slasher genre conventions

alfred hitchcocks PSYCHO led the way for more killer films in the '60s, including, MANIAC, SATAN'S BED & STRAIT JACKET. While most of these didn't fit the traditional mold of the slasher genre, they wouldn't have been made if not for the success of PSYCHO.

Though it didnt really catch on until 1976, THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE directed by Tobe Hooper was released in 1974 and the slasher genre changed forever.THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE  is about of a group of teens who wind up in a backwoods town where they're slaughtered.  it was this movie that redefined the genre with its sick and twisted subject matter. also it never actually happened, as the ad campaign claimed.

in 1975 BLACK CHRISTMAS directed by Bob Clark was released. .BLACK CHRISTMAS is about the events that take place over three days around Christmas in a girl's sorority house when a madman, breaks in and begins killing off the girls. This was the first horror film to star John Saxon, who went on to make many more horror appearances, including roles in three of the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET films.
What makes BLACK CHRISTMAS so crucial to the genre is that it established things that would quickly go on to be imitated by lots of other films to follow. there was the use of the camera as the killer's point of view (often HALLOWEEN is credited as the first film to use this method, and it went on to be used endlessly in the FRIDAY THE 13th films). also We never learn the motivation of the killer -- which makes the film a little scarier... and again, this was copied in films that followed for example HALLOWEEN.

in 1978 John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN was released.15 years after teenager Michael Myers was locked away for the brutal, murder of his older sister, he escapes from the asylum and stalks a group of teenage girls. like Hitchcock had done in psycho , John Carpenter's slasher relies more on scares than gore as there's very little blood or graphic violence in the film.
It took some time for HALLOWEEN to find its audience (though not years like with the TEXAS CHAIN SAW massacre ). people started to pay attention to halloween even though it featured no major stars. The big studios, who hadnt payed much attention to the slashers until now, realised that they could make a large profit. the market was filled with imitators including PROM NIGHT and TERROR TRAIN. several films exploited HALLOWEEN star Jamie Lee Curtis (whose mother, Janet Leigh, was the legendary victim in PSYCHO),

in 1980 one of the most popular HALLOWEEN imitators -- FRIDAY THE 13TH was released. A group of camp counselors are stalked and slashed days before the opening of summer camp and from here Camp movies started to be more popular. FRIDAY THE 13TH was an instant hit and opened the floodgates for more slashers.A sequel was released the following year, and since then the friday the 13th franchise has become huge with 12 films altogether, including a remake of the original film which was released in 2009.