Whilst giallo had begun to dominate Italian cinema during the early seventies, another genre that had begun to attract attention was poliziesco, complex crime thrillers that, much like their more successful counterparts, had been inspired by the pulp novels of the thirties and forties.
Sequels by their very nature are comprised of recycled elements of a previous success, but there have been occasions when they have surpassed fan’s expectations by matching the original in both style and popularity
With the huge success of Halloween and Prom Night, Jamie Lee Curtis had slowly become one of the biggest stars of the genre, with her appearances in a variety of popular horror flicks earning her the moniker ‘scream queen.’ Her most underrated of films during this period was Terror Train
If Friday the 13th borrowed extensively from Halloween then The Exterminator stole excessively from Death Wish, Michael Winner’s 1974 vigilante thriller that made a star out of Charles Bronson
Despite winning major acclaim for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, director Tobe Hooper had followed the success with a string of inferior and disappointing flops, most notably 1976’s Eaten Alive which starred future Freddy Krueger Robert Englund
Within months of Friday the 13th‘s conquering of the box office filmmakers were exploiting every possible holiday and anniversary in the hope of capitalising on its success. By the end of the year audiences had also been subjected to Prom Night, New Year’s Evil, Mother’s Day and Christmas Evil
In much the same way that He Knows You’re Alone will always be associated with the first screen appearance of Tom Hanks, it is impossible to discuss the 1989 straight-to-video slasher Cutting Class without referencing the involvement of a young Brad Pitt
Whilst a constant criticism levelled at the slasher genre is its repetition and recycled ideas, it seems that those that attempt to divert away from the standard formula are often greeted with hostility.
Whilst the early eighties saw a glut of summer camp (Friday the 13th, Madman, Sleepaway Camp) and event-themed slashers (Prom Night, Graduation Day, Happy Birthday to Me), sororities and fraternities had yet to play a prominent role in the genre.
After the unexpected success of Scream during the Christmas holidays of 1996, when the movie out grossed the likes of Mars Attacks!, Evita and The People vs. Larry Flynt with an overall taking of $103m, it seemed inevitable