Editing Slasher film (section)

==1984–1995: Direct-to-video films and franchises==
Despite ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street]]''<nowiki/>'s success, fatigue hit the slasher genre, and its popularity had declined substantially. The home video revolution, fueled by the popularity of [[VHS]], provided a new outlet for [[low-budget film]]making. Without [[major studios|major studio]] backing for theatrical release, slasher films became second only to pornography in the home video market. The drop in budgets to accommodate a more economic approach was usually met with a decline in quality. Holdovers filmed during the Golden Age such as ''[[Too Scared to Scream]]'' (filmed in 1981, released in 1985), ''[[The Mutilator]]'' (filmed in 1984, released in 1985), ''[[Blood Rage]]'' (filmed in 1983, released in 1987), ''[[Killer Party]]'' (filmed in 1984, released in 1986) and ''[[Mountaintop Motel Massacre]]'' (filmed in 1983, released in 1986) found video distribution.

Mirroring the [[punk rock]] movement, novice filmmakers proved anyone could make a movie on home video, resulting in shot-on-video slashers ''[[Blood Cult]]'' (1985), ''The Ripper'' (1985), ''Spine'' (1986), ''[[Truth or Dare? (film)|Truth or Dare?]]'' (1986), ''[[Killer Workout]]'' (1987), and ''[[Death Spa]]'' (1989).{{sfn|Kerswell|2012|pages=156–157}} Lesser-known horror properties ''[[Sleepaway Camp (film series)|Sleepaway Camp]]'', ''[[Massacre (film series)|The Slumber Party Massacre]]'' and ''[[Silent Night, Deadly Night (franchise)|Silent Night, Deadly Night]]'' became series on home video. ''[[The Hills Have Eyes Part 2]]'' (1985) and ''[[Friday the 13th: A New Beginning]]'' (1985) were theatrically released but neither film was embraced by fans or critics and took steep box office declines from their predecessors; still, ''Friday the 13th: A New Beginning'' was a modest hit opening at the top of the box office and finishing its run with 6.2&nbsp;million admissions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Friday the 13th: A New Beginning |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0089173/ |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=Box Office Mojo}}</ref> Rushed into production, ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge]]'' (1985) became the highest grossing horror film of 1985. The success of the first two ''Elm Street'' films inspired a wave of "dream" slashers that included ''Dreamaniac'' (1986), ''[[Bad Dreams (film)|Bad Dreams]]'' (1988), ''[[Deadly Dreams]]'' (1988), and ''[[Dream Demon]]'' (1988). Of those films, ''Bad Dreams'' was a minor hit with 2.4&nbsp;million admissions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bad Dreams |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0094701/ |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=Box Office Mojo}}</ref>

[[Paramount Pictures]] released the parody ''[[April Fool's Day (1986 film)|April Fool's Day]]'' (1986) with hopes to start a sister series to its ''Friday the 13th'' property, though the film's modest 3.5&nbsp;million admissions never led to a series.<ref>{{Cite web |title=April Fool's Day |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0090655/ |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=Box Office Mojo}}</ref> Three other [[Parody science|spoofs]], ''[[Evil Laugh]]'' (1986), ''[[The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2]]'' (1986) and ''[[Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives]]'' (1986), were box office disappointments; ''Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2'' sold just 2&nbsp;million tickets while ''Jason Lives'' sold 5.2&nbsp;million, both significantly down from their predecessors.{{sfn|Kerswell|2012|pages=158–159}} The [[home video]] market saw the output of low-budget, tongue-in-cheek slashers like ''[[Stripped to Kill]]'' (1987), ''[[Return to Horror High]]'' (1987), and ''[[Killer Workout]]'' (1987), and previous franchises forgoing theaters for [[direct-to-video]] [[self-parody]] sequels in ''[[Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II]]'' (1987), ''[[Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2]]'' (1987), ''[[Slumber Party Massacre II]]'' (1987), ''[[Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers]]'' (1988), and ''[[Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland]]'' (1989).

