Summary

The slasher subgenre existed long before anyone thought to apply the term. Tales of characters getting picked off one by one by a mysterious killer were perfected by the prolific Agatha Christie in her novel "And Then There Were None," which has been cited as a significant influence on "Friday the 13th." It's a simple formula in theory: line up a bunch of potential victims, and knock 'em all down, preferably in an inventive fashion, until a motive and the killer emerges.

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