9 Whodunit Slasher Movies To Watch If You Want To Test Your Skills At Guessing The Killer’s Identity
Everybody’s a suspect!
The slasher subgenre is filled with whodunit horror movies that combine the stalking and killing of victims with a focus on the mystery of the perpetrator’s identity. Not every slasher movie is a murder mystery, sometimes we already know the identity of the killer (Chucky/Charles Lee Ray in the Child’s Play franchise), or the killer’s identity is someone who the audience has never met (the original Friday the 13th) or the killer’s identity is just unimportant (Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). This list catalogs movies that are both slashers and a whodunit. If you like to guess who the killer might be, queue these movies up and channel your inner Sherlock Holmes.
Presented with no spoilers:
Scream (1996)
There is a big emphasis in Scream on determining the identity of the Ghostface killer. The characters are aware of horror movie tropes and use them to debate different ideas about who the killer might be. The surprising reveal of who is wearing the mask is one of the reasons Scream is an enduring classic.
Urban Legend (1998)
When murders based on urban legends start killing college students, one group of friends seem to be at the center of the action. Is the killer a creepy professor (played by Robert Englund AKA Freddy Krueger)? Or is the killer one of their own?
Cherry Falls (1999)
This forgotten slasher movie sees a killer targeting virgins in a small town. Of course, this causes the town’s teenagers to plan a massive party for everyone to have sex and become “safe” from the killer. Final girl Jody (Brittany Murphy) debates losing her virginity to her high school boyfriend Kenny while the town’s adults search for clues about the killer’s identity.
Valentine (2001)
A group of women who have been friends since middle school are targeted by a killer in a Cupid mask around Valentine’s Day. While they realize the killer may be a former school outcast seeking revenge for the girls treating him poorly, they have no idea what he looks like now.
Identity (2003)
Identity is the best horror movie to watch if you are a fan of whodunits. Based on an Agatha Christie story, it follows a group of 10 strangers who take refuge from a storm at a roadside motel. People begin dropping dead one by one and everyone is desperate to figure out who the killer is — but this movie has a twist that very few people can see coming.
You’re Next (2011)
This is a home invasion slasher movie following a wealthy family gathered at their country home for a weekend. During their first dinner, they are attacked by masked strangers and spend the rest of the movie on the run. Who are the killers and what do they want?
Happy Death Day (2017)
In a horror nod to Groundhog’s Day, a college student is caught in a time loop. Every night she is murdered and wakes up as if it is the previous morning. Only figuring out the identity of her killer will close the time loop and allow her to move forward.
Seance (2021)
Camille is a new student at an all girls boarding school. She is targeted by a clique of mean girls who goad her into doing a seance to contact the school’s ghost and tell her of a former student who was killed by the ghost. Afterwards the girls involved in the seance begin to die one by one and it’s unclear if the murders are supernatural or if there is a killer in their midst.
Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
Bodies Bodies Bodies is a great test to see how good your skills are at guessing the identity of the killer. It is an unconventional slasher murder mystery that takes place during one night of a hurricane in an east coast mansion. Don’t read more about this movie if you haven’t seen it.
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