Wiktionary
n. (alternative name of: slasher movie)
Wikipedia
Slasher films are a subgenre of horror films, typically involving a serial killer murdering several victims, usually with bladed tools in somewhat a game of cat and mouse. Although the term "slasher" is sometimes used informally as a generic term for any horror movie involving murder, analysts of the genre cite an established set of characteristics which allegedly set these films apart from other horror subgenres, such as splatter films and psychological horror films.
Some critics cite Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) as an early influential "slasher" film, and most believe that the genre's peak occurred in American films released during the 1970s and 1980s. These classic slasher films include Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), Victor Miller and Sean S. Cunningham's Friday the 13th (1980), Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and Don Mancini and Tom Holland's Child's Play (1988). Wes Craven's satirical film Scream (1996) revived public interest in the genre, and several of the original slasher franchises were rebooted in the years following the release of Scream.
Many films in the slasher genre continue to attract cult followings.
Usage examples of "slasher film".
Now Gerri is sharing her drink and Tommy is deconstructing an ironic slasher film -- or is it merely a lengthy joke?
She'd sold a couple of short stories to magazines that paid in copies and criticism, two or three magazine articles for three-figure paybacks, and one lamentable concept for a slasher film that never got beyond the talking stage.