Casey Chong with a selection of masked killer movies you may have missed…
Masked killers are one of the mainstay characters in the horror genre. And the names that immediately come to mind include Michael Myers in Halloween, Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th and Ghostface in Scream. These iconic characters have become an integral part of pop culture, complete with recurring appearances in their respective movie franchises. But there are plenty of others that got lost in the shuffle, even though some of them have emerged as cult classics, while others are forgotten gems waiting to be rediscovered. Here are the seven lesser-known masked killer movies for your watch list…
Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)
Years before popular slasher movies like Halloween and Friday the 13th ruled the horror scene, here is one of the early looks of the genre that preceded them. Director Alfred Sole infuses his movie with plenty of brutal kills and the eerie introduction of a killer donning a plastic Halloween mask and wearing a yellow raincoat. More than just a serial-killer trope, the movie covers various themes from religion to misplaced faith and dysfunctional family struggles.
At the heart of Alice, Sweet Alice is the titular character herself, played by Paula Sheppard, an estranged 12-year-old girl fueled by rage and jealousy over her mother’s favorable younger sister, Karen (Brooke Shields in her film debut). From here, this is where the mystery thickens with Sole’s sneaky direction, toying with the suspicion of whether Alice is the killer behind the mask right until the eventual sinister reveal. Sheppard made quite a lasting impression playing the Alice character, showcasing her talent as a child prodigy. But she only appeared in her second and last film appearance in Liquid Sky, before she retired from acting altogether.
The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)
Loosely based on the 1946 Texarkana Moonlight Murders, director Charles B. Pierce incorporates slasher horror with a faux documentary approach, complete with Vern Stierman narrating the story in a true crime style. The added docudrama vibe gives The Town That Dreaded Sundown a fresh angle to the story about the small town terrorized by a masked killer. The killer wears a burlap mask with cut-out eyes and doesn’t hesitate to kill the victim with different weapons.
The main antagonist’s silent personality, along with the overall appearance, serves as one of the earlier precursors of the pre-slasher movie boom in the ‘80s era. Save for a few unnecessary fillers of comic relief and a sluggish pace in some parts, The Town That Dreaded Sundown still deserves praise for its dread-inducing atmosphere. At one point, Pierce levels up the violent set pieces by including an unconventional killing scene revolving around the use of a trombone and a knife. The movie spawned a sequel decades later in 2014, albeit in a meta-horror style.
Bruiser (2000)
Some of the non-zombie-related movies from George A. Romero, either forgotten or went under the radar, include the largely ignored Bruiser. It’s a slasher flick but with a heavy dose of pitch-black satire in exploring relevant themes of identity and humiliation. The movie stars Jason Flemyng in a solid game performance as Henry Creedlow, an underappreciated creative director of the titular magazine firm. He often gets taken advantage of by his no-good boss (Peter Stormare), and back home, he has to put up with his unsupportive wife, Rosie (Leslie Hope).
Henry’s life is basically a train wreck and insignificant, triggering a cruel metaphor one day when he looks at the mirror: his face is entirely sealed in a featureless, white “mask” that becomes part of the skin. This leads to his drastic personality changes, prompting him to commit a series of murders. Romero’s unique blend of dark humor and grisly horror violence pairs well with his signature touches on a biting social commentary.
Cry Wolf (2005)
The familiar fable of Aesop’s The Boy Who Cried Wolf gets a contemporary update in the form of a slasher-movie template directed by then-newcomer Jeff Wadlow. The setup is an interesting one: A selected group of prep school students led by the manipulative Dodger (Lindy Booth) convinces newcomer Owen (Julian Morris) to participate in the titular game. The game in question involves spreading widespread rumors across the school by sending a fake email about a masked serial killer hunting down students.
Wadlow, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Beau Bauman, toys with the idea of expectation vs. reality angle, coupled with themes of paranoia and deception. The movie’s whodunit-style mystery also highlights the all-important question: Is the “Wolf” a made-up myth or actually a real one after all? The kills may have lacked the creativity in the gore department, but it’s a wickedly fun little serial-killer thriller with a particularly cruel twist of fate at the end of the movie.
The Conference (2023)
Not every team-building activity is inspiring; some of them can be a waste of time, but in the case of Patrik Eklund’s The Conference, it ends with deadly consequences. This Swedish import of a slasher horror blends dark comedy with uncompromisingly graphic violence and gore. The story? A group of municipal employees gather for a team-building conference, only to end up with one by one getting brutally killed.
It’s gory as hell with a capital “H”, covering everything from stabbing to impaling and decapitation. Not to forget the gruesome hot tub scene that simply tops the list as the movie’s most memorable kills. The nature of its pitch-black slasher comedy reflects well with the idea of introducing a vicious killer preying on the victims in a huge, cartoon-like mask embedded with a permanent smile of a mascot. Eklund also made good use of its wilderness setting, perfectly contrasting the rural beauty with the blood-soaked cruelty of the killer’s murderous spree.
I, Madman (1989)
It’s fiction meets reality in I, Madman, boasting a conceptual premise of an aspiring actress and a bookshop clerk (Jenny Wright), who becomes obsessed over a series of the late author Malcolm Brand’s (Randall William Cook) pulp novels. Her constant daydreaming as a result of immersing deep into the story while reading the book triggers the appearance of the serial killer, Dr. Alan Kessler (also Randall William Cook), straight out of the page.
Director Tibor Takacs, best known for his works in The Gate, combines the overly saturated slasher formula with supernatural elements, film noir and a then-fresh concept of meta horror. Aside from the usual display of gore and violence, Takacs deviates from the standard look and feel of the quintessential ‘80s slasher film at the time, opting to go against the grain by incorporating gothic-heavy atmosphere and noir-style visual palette. Cook excels as a creepy serial killer whose disfigured facial appearance is actually patches of human skin harvested from his murdered victims.
Edge of the Axe (1988)
By the time the late ‘80s arrived, the slasher horror market was already overwhelmed with a flood of similar movies, and a few of them ended up slipping under the radar. Among them is Edge of the Axe, a Spanish-American co-production that barely secured a widespread release back in 1988 (it was released straight to video in the US a year later). The story follows a mysterious axe murderer who stalks and brutally kills the victims in the sleepy Northern California mountain town.
What separates Edge of the Axe from most other slasher movies of that era lies in José Ramón Larraz’s (Vampyres) intriguing blend of giallo-style murder mystery. The kills are brutal, while the clinical introduction of a heartless axe-wielding killer who dons a plain, featureless white mask gives the movie an eerie vibe. The whodunit-style narrative also explores thought-provoking themes of identity and psychological breakdown, complete with a cynical twist at the end of the movie.
What other masked killer movies are worthy of a spot on this list? Be sure to let us know your own recommendations on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Casey Chong
