The slasher movies legacy began all the way back in 1960 with the work of acclaimed director Alfred Hitchcock, the movie... Psycho. On a hot summers day Marion Crane makes off from her workplace with a heavy stash of cash, in search of retreat she finds herself in The Bates Motel, where she falls foul of a vicious killer.

While the entry level to the slasher movie it's probably best to regard Psycho as a very basic slasher, there is no great abundance of deaths as followed in future slasher offerings. One thing Psycho did however was blazed its way into the history books as one of the most notorious horror movies of all time; despite its killing, Psycho features no blood whatsoever.

The slasher movie picked up speed in 1964 in Italy, director Mario Bava told a terrific tale of a masked killer stalking models in a high profile fashion house in the movie Blood And Black Lace. The movie not only reasonably sits in the category of slasher, but also falls into another genre, the Giallo movie. Six years later the most important entry in the slasher movie history appears again an Italian movie by Mario Bava, this movie was Bay Of Blood (Twitch Of The Death Nerve). Bay Of Blood was an inspiration on the American breed of slasher movie, with notorious horror directors John Carpenter, Tom Savini, and Wes Craven all acknowledging its incredible influence. Bay Of Blood follows a group of despicable individuals as they turn to the most extreme methods in order to inherit the bay of the movie's title.

In 1972 a little known director by the name of Wes Craven teamed up with producer Sean C. Cunningham to make the movie Last House On The Left, a movie that shocks audiences even today. The premise of Cravens movie takes shape on the 17th birthday of Mari Collingwood, Mari and her friend Phyllis head off from her rural location to the city to see a popular rock band of the day. A quest for some weed leads the friend to Junior, a young man turned into a drug addict by his own father. Junior is part of a gang of thugs and the girls are soon in their lair, where over a period of time they are raped and assaulted by all members (except Junior) before being murdered, but this is only where the story begins. Last House On The Left was banned or censored across the world, and until 2008 could not be seen in an uncut form in the United Kingdom.

In 1974 Canadian movie Black Christmas saw a vicious killer stalk a house of young women at the most festive of times. But the passion of this movie was overshadowed by another seasonal offering in 1978. Having scored success with Dark Star and Assault On Precinct 13, John Carpenters next movie is a keystone in the history of the slasher movie.

Halloween is arguably john Carpenters most successful movie, and one of the most famous horror movies of all time. Taking the element of fear already instilled in the hearts of Americans in respect of Halloween, Carpenters story follows vicious killer Michael Myers as he escapes from a mental institution and rips terror into the community of Haddonfield as he hunts down relative Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). Halloween was a naturally acted movie that showed an innocent babysitters life turned upside down, to the viewing public it was all just so plausible.

Where Halloween stopped, Friday The 13th (1980) picked up. Taking the feel of Halloween's horror from a community to an isolated location, in this case Camp Crystal lake. Nicknamed Camp Blood after a terrible series of events back in the 1950's the plan is to turn Crystal Lake into a summer camp for kids, and the unlucky victims of Friday The 13th's killer are the summer camp guides, one of which was future star Kevin Bacon. What made Friday The 13th so special was that it was a low budget movie offered by producers Paramount to a major audience, it knocked Oscar winning movie Kramer Vs Kramer off the top of the charts, and at that point became of the most profitable movies of all time.

The same year a similar tale The Burning appeared, this was far more extreme that Friday The 13th, where as there was 7 victims in Friday, in The Burning the body count was in double figures, and that was in just one attack by the movies killer Cropsy. Like Friday The 13th the movie was set in a summer camp, and had future Hollywood stars Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter and Fisher Stevens. Notorious for its rowing massacre The Burning unlike Friday The 13th was censored across the world. The Burning rather interestingly bought about one of the most successful movie houses of modern times, Miramax.

