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For a genre that only really come in into existence a few years before , slashers really make out to carve out a name for themselves in the 1980s . Every undivided year of the ' 80s saw multiple slasher movies discharge and , while they all could n’t reach the heights ofHalloween , many of them actually made a lot of money .
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As for what classifies as a slasher , aside fromBox agency Mojocategorizing them as such , there ’s generally a disguised or shuddery theatrical role killing people , often in gory ways , throughout the runtime . Plenty of time the low grossing ones are still very good , but this mint of high-pitched grossing slasher largely features the big three : Michael Myers , Jason Voorhees , and Freddy Krueger .
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Box Office: $25,504,513
WhenA Nightmare on Elm Streetcame out in 1984 Wes Craven grapple to plow a nightmare he once had into a share experience with millions , and the motion picture hurt up making jillion as a solution . Robert Englund ’s well - encounter portrayal of Freddy Krueger was quite dissimilar from the other high grossing slasher of the ' 80s in that it was very personality - based . Freddy does n’t just haunt and slash , he has things to say .
Budgeted at $ 1.7 million ( perAFI),A Nightmare on Elm Streetwould up grossing 15 time that amount domestically and made a cultural icon out of Freddy Krueger . New Line Cinema existed beforeA Nightmare on Elm Street , but the success of the film , and its continuation , lead to the studio rightly being referred to as " The house that Freddy built . "
Halloween II (1981)
Box Office: $25,533,818
Set on the same night as 1978’sHalloween , this continuation continues the Michael Myers execution saga . Jamie Lee Curtis return as Laurie Strode , but she spends most of the pic recover in a hospital room ( a story option that 2021’sHalloween Killsrepeats ) . John Carpenter ’s booze - fueled writing process and worldwide disinterest in the subsequence , as detailed byVulture , are well known , but money is money .
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While it did n’t fit the master in response or profits , ultimatelyHalloween II ’s budget of $ 2.5 million ( viaAFI ) was made back 10 metre over , earning the studio apartment a pretty cent . The otherHalloweenmovies unloosen in the ' 80s delivered diminishing retort , but the franchise eventually rebounded and hasHalloween Endsscheduled for release this October ( perScreen Rant ) .
A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)
Box Office: $29,999,213
open less than a year after the first film debut , this sequel in reality manage to earn more at the box office than the original - a uncommon accomplishment . With a male lead in Mark Patton ( an outlier for a slasher ) andqueer subtext , A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 : Freddy ’s Revengeis wide known as one of the gayest horror moving picture ever made . There ’s even a documentary , 2019’sScream , Queen ! My Nightmare on Elm Street , about its homoeroticism .
This $ 2.5 million output ( perAFI ) move on to make 12 time the budget and cemented Freddy Krueger ’s money - making value to New Line Cinema . Despite this pic ’s achiever , none of these characters reappear in any future installments , making this the sole film of the serial with the only repetition character being Freddy himself .
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Box Office: $32,980,880
Friday the 13th ’s fourth installment is largely experience as the one with Corey Feldman as Tommy Jarvis , but die - hard fan also remember it for the proceeds of make - up legend Tom Savini ( previously fromFriday the 13th ) . It was as pop with movie critic as a panga to the face , but these pic are n’t made for the Siskel & Eberts of the man .
Despite the decisiveness of the cinema ’s claim , Friday the 13th : The Final Chapterproved to be far from the terminal . A sequel actually do out less than a twelvemonth after this one opened , because when a movie make 15 times its $ 2.2 million budget ( viaAFI ) there will absolutely be another one .
Child’s Play (1988)
Box Office: $33,244,684
Chucky carves out a spot for himself on the lean of highest - grossing slasher of the ' 80s with the one and onlyChild ’s Playmovie released that decade . Of all ' 80 slasher , theChild ’s Play / Chuckyseries is the only one still work up on the original persistence thanks to author / director Don Mancini , who has been with the enfranchisement since day one . The 2019 reboot is de jure a separate beast , so it is n’t included .
