By chef's knife, by machete, by razor glove, bye bye: The four types of slasher movie villains

But which one does a slasher movie feature the most? Read on to find out.

Since today marks this year’s only Friday the 13th, and also when arthouse slasher film “In A Violent Nature” debuts on horror streaming service Shudder, it’s time to take a look at different kinds of slasher villains.

While I enjoy watching slasher movies, they’re very formulaic due to all having similar plots, characters and death scenes. They’re mostly derivative of the subgenre’s three most seminal films: “Halloween” (1978), “Friday The 13th” (1980) and “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984). I divided the villains into these categories: Suburban Shark, Anonymous Avenger, Deformed Destroyer and Paranormal Prankster.

Suburban Shark

Pictured clockwise from top left: Fictional murderers Michael Myers, Russ Thorn, Terry Simmons and Billy Chapman from “Halloween” (1978), “The Slumber Party Massacre” (1982), “Blood Rage” and “Silent Night, Deadly Night” respectively.

Inspired by: Michael Myers from the “Halloween” franchise. 

Description: Usually, these villains have vague motives and backstories. Outside of a couple of exceptions, they’re mental institution escapees who make an ordinary neighborhood their hunting grounds. They act in robotic or instinctual ways, walking very slowly towards potential victims. Unlike Myers himself, Suburban Sharks talk at certain points during their movies. Setting the template for the other types to follow, it takes much more than gunshots to bring them down.

Anonymous Avenger

Pictured clockwise from top left: Fictional murderers Pamela Voorhees, Ghostface, The Miner and Angela Baker from the “Friday the 13th” and “Scream” franchises, “My Bloody Valentine” (1981) and “Sleepaway Camp” respectively.

Inspired by: Pamela Voorhees from the “Friday the 13th” franchise. 

Description: Revenge motivates an Anonymous Avenger to take action against those who wronged them. A movie’s opening scene sets up a group of participants in a tragic accident or prank. The vengeful killer now goes after them in a location away from civilization, like a forest or coal mine. After the initial attacks, a mystery builds around who of the main character’s friends and family is the culprit. Out of the four, this is the only one where there could be more than one person behind the mask.

The Deformed Destroyer

Pictured clockwise from top left: Fictional murderers Jason Voorhees, Victor Crowley, Madman Marz and Cropsy from the “Friday the 13th” and “Hatchet” franchises, “Madman” and “The Burning” respectively.

Inspired by: Jason Voorhees from the “Friday the 13th” franchise. 

Description: A disfigured visage, territorial nature and hulking build define what a Deformed Destroyer is. Their domain is usually the wilderness, but it can also be a sorority house (“The House on Sorority Row”) or a creepy mansion (“Hell Night”). Each of their films explore their demented lair, found deep within the location they prowl. When a group trespass on the area, this villain shows them a twisted form of hospitality.

The Paranormal Prankster

Pictured clockwise from top left: Fictional murderers Freddy Krueger, Chucky, Mary Lou Maloney and Horace Pinker from the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Child’s Play” franchises, “Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II,” and “Shocker” respectively.

Inspired by: Freddy Krueger from the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise. 

Description: Paranormal Pranksters personify the phrase “when bad becomes worse.” Depicted as horrible people when they were alive, they become almost unstoppable supernatural forces after dying, tormenting victims with special effects-laden death scenes. Becoming an unholy abomination doesn’t remove their sense of humor because one of their corny one-liners caps off each kill. 

Based on the dozens of slashers I’ve seen, they feature Anonymous Avengers the most. An Anonymous Avenger’s frequent usage boils down to the others requiring more elaborate effects to demonstrate the killer’s abnormal nature, while the former is typically a human being. Their films’ whodunit tropes have roots in the similar Italian giallo subgenre as well. I might follow this up soon with another post about different alien invasions in cinema.