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When it comes to some of the most beloved horror movies of all time, the slasher genre tends to dominate the list. Whether talking about Freddy Krueger, or Jason Voorhees or any of the other killers that mow through their victims, the slasher flick has a special place in people's hearts for a ton of different reasons. Right at the top of the list is that the killers in these kinds of movies tend to have impressive, over the top personalities. At the same time, most of the killers in these movies with noted exceptions like Freddy and Jason are also completely mortal. That also allows people to be able to root for the killer to eventually go down.

One of the things that has made slasher movies even more interesting is when it's simply not clear who the killer is. Sometimes, such as in the Scream movies, the killer is hanging out with everyone acting like their friends, while also dispatching victims left and right. While slasher movies can provide twists and turns because the killer hides their identity, when the slasher is a woman, the twists and turns are even more fun because a woman killer is still pretty rare. When the baddie is unmasked, it's always a special twist and turn to have it be a woman.

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Friday the 13th

friday the 13th mrs voorhees

In the original Friday the 13th, there was quite a bit of killing going on and for most of the movie, the film did a very good job of keeping the killer under wraps. In fact, audiences thought they had figured out exactly who was doing all the damage. It was thought that Jason Voorhees was a demented monster that was killing people for kicks and because they were getting up to no good like drugs and alcohol. In fact, while Jason has become one of the most iconic movie killers in the history of cinema, most people understand that he wasn't the big bad in the original film.

Jason didn't become the killer until Friday the 13th Part 2 thanks to the fact that it was his mom that started running through bodies like a hot knife through butter. The first movie in the long-running franchise that has now actually been rebooted was a bit of a trail blazer because audiences simply weren't used to see a middle-aged woman, who was really just an overprotective mother running through a summer camp and killing everyone she came across. It was enough of a surprise that "who was the killer in Friday the 13th" is still a trivia question that can trip up even the most devoted slasher horror fans.

Scream 2

scream 2 mrs loomis

In retrospect, fans should have expected Scream 2 to play with the trope of the killer being the woman considering the very first film in that franchise did indeed trip someone up by having them not know that Mrs. Voorhees was the real evil in Friday the 13th's original flick. In fact, what Scream and Scream 2 did was basically what the Voorhees clan did in reverse. While Billy Loomis and his buddy Stu were the killers in the first film, it was a mother who was heartbroken over the death of her psychotic son that decided to unleash havoc in the sequel.

Mrs. Loomis was played by none other than Laurie Metcalf who was still best known for playing Aunt Jackie on Roseanne when Scream 2 hit theaters. Her character in the slasher film first posed as an over the top friendly reporter that just wanted to try and learn how to cover serial killers like Ghostface. She was annoying enough and chipper enough that she tricked the gang into thinking she was entirely helpless. Of course the other reason why she was such a great choice because it explained why Bill Loomis was such a psycho in the original Scream.

Urban Legend

Urban Legend

Urban Legend was sort of an off-brand Scream as it included a group of friends who were all in college together and were being killed off one by one. Also like Scream, it featured a killer that was actually among the group of friends, however, that's where the movie's similarities ended and this slasher film found its own footing. While it wasn't the best movie horror movie ever made, it did forge an interesting path as the victims were killed off one by one using different kinds of urban legends like the one where there was a hook hand killer, or the famous "aren't you glad you didn't turn on the lights?" kill in the college dorm room.

While the film didn't get as big as Scream, it did have plenty of big stars when they were much younger including Jared Leto, Rebecca Gayheart, Tara Reid and Joshua Jackson. Gayheart does put a very nice spin on the murderous female co-ed who actually ends up living through the film's crescendo and then moving to another college where it appears she's going to be starting her crime spree all over again.

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane

All The Boys Love Mandy Lane

While Amber Heard is making headlines for very different reasons these days, there was a time when she was a rising star and one of the movies that was separating her from the pack was All the Boys Love Mandy Lane. This teen slasher involves a group of high school friends going to a party with Heard's Amber Lane being the object of lust and desire from all the guys at school. It turns out that Mandy is not quite the wholesome cheerleader she appears to be, and is instead a mass murderer.

The Babysitter

The Babysitter

The Babysitter was never meant for the big screen as it was a Netflix original but still manages to set itself apart thanks to the misdirect that happens about a third of the way into the movie. It stars the actress that is becoming a bit of a scream queen in Samara Weaving.

Weaving played the titular character who first seems like a very loving and supportive babysitter who is taking care of a kid who has some personality problems. It turns out that she's actually a devil-worshipping killer who hangs out with other devil-worshipping killers. The Netflix original movie has some thrills and chills and also has some laughs and a cast that is quite likable even if most of them are trying to kill everyone they run across.

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