28 Years of Slasher Trash with Panache!

πŸŽƒ Help keep Hysteria Lives! online – support the site on Ko-fi and celebrate the site's 28th birthday! Advance look reviews and a new blog on the critical reception of PIECES (1983) (September exclusive only on Ko-fi)

Latest reviews

TO BECOME ONE

1999 / Australia (advance look)

Read the new review before anyone else and help with the running costs of Hysteria Lives! for as little as $1 via Ko-Fi.

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THE SIGN OF SCORPIO (​​​​​​​​​​​(aka O SIGNO DE ESCORPIΓƒO)) review
MY SUPER PSYCHO SWEET 16

2009 / USA / ****  (JA Kerswell)

"​​​​​​​​​​​Like a bloody penny, the slasher bounced back in 2009 with this hugely entertaining slice of mayhem from one of the most unexpected sources: MTV."

FULL REVIEW
MEAT

2025 / USA / ****  (JA Kerswell)

"​​​​​​ ​A man who takes the rap for an accidental death finds his old club friends carved up by a disco death dealer in studs and black leather."

FULL REVIEW
FRIDAY THE 69TH

2026 / USA / *** 1/2 (JA Kerswell)

"An often very funny love-letter spoof of early β€˜80s slashers ... almost convinces you’re watching a film from 1981."

FULL REVIEW
INSANE (aka BASAG ANG PULA)

1984 / Philippines / *** 1/2 (JA Kerswell)

"​​​​ ​ ​​ ​​​A psycho-on-the-loose ends up driving a busload of schoolgirls to a remote woodland retreat, then starts killing them off one by one" 

FULL REVIEW
555

1988 / USA / ** 1/2  (JA Kerswell)

"​​​​​​A hippie is killing couples in a monstrosity that looks like it was shot with a camcorder. Cheap and ugly as it is, 555 has its coarse charms. " 

FULL REVIEW
HALLOWEEN NIGHTMARE

2015 / Japan /  *** (JA Kerswell)

"​​​​​A female journalist discovers that the urban legend of a pumpkin-headed, axe-wielding killer appearing every Halloween is true." 

FULL REVIEW
BOOGEYMAN II

1983 / USA / ** 1/2  (JA Kerswell)

"​​ ...  ​a confounding Poverty Row rehash, occasionally enlivened by flashes of intriguing, self-referential ideas and dark, satirical humour." 

FULL REVIEW
TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA

2026 / US / **** (JA Kerswell)

"​​​​Desire and death meet when a director tries to revive a beloved franchise in this queer-coded love letter to '80s slashers."

FULL REVIEW

The Hysteria Continues!

Check out the latest episode of the slasher-loving podcast ...