Comments on: It's never the creepy janitor.

Question: It's never the creepy janitor.

burnmp3s — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 15:20:33 -0800

What horror films feature a mystery killer? I like watching cheesy horror movies because for me even the most poorly made ones are entertaining. My favorite ones are "slasher" films, where a crazed maniac kills off the rest of the cast one by one, usually with a knife. More specifically, I like slasher movies where the killer is a seemingly normal person who is later revealed to be the killer. Its fun to try to pick out the killer from the group, because there are always plenty of red herrings and missing details along the way to make it difficult.

I want to make a list of these kinds of films. They need to follow these two rules:

1. The killer's identity can't be revealed until near the end of the film. Usually this means that the killer wears a mask when he kills people, but sometimes the murders are shot from the killers point of view. If it turns out there are multiple killers, that is fine too, as long as they are all revealed near the end.

2. The normal person that turns out to be the killer must be at least a minor character in the film. If the character has never been on-screen or just made a cameo appearance as a pizza delivery boy at the beginning of the film, it doesn't count.

Here are the films I already have on the list:

Alice, Sweet Alice
Cherry Falls
Club Dread
Cry Wolf
Cutting Class
The Graveyard
Mindhunters
Psycho Beach Party
Scream 1, 2 and 3
Sleepaway Camp
Urban Legend and Urban Legends: Final Cut

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 15:33:14 -0800

The classic of the genre is "Ten Little Indians", though it's not technically a slasher movie as such.

By: kickback

kickback — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 15:34:44 -0800

'Perché quelle strane gocce di sangue sul corpo di Jennifer? ' fits the description.

By: SuperSquirrel

SuperSquirrel — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 15:37:18 -0800

I think Happy Birthday To Me fills the bill, although the synopsis at imdb is thin. I seem to remember being very surprised at the killer's identity. One of the characters dies by having their scarf sucked into the chain of a motorcycle. Fabulous blood spurts.

By: dog food sugar

dog food sugar — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 15:40:53 -0800

Prom Night.

I must say I particularly liked the creative use of a curling iron in Sleepaway Camp.

By: meeshell

meeshell — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 15:42:33 -0800

you must see schrooms

By: grumblebee

grumblebee — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 15:54:01 -0800

I would call "The Last of Sheila" a mystery, not a horror film, but otherwise it fits your bill. It also has the distinction of being co-written by Stephen Sondheim (though it's not a musical) and Anthony (Psycho) Perkins and its cast includes Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon, James Coburn, Ian McShane, Raquel Welch and James Mason.

By: rhizome

rhizome — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:05:08 -0800

I'm not sure how much screen-time the killer has, but I have to throw in The Man With Two Brains.

By: biscotti

biscotti — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:05:38 -0800

The original version of The Descent (not the US ending, the "alternate" ending).

Hide and Seek.

Friday the 13th and Psycho, obviously.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:57:25 -0800

You might want to investigate the Italian horror-mystery genre called Giallo. Many films in this genre fit your description.

By: snap_dragon

snap_dragon — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:58:38 -0800

High Tension

By: zerobyproxy

zerobyproxy — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 17:06:38 -0800

The Thing. For many more reasons than one.

By: sleep_walker

sleep_walker — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 17:26:16 -0800

Dario Argento's Opera (a.k.a Terror at the Opera).

By: Caviar

Caviar — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 17:45:27 -0800

It's an odd twist on this concept, and much more than just a slasher flick, but Strange Days fits your description.

By: cinemafiend

cinemafiend — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 17:53:22 -0800

Seconding the giallo sub-genre.

Some of my favorites include:

DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING

TENEBRAE

THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE

DEEP RED

By: doncoyote

doncoyote — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:25:24 -0800

Hmm, the giallo films' lush atmosphere compensate for their lack of logic.

For Killer-vision point-of-view, produced by tastemaker Jon Peters,
see Eyes of Laura Mars, starring Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones, with S &M fashion photography by Helmut Newton. Bad taste never looked so good.

By: infinitewindow

infinitewindow — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 20:46:43 -0800

nthing giallo. My favorite is The Girl Who Knew Too Much. It's a great sendup of Rock Hudson, Doris Day and Alfred Hitchcock. Bava and Argento are great directors from this genre.

By: doncoyote

doncoyote — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:09:39 -0800

For big-budget slasher mysteries, I've just two words for you. Two words. Brian DePalma.
See Sisters (1973), starring a young Margot Kidder, and Dressed to Kill (1980) (latter link contains spoilers).

By: beerbajay

beerbajay — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 05:19:12 -0800

As above, giallo films have a lot of this. In particular, you could watch Mario Bava's Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971). This predates the "original" slasher film Black Christmas (which fails your criteria for not having the killer appear onscreen).

By: zebra3

zebra3 — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 07:39:09 -0800

One of my favorites is Intruder, a surprisingly creative slasher film which is tangentially related to Evil Dead* and is set in a supermarket.

*Written and directed by Scott Spiegel, and cowritten by big-shot producer Lawrence Bender, who has a terrific cameo in this with Bruce Campbell. The cast includes Sam and Ted Raimi, and Dan Hicks from Evil Dead II.

By: thebrokenmuse

thebrokenmuse — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 21:31:53 -0800

Seven!

By: unceman

unceman — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 12:42:23 -0800

I would suggest April Fool's Day

By: Caviar

Caviar — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:15:40 -0800

It's been a while since I've seen it, but if I recall correctly, Seven (or, more properly, Se7en) does not fit the bill, as the killer is not a character in the movie other than being the killer.