You know Michael Myers. You know Jason Voorhees. You know Freddy Krueger. But what about the killers, creeps, psychos, maniacs, and masked lunatics who never got a sequel of their own? Or if they did, they’re usually only brought up as answers to questions during horror trivia?
Slasher Trash is the new documentary from CREATORVC, the company behind fan-favorite documentaries like In Search of Darkness, The Thing Expanded, and Aliens Expanded. The new doc goes four hours deep, digging up the slashers made far from the polished studio franchises that defined the Golden Age during the late 1970s and 1980s.
After the massive successes found with films like Halloween and Friday the 13th, the floodgates opened for filmmakers eager to put their own killers on screen. We’re talking regional oddities, DIY-or-die backyard productions, international offerings, forgotten video-store discoveries, and cult movies that have somehow survived decades of obscurity without a Spirit Halloween product line. Not all of those movies were “good,” but that’s kind of the point.
You don’t need a horror documentary to tell you that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which is set to have a new installment from Obsession director Curry Barker in the near future, exists.
You might, however, need a documentary to confirm that the weird movie you discovered at 2 a.m. on a grainy VHS tape rented by your cool cousin and spent the next 20 years wondering whether you had actually seen it, was real. (For me, it was 1981’s Night School, but I don’t know what YOUR cousin was up to.)
FANGORIA is proud to present the exclusive trailer for the film, which features a heck of a lot of footage from Sleepaway Camp, so you KNOW I’m thrilled.
As is customary with CREATORVC documentaries, Slasher Trash features over 30 interviews with filmmakers, actors, and horror experts, including names that should immediately grab horror fans' attention. Maniac director William Lustig, My Bloody Valentine filmmaker George Mihalka, and Prom Night director Paul Lynch all appear, alongside horror icons Caroline Munro, Brinke Stevens, and Lauren-Marie Taylor. Contemporary genre representation is plenty, too. Terrifier star David Howard Thornton, bestselling horror author Grady Hendrix, and Clown in a Cornfield author Adam Cesare weigh in on the subgenre and its enduring appeal.
And to add to the FANGORIA seal of approval, our very own Michael Gingold wrote and directed Slasher Trash. “I came of age during the 1980s, when slasher films were thrilling audiences and horrifying the legions of decency,” Gingold said in the film’s official press release. “These were the movies your parents didn’t want you to see, which of course made us want to see them all the more. Slasher Trash is a celebration of the subversive fun of slasher cinema, and the bizarre and sometimes perverse creativity that often went into a genre frequently accused of being formula-bound.”
Gingold also said that writing and directing the film was “a wonderful trip back in time to this era of no-holds-barred filmmaking,” and a chance to honor some of his personal favorite films and filmmakers, like My Bloody Valentine’s George Mihalka and Alone in the Dark’s Jack Sholder.
“It offers die-hard fans an all-in-one chronicle of their favorite flicks and newcomers a deep dive that will give them plenty of titles to seek out. I hope they all enjoy Slasher Trash as much as I and my terrific team of collaborators have enjoyed putting it together.”
The documentary was made in partnership with Gareth Morgan, creator of the Slasher Trash Facebook community, which has grown to more than 200,000 followers. “As a hardcore slasher fan, there was nothing I wanted to see more than the ultimate documentary on the subgenre – one that celebrates the films we all know and love while shining a light on the lesser-known, more obscure and deep-cut titles that deserve to be rediscovered,” Morgan said in the press release.
“It has been a dream come true to collaborate with award-winning production company CREATORVC and legendary horror journalist Michael Gingold to create Slasher Trash – more than just a documentary, it is a nostalgic love letter to the films, memories and passion that have meant so much to generations of slasher fans.”
As you'd expect from a CREATORVC production, the release is aimed squarely at collectors. The Slasher Trash Collector's Edition includes a Blu-ray with slipcase, poster artwork by Dave Merrell, a movie checklist mini-poster, a certificate of contribution, an extended booklet, and a numbered card, plus a digital copy of the documentary. There's also a particularly fun perk for backers: your name goes into the credits.
Additional upgrades include a Slasher Trash T-shirt and Blu-rays from CREATORVC's other genre documentaries, including In Search of Darkness, The Thing Expanded, Aliens Expanded, and In Search of Tomorrow. Associate Producer, Producer, and Executive Producer credits are also available at higher tiers.
The final pre-sale begins October 8 and runs through November 2, 2026, exclusively through the Slasher Trash website. If you think you've already seen everything the slasher genre has to offer, Slasher Trash is calling your bluff. You may know the classics, but now it’s time to find the weird stuff.
