by a maniac. I've always thought to myself, what would I do? How would I get myself out of this hyper specific, usually unrealistic situation? Would I be this dumb? And I also wonder, like, what horror trope would I fall prey to? Like, would I be the first person to die because I'm Black? Or would I make it to the end and be the legendary final girl? And I think that last part for me is what cemented me loving the slasher genre growing up. There's almost always a final girl who I'm rooting for throughout the movie - Laurie Strode, Nancy Thompson, Sidney Prescott. And so when I put on a slasher, I'm on the lookout for that final girl and connecting myself to her.
LIMBONG: You know, you've said that term final girl a lot. I've read a lot of books by Stephen Graham Jones, who's a horror writer - right? - and who writes these slasher books that are about slasher movies. And I find the slasher genre to be very self-referential with its tropes, and it knows what it's doing. Can we go down the list of, like, what are some of these, like, best-of tropes that one should be familiar with when entering the genre?
SCOTT: Right. I mean, I think that one thing is that there's always some sort of crazy backstory to the killer that gives us insight into their motive. With "Nightmare On Elm Street," Fred Krueger was a child murderer who got burned, literally, by a mob of angry parents, and now he's haunting their kids' dreams.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET")
HEATHER LANGENKAMP: (As Nancy Thompson) I know you're there, Freddy.
ROBERT ENGLUND: (As Fred Krueger) You think you was gonna get away from me?
SCOTT: And Chucky in "Child's Play" was a serial killer who put his human soul into the body of a doll via voodoo, and now it's on a mission to get out of said doll.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "[TITLE]")
RAYMOND OLIVER: (As Dr. Death) You're turning human.
BRAD DOURIF: (As Chucky) What?
OLIVER: (As Dr. Death) The more time you spend in that body, the more human you become.
DOURIF: (As Chucky) You mean I have to live out the rest of my life in this body?
SCOTT: So there isn't always a motive, but there usually is. And sometimes that is part of the twist in revealing who the killer is in slasher movies where the killer's identity is a mystery.
BENK: I want to mention, too, that this genre has been around for probably as long as we've been telling stories.
LIMBONG: Yeah.
BENK: I mean, we think about slashers, and we think about the 1970s and the 1980s. But this tale of an anonymous knife-wielding maniac can be traced further back - I mean, true crime stories like Jack the Ripper, going back to the 1880s. You know, as you move forward through time and through the modern era, the subgenre also has grown a lot, too, you know? You have meta slashers like "Scream," and even slashers where there isn't even technically a slasher doing the killing - sorry for the spoilers - like in 2022's "Bodies Bodies Bodies."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BODIES BODIES BODIES")
AMANDLA STENBERG: (As Sophie) If you draw the piece of paper that has the X on it, you are the murderer. Everyone else has to avoid being killed.
LIMBONG: I want to play you this clip from this movie that you mentioned, "Scream" - right? - from 1996. I think it's fair to call it a satire of slasher movies, right?
SCOTT: Yes.
LIMBONG: It is still scary, but it's also commenting on the genre itself. Here's the clip.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SCREAM")
JAMIE KENNEDY: (As Randy) There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie. For instance, No. 1, you can never have sex.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, booing).
KENNEDY: (As Randy) Sex equals death, OK? No. 2, you can never drink or do drugs.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, cheering).
(SOUNDBITE OF BOTTLES CLINKING)
LIMBONG: Ryan, when we're thinking about the tropes of a slasher movie that was just outlined there, is that still true in 2025?
BENK: I think what we choose to punish with slashers these days has a lot more to do with concepts like class and sexist judgment. For instance, you have films like 2022's "X," and it sees a final girl as an adult film actress taking on a sadistic Bible-thumping couple in rural Texas.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "X")
BRITTANY SNOW: (As Bobby-Lynne) The fact of the truth of the matter is, we turn folks on, and that scares them.
MIA GOTH: (As Maxine/Pearl) And they can't look away neither.
SNOW: (As Bobby-Lynne) That's right.