Trying to cater the public of adult action thrillers that were popular in the 1980s, [[Sylvester Stallone]]'s cop-thriller ''[[Cobra (1986 film)|Cobra]]'' (1986) is a thinly-veiled slasher film advertised as an action movie, and sold 13.2&nbsp;million tickets. The home video market made stars out of [[character actor]]s such as [[Terry O'Quinn]] and [[Bruce Campbell]], whose respective independent horror-thrillers ''[[The Stepfather (1987 film)|The Stepfather]]'' (1987) and ''[[Maniac Cop]]'' (1988) found more support on home video than in theaters. Quinn returned for ''[[Stepfather II]]'' (1989) but chose not to reprise his role in ''[[Stepfather III]]'' (1992), ''[[Destroyer (1988 film)|Destroyer]]'' (1988), while Campbell followed a similar route with a cameo in ''[[Maniac Cop 2]]'' (1990) and no participation in ''[[Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence]]'' (1993).

The ''Nightmare on Elm Street'' series dominated the late 1980s horror wave, with ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors]]'' (1987) selling 11.5&nbsp;million tickets in North America, and ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master]]'' (1988) following another 12&nbsp;million tickets. By comparison, ''[[Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood]]'' (1988) and ''[[Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers]]'' (1988) sold approximately 4.5&nbsp;million tickets each, less than half of the ''Elm Street'' films. The personality-driven appeal of [[Freddy Krueger]] was not lost on filmmakers, as characters like [[Chucky (Child's Play)|Chucky]] and Candyman were given ample dialogue and placed in urban settings that had largely been ignored by the Golden Age. Chucky's ''[[Child's Play (1988 film)|Child's Play]]'' (1988) and [[Child's Play 2|its 1990 sequel]] sold over 14.7&nbsp;million tickets combined, while ''[[Candyman (1992 film)|Candyman]]'' (1992) sold a healthy 6.2&nbsp;million. Both series fell out rather quickly, when ''[[Child's Play 3]]'' (1991) selling only 3.5&nbsp;million tickets in North America and ''[[Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh]]'' (1995) selling only 3.2&nbsp;million.{{sfn|Kerswell|2012|pages=159–161}}

Internationally, the slasher film remained profitable. Mexico released ''[[Zombie Apocalypse]]'' (1985), ''Don't Panic'' (1988), ''[[Grave Robbers (film)|Grave Robbers]]'' (1990) and ''Hell's Trap'' (1990). Europe saw releases from Sweden's ''Blood Tracks'' (1985), The United Kingdom's ''Lucifer'' (1987), Spain's ''[[Anguish (1987 film)|Anguish]]'' (1987), Italy's ''[[Stage Fright (1987 film)|StageFright]]'' (1987), ''[[Body Count (1987 film)|BodyCount]]'' (1987) and Dutch slasher [[Amsterdamned]] (1988). In the Pacific, Australia released ''Symphony of Evil'' (1987), ''[[Houseboat Horror]]'' (1989), and ''[[Bloodmoon (1990 film)|Bloodmoon]]'' (1990), while Japan released ''[[Evil Dead Trap]]'' (1988).{{sfn|Kerswell|2012|pages=166–168}}

By 1989 the major series had faded from public interest, resulting in box office failures from ''[[Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan]]'', ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child]],'' and ''[[Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers]]''.{{sfn|Kerswell|2012|p=161}} ''The Dream Child''<nowiki/>'s 5.6&nbsp;million tickets were a sharp decline, while ''Jason Takes Manhattan'' and ''The Revenge of Michael Myers'' each sold roughly 3&nbsp;million tickets. Due to the declining ticket sales, rights to the ''Friday the 13th'' and ''Halloween'' series were sold to [[New Line Cinema]] and [[Miramax|Miramax Films]], respectively. Now owning both the [[Jason Voorhees]] and [[Freddy Krueger]] characters, New Line would look into a series-crossover event film. ''[[Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare]]'' (1991) and ''[[Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday]]'' (1993) began this crossover series, but profit losses from both films stalled the project for a decade. ''[[Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers]]'' (1995) was released under Miramax's [[Dimension Films]] banner to negative fan reaction and a weak box office, forcing its producers to reboot the franchise with the next entry.{{sfn|Kerswell|2012|p=165}}