Census Bloodbath: Rejects

The following movies are titles that I have rejected from consideration for Census Bloodbath, my project where I watch and review every slasher movie from the 1980s. I have indicated the reasons why these movies (which I have seen listed as slashers by various sources) are not included. If you have strong objections and think they should be included, sound off in the comments. I will not budge on the ones with asterisks by their titles, which I have seen and assessed personally.

1980

The Beasts (1980) - rape-revenge
Blood Beach (1980) - monster movie
Cardiac Arrest (1980) - actually 1979
The Children (1980) - mass pandemonium/supernatural
Deadline (1980) - slasher element not part of main plot
Demented (1980) - rape-revenge
Don’t Open the Door (1980) - actually 1974
The Exterminator (1980) - borderline/vigilante action
House on the Edge of the Park (1980) - borderline/rape-revenge
Macabre (1980)- lacks the right arrangement of killers/victims
Shadows of the Mind (1980) - actually 1979
Vengeance (1980) - gang mayhem

1981

Frozen Scream (1981) - borderline/multiple killers/ zombie killers
Demonoid (1981) - borderline/supernatural/slasher elements too diffuse
Evil + Hate = Killer/Psycho from Texas/The Butcher (1981) - actually 1975
The House by the Cemetery (1981) - too borderline
The Last Motel (1981) - no evidence that this is a real movie
No Place to Hide (1981) - borderline/stalker TV movie/only one kill
The Pit (1981) - monster movie
Southern Comfort (1981) - more Deliverance than slasher

1982

The Black Room (1982) - borderline, not enough active slashing
Curse of Evil (1982) - slasher elements not front-and-center/creature feature/supernatural
Lullaby of Death/Konoko no nanatsu no oiwai ni (1982) - slasher element not front and center
Manhattan Baby (1982) - another Fulci mashup, slasher elements not prominent enough
The Scarecrow (1982) - borderline/murders mostly offscreen
A Stranger Is Watching (1982) - borderline
Terminal Choice (1982) - borderline medical thriller

1983

Dagger Eyes (1983) - borderline giallo/spy movie
Deadly Force (1983) - borderline cop movie
Heartbeat (1983) - not enough active slashing
*The House of the Yellow Carpet (1983) - no active threat/body count too low
Island Fury (1983) - too borderline/slasher elements decentralized/too many killers
The Lift (1983) - more of a supernatural/creature feature
Nightmares (1983) - anthology
Screamtime (1983) - anthology without full slasher connections
Slayground (1983) - borderline/crime movie

1984

Axe (1984) - actually 1974
Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984) - slasher element not front and center
Body Double (1984) - borderline/body count too low
Highway Hypnosis (1984) - trance film with slasher-related flashes
The Sinister Doctor Orloff (1984) - slasher elements not foregrounded
*Sleepwalker (1984) - just a bland drama
*The Terminator (1984) - I completely agree that this doesn’t exist without slasher tropes, but get serious
Tightrope (1984) - borderline/crime movie

1985

Blackout (1985) - inactive killer
By Hook or by Crook/A garrote limpio (1985) - borderline/cop movie
The Comic (1985) - slasher element not front and center
Future-Kill (1985) - borderline/diffuse slasher elements/sci-fi
Gunblast (1985) - borderline/crime thriller/too much gun use
Hellhole (1985) - borderline/women in prison movie
The Island (1985) - too Deliverance-y
*Junior (1985) - rednexploitation
The Mean Season (1985) - borderline/cat-and-mouse thriller/Silence of the Lambs vibes
*Murder Elite (1985) - no consistent kills/threat of murder
Night Train to Terror (1985) - anthology
Terror and Black Lace (1985) - apparently a melodrama with slasher elements/only two kills
Viernes 31 (1985) - not released until the 2020s

1986

Cobra (1986) - borderline/action movie
Devil Story (1986) - slasher elements, but not a full slasher
Entrails of a Virgin (1986) - adult film/slasher elements secondary
Frenchman’s Farm (1986) - slasher not properly active in main storyline
Hands of Steel (1986) - sci-fi/revenge
Misty Darkness (1986) - killer not prominent enough among the villains
The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1986) - borderline/crime mystery/body count too low
Nightmare Weekend (1986) - borderline/sci-fil/lacks singular core killer
The Night Stalker (1986) - borderline/cop movie
Rawhead Rex (1986) - borderline/creature feature
The Seven Vampires (1986) - softcore/too supernatural, not slasher enough
Tracking (1986) - too borderline, only one kill
Wired to Kill (1986) - borderline/sci-fi revenge
Sex with a Stranger (1986) - adult film/slasher elements secondary

1987

Bijo reipu-gari (1987) - adult film/inaccessible
Bloody New Year (1987) - supernatural horror
Demon Queen (1987) - borderline/vampire movie
Hādo reipu (1987) - adult film/inaccessible
Maniac Killer (1987) - killer cult
Miami Vendetta (1987) - cop movie
Rest in Pieces (1987) - cultist killers
Venus Flytrap (1987) - home invasion
Wolf’s Hole (1987) - borderline/not enough slashing

1988

Blood Orgy of the Leather Girls (1988) - too many killers, closer to a mass pandemonium movie
The Boy from Hell (1988) - borderline/supernatural
Brothers in Arms (1988) - Deliverance-y
Captives (1988) - slasher elements not prominent enough in main storyline
Grandmother’s House (1988) - borderline/psychological thriller
Hero and the Terror (1988) - slasher elements are only superficial
Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (1988) - falsely marketed as a proper slasher
The Moonlight Sonata (1988) - lack of kills, not enough victims threatened
The Nostril Picker (1988) - actual release date in question, probably 1993
Primal Rage (1988) - mass pandemonium movie
Prime Evil (1988) - too cult focused
Rabid Grannies (1988) - too borderline

1989

After Midnight (1989) - anthology
Blood Nasty (1989) - borderline/zombie/comedy
The Bloody Video Horror That Made Me Puke on My Aunt Gertrude (1989) - slasher element isn’t active the whole time
Clownhouse (1989) - didn’t have its non-festival debut until 1990
Dark Heritage (1989) - borderline/supernatural/Lovecraftian
Deadly Games/Dial Code Santa Claus (1989) - its non-festival premiere was 1990
Milwaukee Murders (1989) - didn't actually debut on VHS until 1991
Panic in the Forest/Pánico en el bosque (1989) - no consistent murder threat in the middle hour
Parents (1989) - lack of active onscreen kills
Pledge Night (1989) - US debut in 1990
Revenge of the Radioactive Reporter (1989) - more Toxic Avenger than proper slasher
Satan’s Storybook (1989) - anthology
Vacation of Terror (1989) - supernatural/slasher elements not prominent enough