In contrast to the rather tiny budgets of most slashers on this listing , fry ’s Playcost around $ 13 million to produce ( perAFI ) . Even with that comparatively huge budget , it earned enough to kick off a seven movie and one TV series dealership that ’s still chug along today ( ChuckyS2 premieres later this year ) . The compounding of the creepy doll and Brad Dourif ’s foul - mouthed interpreter work turned out to have quite the staying business leader .
Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Box Office: $34,581,519
Friday the 13th Part IIIis famous for being the sequel that render Jason his hockey game mask ( as oppose to the silly chemise he fag on his fountainhead antecedently ) . This is also the only time a director returned to do a secondFriday the 13thfilm , so Steve Miner actually ended up being responsible for both bringing adult Orcinus orca Jason in the premix as well as his iconic smell .
Related : Ranking Every Friday The 12th Movie According To Rotten Tomatoes
AlthoughFriday the 13thhad already jump the sharkmultiple time by this point , Part IIImanaged to ricochet back up to almost $ 35 million after Part 2 topped out with just under $ 22 million . So , while the dated 3D effects are mostly just good for a laugh nowadays , the gimmick proved rather effective at the time .
Psycho II (1983)
Box Office: $34,725,000
subsequence might be commonplace today , butPsycho IIcoming out 23 long time afterPsychowas a pioneer in that regard . Anthony Perkins and Vera Miles both give back from the 1960 Hitchcock classic , but some of the originative choices in esteem to how Miles ' character was written might leave a tough aftertaste for fan of the original .
Related:10 Movies & TV Scenes That Parody Alfred Hitchcock ’s Psycho
Whilenot a unequalled repugnance movie premiss , on a $ 4 million budget ( perAFI)Psycho IIwas able-bodied to ride that slasher frenzy and egregious more than enough to justify 1986’sPsycho III.That installment proved to be less golden , making well less than one-half of this while be doubly as much to bring forth , according to theAFI .
Friday the 13th (1980)
Box Office: $39,754,601
If there was any doubt about slashers being a profitable writing style after 1978’sHalloweenmade an obscene amount of money , Friday the 13thlaid those concerns to rest with a bloody arrow through Kevin Bacon ’s throat . As far as gore and consistency count go , Friday the 13thdefinitely set the touchstone for cheap and profitable slasher fare for class to come - and even features asomewhat sympathetic horror movie villain .
Produced for just $ 650,000 ( viaAFI ) , Sean Cunningham ’s tale of coterie counselors being diagrammatically off went on to make over 61 times its budget . That ’s a ridiculous homecoming on investing that nobody could have ever prefigure , but many tried to replicate .
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
Box Office: $44,793,222
A third film was inevitable after the winner of the first two , but with Heather Langenkamp returning as Nancy and Wes Craven bring back as a writer , A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 : Dream Warriorshad a couple of thing working in its party favour . Having a young Laurence Fishburne ( or " Larry " as he ’s credit here ) did n’t ache , either .
Even with an increased budget of about $ 4.5 million ( perAFI ) , the moving-picture show made 10 clip its cost and grapple to increase in gross from the previous motion-picture show once again . No other horror enfranchisement of the ' 80s ( or ever , really ) displayed as much upward mobility .
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
Box Office: $49,369,899
With the phone number one spot , A Nightmare on Elm Street : The Dream Masteris the 4th film from this franchise to place in the ranking of highest - gross ' 80 slasher . Turns outA Nightmare on Elm Streetwas able to increase in staring one last time , hit it the unrivaled king of horror dealership growing .
With a budget of $ 6.5 million ( viaAFI ) , this was the most expensive film to produce so far , but base on the huge success of the previous three it was almost a certain affair . Even though the twenty percent of the serial crashed down to about 22 million the following year , New Line Cinema was already " The household that Freddy ramp up " and nothing could take that off .
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