Having released Halloween, and Friday The 13th the next few years saw lots of date themed movies, Happy Birthday To Me, My Bloody Valentine, Don't Open Till Christmas, New Years Evil, and returns for both Halloween and Friday The 13th. But 1980 was not done with the slasher movie, Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielson starred in the movie Prom Night in which a killer with a grudge stalked celebrating teens. A young Tom Hanks starred in the brilliantly suspenseful He Knows Your Alone, a young bride to be comes face to face with a brutal killer that is of course after he has despatched all of her friends. Maniac saw a New York man going to pieces while stealing parts from ladies of the city; and Jamie Lee Curtis returned to the horror genre again for Terror Train.

In 1982 journalist Deborah Ballin (Lee Grant) becomes stalked by a nutcase (played by Michael Ironside) in the movie Visiting Hours. Banned in the UK television channel ITV made the terrible mistake of showing the movie uncut, the result was expensive for the network.

Another legend was born in 1983, but it was so "out there" that until recent years it was forgotten. The movie Sleepaway Camp featured the most shocking final revelation of any of the slasher movies, taking a nod and a wink from Friday The 13th the movies finale left people completely gobsmacked.

The next big landmark in the genre was in 1984 when another legend was born, Freddy Kruger stalked the dreams of the kids in the picturesque location of Elm Street in the movie A Nightmare On Elm Street. Freddy Kruger was a child abuser burned to death by the residents of Elm Street many years prior to the original movie, but the vengeful Kruger returned to haunt the dreams of teens, if Kruger killed his prey in their dreams they also died in real life.

As the 1980's continued more Friday The 13th's, Elm Street's and Halloweens saturated the slasher genre. But it was the cleverly scripted April Fools Day in 1986 that put the death nail in the coffin of the slasher movie until ten years later. April Fool's Day had a pretty bizarre ending that was both loved and hated by horror movie enthusiasts, some went as far as to say they had been cheated. Whatever the case the movie ended the run of slasher movies, and until 1996 horror movies became just a dirty word.

For the third time Wes Craven caused a stir in 1996, having mortified audiences with Last House On The Left, and caused a whirlwind with The Nightmare On Elm Street movies, Wes Craven returned with the movie Scream. This new breed of slasher movie mixed graphic horror and comedy together and shook it up vigorously. Scream re-energised the horror movie genre, and proved there was still life in the slasher genre. While it charged up the slasher genre, it was only Scream and its two sequels that occupied the slasher mantel of the 90's into the early 2000's.

In 2007 having caused controversy with his movies House of A 1000 Corpses, and the Devil's Rejects, maverick director/musician Rob Zombie remade Halloween. This movie delivered something far more terrifying than the original and insured the way for a series of movie remakes, Friday The 13th, My Bloody Valentine, and Terror Train are all in production to bring the slasher movie to a whole new generation.

Directed by Edward Zwick for Warner Bros. Pictures

Written by Art Monterastelli and Sylvester Stallone

Running time: 1hr 33 minutes.

Go see “Rambo”.

This is the best Rambo since “First Blood.” Hollywood has become rather annoying by trying to make a political statement with every film. First Blood actually accomplished that task before it was obligatory and did it more effectively. Part of the success of the first movie, which I feel was lost in parts 2 and 3, is that the actions were reasonable to the character. This film recaptures that quality.

Viet Nam was a huge hot button issue for the US. Like most sore spots you can't quit touching it though it hurts every time. With time we've begun to be OK with Viet Nam. As long as we support our troops this time we can have more political, unpopular “conflicts.” The scary, ugly side of war; the non-surgical kind of fighting that makes us feel helpless as Americans dropped off our radar. In reality this has been going on somewhere in southwest Asia for hundreds of years, and we should be aware of it.

What about the “R” Rating? Extremely violent. This is on a par with many of the Viet Nam flicks or the more recent “Saving Private Ryan.” I think it's appropriate.

