Intruder (1989)
It was thousands of years from the time of cave paintings until Leonardo created Mona Lisa and the great innovation of portrait painting. Thousands of years from the first banging on primitive drums to Beethovenโs Fifth and the glories of symphonic music.
But, as Joe Bob points out, it took less than a century from the start of motion pictures until artists reached the mountain top, the apex of motion picture achievement: the Slasher.
Aprilโs Last Drive-In celebrated what JB argues is not just an important sub-genre of horror, but one of the great accomplishments of Western Civilization: Slasher Night.
Joe Bob, with a chart (of course) notes the six technological achievements that needed to take place before slashers were possible โ the kinescope (moving pictures), the close-up, the upper torso shot, sound, latex, and, perhaps most importantly, Herschel Gordon Lewisโ creation of fake blood in 1963. Even with these vital pieces in place, a decade would take place before the first real Slasher was made.
What was that film? Not surprisingly, JB took his sweet time to get around to giving his personal pick for First Slasher.
First, to Darcyโs consternation, he wanted to give the history of the Pre-Slasher. He argued that though some films set the stage for the proper Slasher, they werenโt proper slashers themselves.
Three films didnโt qualify according to Joe Bobโs standards. For instance, Psycho was disqualified for its low body count. Peeping Tom has the liability of a killer who wants to be merciful. And Black Christmas had too much off-screen killing.
To, um, simplify things, he brought out a list of 24 things a film needs to qualify as a Slasher, revealing the qualities in a random order through the night.
But before he could get too deep in that list, he had to introduce the first feature of the night, 1989โs Intruder, which Joe Bob described as the best 1981 Slasher film made in 1989.
Darcy noted that this was some kind of record with Joe Bob getting to a feature introduction in less than ten minutes. Intruder was written and directed by Scott Spiegel, part of the Michigan Movie Mafia, a friend of the Rami Brothers (Sam and Ted are featured in the film), of Bruce Campbell (an actor featured in the film), and the Coen Brothers (who seemed to steer well clear of this film).
On JBโs list of Slasher elements, #8 was Camp, Campus, or Country, which was very close to #4, an isolated location. Joe Bob argued that a grocery store, after hours the night before it was permanently closed, qualified. Most importantly, the market is full of tools for grisly deaths, as we see in Joe Bobโs Drive-In Totals for Intruder:
In a Violent Nature (2024)
Early on, JB seemed to regret not adding โnekkidnessโ to the list of Slasher Essentials. Both features of the night kept their characters clothed, and both were penalized with half star deductions.
Joe Bob finally announced his pick for the first Slasher film: 1973โs Torso. Far be it from me to question the patriotism of our beloved host, but he chose an Eye-Talian film as the first Slasher. For those who consider Slashers, like Jazz, to be uniquely American, this might be a hard pill to swallow, but Darcy agreed that the Giallo genre and the Slasher genre are absolutely compatible.
Continuing his lecture on the history of the Slasher, JB highlighted the 1980s as the Golden Age (which kicked off just a couple years early in 1978 with Halloween) with Friday the 13th, Prom Night, My Bloody Valentine, Terror Train, and so many more. But Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984 introduced an explicit supernatural element to Slashers (though the Bogeyman nature of Michael Myers had provided a hint of it).
Scream in 1996 introduced a meta element to the Slasher. Joe Bob was greatly concerned it opened the door to comedy and parody, which he felt was incompatible with Slashers in their purest state. And that brought us to now, the age of the Neo-slasher, typified by such films as the Terrifier franchise and the eveningโs second feature โ In a Violent Nature.
Joe Bob argued that Neo-slashers are really just good old fashioned Slashers. And thatโs what the second feature is. In a Violent Nature was praised by critics for three features: a unique POV (the perspective of the killer), quality kills, and exceptional cinematography. Darcy says she introduces it as the โwalking movieโ because of the endless shots of the killer ambling through the woods.
You do need really need to watch to see all of Joe Bobโs Slasher essentials, but for now, here are the totals for the second feature:
