Top 10 Slasher Films SINCE 'PSYCHO.'

"Psycho" had its New York City premiere on this day in 1960.

Top 10 Slasher Films SINCE "Psycho"

On this day in 1960, director Alfred Hitchcock's first horror film, which turned out to be a cinematic masterpiece, had its New York City premiere. Renowned for its now infamous shower scene, and for being the first American motion picture to show a toilet bowl being flushed on screen, "Psycho" was nominated for four Academy Awards.

And more importantly, "Psycho" became known as the father of Slasher films, inspiring an entire new sub-genre to be enjoyed by avid fans of the macabre.

Following "Psycho," there were a number of films that began to push the boundaries of the horror genre. Films like Splatter innovator Herschell Gordon Lewis' "Blood Feast" (1963) and "Two Thousand Maniacs!" (1964), as well as "Hands of the Ripper" (1971), began weaving tales of maniacs stalking unsuspecting victims.

In recognition of the day, and in honor of one cinema's most significant works, here is a look at my Top 10 Slasher films chronologically since "Psycho."

10) "The Last House on the Left" (1972) -- Touted by most as an egregious film, which is more often dubbed an exploitation movie than a slasher flick, "The Last House on the Left" is a dementedly clever and realistic look at everyday life via the horror genre. It feels more like a snuff picture, and "The Last House on the Left" follows the abduction, torture and deaths of two teenage girls by a pack of homicidal maniacs. One of the most gut-wrenching scenes is the on-screen disembowelment of Phyllis Stone (Lucy Grantham). It is a disturbing sequence to try and stomach, even by today's movie magic standards. This project was helmed by two of horror's upcoming masters: Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street) wrote and directed the film and Sean S. Cunningham (Friday the 13th) served as the producer. This motion picture helped both future titans of terror closer to their respective bloody destinies.

9) "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974) -- Filmmaker Tobe Hooper was inspired to create one of the cinema's most memorable slasher pictures after a trip to a congested shopping mall. Hooper wanted to get away from the crowds and he spotted a display of chainsaws in the hardware department. 40 years later, audiences are still inundated by bloody images of the film's antagonist Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) and his psychopathic brood of carnivores. "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" became the first film, since "Psycho," to go on and blossom into a franchise. The saga includes seven films that are a mixture of remakes, reboots and sequels.

8) "Black Christmas" (1974 -- This film is often overlooked, particularly for "Halloween" (1978), but "Black Christmas" is the prototype for slasher films that dominated the 1980s. The movie is directed by the same man responsible for "A Christmas Story" (1983) -- Bob Clark. A sorority house full of beautiful women is terrorized by a mysterious killer, and the cast includes Olivia Hussey (Romeo and Juliet, Psycho IV and It), Margot Kidder (Superman), John Saxon (Enter the Dragon, A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Andrea Martin. It's a dark venture that leaves audiences stunned, with an untraditional finale, as the villain escapes justice in the end.

7) "Halloween" (1978) -- John Carpenter's cinematic tour de force is widely regarded as the first modern day slasher film, directly influenced and inspired by "Psycho." Produced for only $300,000, "Halloween" has grossed $47 million in domestic box office. Ironically, lead actress Jamie Lee Curtis is the daughter of "Psycho's" Janet Leigh. Not only did "Halloween" help perpetuate the genre, but it launched a franchise consisting of 10 motion pictures grossing over $308 million in the U.S. And despite essentially being a bloodless film, "Halloween" remains one of the most satisfying and scary pictures in the annals of the genre.

6) "Friday the 13th" (1980) -- The old cliché of imitation is the sincerest form of flattery truly applies here. Screenwriter Victor Miller has said in numerous interviews that producer Sean S. Cunningham came to him and said that "Halloween" was making a ton of money and we're going to rip it off. And while Cunningham's project did follow a template that emerged from "Halloween," "Friday the 13th" did up the ante when it comes to gore, effectively adding splatter to the slasher film. The picture also initiated another successful franchise, consisting of 12 films and a television series to date. Watch for a new "Friday the 13th" film in the fall of 2015, as well as a new television series in the coming year.

5) "The Shining" (1980) -- Although it is not regarded as a slasher film by all, "The Shining" is the more closely related to "Psycho" than any of the other movies so far on our countdown. And although the circumstances are vastly difference, "The Shining" gives audiences another deeply disturbed individual that slowly slips into the hands of madness. Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) goes from troubled father to raving axe-wielding lunatic in just over two hours. This film, which is based on the novel by Stephen King, remains one of the most intriguing and suspenseful horror films of all time. Despite its limited violence, "The Shining" uses ghastly imagery and brilliant storytelling to, in the words of King himself, "Scare the hell out of you."

4) "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984) -- Filmmaker Wes Craven created one of cinema's most memorable baddies, Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), and added a unique element of fantasy to the slasher genre. Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) and her friends are tormented by Fred Krueger in their dreams. But these aren't ordinary nightmares. If you die in your sleep, you die for real. The film marks the screen debut of A-List actor Johnny Depp, and the movie spawned seven sequels and a 2010 remake.

3) "Hellraiser" (1987) -- Filmmaker Clive Barker took the slasher movie to a whole new level, as he also blended fantasy and horror in the original "Hellraiser." But Barker, much like Craven did in "The Last House on the Left," poured on the gore and blood to disturb audiences. After being summoned by the box, Pinhead (Doug Bradley), and his Cenobites, terrorize young Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) in grizzly and imaginative ways. However, Pinhead finally exacts revenge on Kirsty's notorious uncle Frank (Sean Chapman), who is the real villain of the plot. "Hellreaiser" cemented the hybrid slasher/splatter movie in modern day horror, and the film spawned a huge franchise boasting nine pictures.

2) "Scream" (1996) -- Wes Craven continued to show his mastery of the horror genre with "Scream," which is tribute to the slasher films that came before. In this story, two demented teenagers played by Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard terrorize the lovely Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her friends by using the "rules" that pertain to making horror films in order to make their own real-life slasher movie. The villainous Ghostface (Ulrich and Lillard) scared up a franchise of four films over 15 years and actors Courteney Cox and David Arquette, along with Campbell, reprised their popular protagonist roles in all three sequels.

1) "American Psycho" (2000) -- Based on the novel of the same name by author Bret Easton Ellis, "American Psycho" blends a tantalizing story, set in the late 1980s, with a tremendously flawed antagonist, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale). The film is one of the most intelligently written and disturbing slasher films of the modern era. Bale's performance is one worthy of an Oscar, and while the film is loaded with blood and guts, it's the fact that Bateman knows he is crazy that is the most frightening element. As Bateman alludes to in his closing monologue, "There is no catharsis." Unlike "Psycho" and "The Shining," the villain is not apprehended. Audiences assume his demented fixation with fashion, food; fornicating and frightfulness continue long after the movie fades to black.