BENK: I also think that last year's "In A Violent Nature" is this slow, methodical movie that implicates all of its audience by literally putting you in the shoes of the slasher. And it makes the audience kind of have to reckon with their responsibility for the killings they're watching on screen.
LIMBONG: You know, I've been thinking to recent film history. I'm seeing a lot of chatter about horror's back. Like, we're seeing a lot of big horror movies. I'm thinking "Weapons" or "Sinners," "Final Destination Bloodlines," "The Conjuring: Last Rites." I don't think any of those really qualify as a slasher movie. So where are we at with slashers today?
BENK: You have the genre movies that qualify as blockbusters, like you say, like "Weapons," but you also have an equally interesting and popular maybe kind of semi underground. You have streaming services like Shudder that are self-releasing slashers like this year's hit, "Clown In A Cornfield," and smaller studios like Cineverse catching lightning in a bottle with the "Terrifier" series.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TERRIFIER 3")
LAUREN LAVERA: (As Sienna Shaw) I have to go back to the Terrifier - might be the only thing that could stop them.
BENK: I think the subgenre is as healthy as it's been.
SCOTT: Yeah, and I think that - focusing in on "Terrifier," I mean, in 2022 when the second "Terrifier" came out, it broke the box office. It had a budget of $250,000, and it made a total of 15.8 million worldwide.
LIMBONG: Sheesh.
SCOTT: And then last year, "Terrifier 3," which had a higher budget of 2 million, it made 90.3 million at the box office.
LIMBONG: All right, so for people who are hoping to get into the genre in the spooky season, let's list out some recommendations. Ryan, why don't you go first?
BENK: Listen, I'm going to list an oldie but a goodie because I'll take any chance I get to talk about "Nightmare On Elm Street 2."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY'S REVENGE")
MARK PATTON: (As Jesse Walsh) I need you to let me stay here tonight.
ROBERT RUSLER: (As Ron Grady) Are you out of your mind?
PATTON: (As Jesse Walsh) Something is trying to get inside my body.
RUSLER: (As Ron Grady) Yeah, and she's female, and she's waiting for you in the cabana. And you want to sleep with me.
BENK: At the time of its release, look, it wasn't really received well by fans of the genre or the franchise. But watching it now, it was so ahead of its time because instead of a final girl, you have a final boy. And the whole thing is as close to the first really gay slasher in American history. Modern queer audiences will find this film has so much to say about the fear of difference, coming out, being yourself. And that's whether it was intended or not.
SCOTT: Yeah.
LIMBONG: Bri, what about you?
SCOTT: I'm going to recommend two recent slashers that will have you laughing but also perhaps covering your eyes at times. One that comes to mind is 2020's "Vicious Fun."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "VICIOUS FUN")
DAVID KOECHNER: (As Zachary) Thanks so much for coming out. How do you maintain your lifestyle and keep your urges under control?
JULIAN RICHINGS: (As Fritz) I murder the same victim repeatedly.
SCOTT: It takes place in the early '80s, and the movie is about how this dude accidentally stumbles across a support group for serial killers.
(LAUGHTER)
SCOTT: And I think that's such an interesting plot for a horror movie because I like it when we get an alternative point of view that isn't, you know, solely focused on the survivors. And then the other one I want to highlight is 2011's "You're Next."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "YOU'RE NEXT")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) One of them was in the bedroom. They've been watching us for days while we were sleeping.
SCOTT: It's a dark comedy slasher fused with the home invasion subgenre where an entire group of masked killers - so not just one - an entire group of masked killers is hunting down a family one by one. And bringing it back to final girls, the final girl in that movie, Erin, is truly one of the best to ever do it, a top-tier final girl that just comes out the gate swinging.
LIMBONG: That's NPR's Brianna Scott and Ryan Benk. Thank you.
SCOTT: Thank you.
BENK: Schwing (ph).
SCOTT: (Laughter).
BENK: That was my knife. Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN CARPENTER'S "HALLOWEEN THEME") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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