What if I hate Sylvester Stallone? Some people do. I can't figure it out. Most of the time it's pretty obvious why, but of the many stars in Hollywood who are clearly obnoxious in real life he seems like a regular Joe. Either way it's not a good category for this review since its Rambo and he's Sly.

Larger Story? This movie makes a statement we might remember from the Godfather series. “I try to get out but they keep pulling me back in.” It's a fascinating parallel. Is war to a hardened soldier like being in a mafia? Can a life of violence keep someone trapped?

At the surface they are similar. Don Corleon is trapped into running a criminal empire because it will be mishandled by someone else. Rambo is “forced” back into killing because he finds inaction impossible to reconcile with his self identity. The difference is that Corleon is trying to leave crime and become an honest man. Rambo is struggling to go straight in a way also, but the life he leaves is one we value. He strived to be a hero but he was told he was a murderer and he's been living under that banner ever since. In First Blood it didn't seem like he had much talent for a straight life because of the contrast between his killing prowess and his earning potential. By the fourth movie Rambo has learned to eek out an existence, but he can't hide from his calling.

The question here is identity. Is he a hero for defending the weak or is he just a killer with better ideology? Only he can answer that question.

“Y'know what you are, what you're made of. War is in your blood. When you're pushed, killing's as easy as breathing.”

“Live for nothing, or die for something.”

The cheat is a magnificent exercise in the power of movies to subconsciously alter the perceptions and beliefs of the audience. Not only does the plot reflect the anti-Japanese bias of the movie, but the acting styles do much to strengthen the notions that people of Japanese origin, particularly males, are sly, cunning, evil individuals who will do anything to bed a white woman, even blackmail and rape.

Throughout the film, characters of Japanese origin, namely Hayakawas character through cunning and false facades lure the protagonist into situations in which her moral character is challenged. Hayakawa establishes the shady characteristics of his persona by maintaining a shifty gaze, looking away from characters and the camera regularly, which also happens to be a stereotype about Asian Americans, including those of Japanese national origin. In this way the movie plays upon the existing biases of viewers for a political point.

Hayakawa also maintains an air of separation between himself and the other characters. He never quite opens up and always remains mysterious, praying to foreign gods and speaking a language that was unfamiliar to the majority of Americans. He is also the polar opposite to the husband of the main character, who is a flighty, yet committed husband and hard worker. His only sin is some neglect, but the sins of Hayakawas character are greater. The foreigner not only takes women as conquests, he has no problem using physical force or other illegal coercion in order to have intercourse with a woman.

The female lead, played by Fannie Ward is portrayed as a flighty woman, concerned only with her social appearance. Her gestures and facial expressions show this when she is speaking with someone she is close to, her husband, and the way she speaks with others, mainly those who are also involved in her charity work, i.e Hayakawa. At first, the viewer may find disdain or disgust with her actions, but she eventually becomes a sympathetic character due to the fact that she has misplaced priorities, and not necessarily malice. Also, the fact that she is a victim being pursued by an evil Japanese businessman speaks to the audience and garners their support, even though she has committed a number of capital crimes.

Fannie Ward's husband is the third of the three main characters. He brings many “American” values to the screen in stark contrast to Hayakawa. He is straight faced, and forward, while Hayakawa is creeping in the shadows. Her husband always sacrifices for his wife, even if it means his murder, and he is always either smiling or serious, never brooding or angry. The acting styles of all three characters are carefully drawn together to paint a picture of an interloper coming into American society and using the weakness of a woman to gain his desire. Of course he is rebuffed, and when this finally occurs, his true nature comes out and his sinister appearance becomes fully illuminated. Hayakawas actions and demeanor speak to the audience by playing on their worst fears. It is ironic that one of the first major Japanese roles was one of racism, but at least it was screen time.

The various acting styles in the cheat are absolutely necessary for this movie to work. Without the sharp contrasts between the three main characters, no emotion would be appealing enough in this film, it would merely be a bad propaganda film.