The Slasher Movies That Inspired ‘Final Cut’

Guest post written by Final Cut author Olivia Worley
Olivia Worley is an author born and raised in New Orleans. A graduate of Northwestern University, she now lives in New York City, where she spends her time writing thrillers, over-analyzing episodes of The Bachelor, and hoping someone will romanticize her for reading on the subway. She is the author of the young adult novels PEOPLE TO FOLLOW, THE DEBUTANTES, and the forthcoming FINAL CUT (October 2025). Her adult debut, SO HAPPY TOGETHER, was recently published by Minotaur Books, with a second adult thriller, MAN OF MY DREAMS, to follow in 2026. 

About Final Cut: The set of a low-budget slasher film turns into a real-life horror movie in this twisty, wicked blend of Scream meets The Reappearance of Rachel Price from Olivia Worley. Out October 28th 2025.

---

It always opens with a dead girl. That’s the first line of my new YA slasher book, Final Cut, which launches us instantly into the POV of a deranged killer—who also happens to be incredibly well-versed in slasher movie conventions. Which, by now, is something we have in common.

When I first set out to write Final Cut, I was actually pretty new to the slasher genre: aside from Scream, I hadn’t really seen any of the classics. So, when I got the idea for the book—the set of a low-budget slasher movie becomes a real-life slasher as a killer hunts down the cast and crew—I knew I needed to do some serious research.

What followed was the most fun I’ve ever had while prepping to write a book. Over the course of a few months, I watched through all of the biggest blockbusters and even some weirder, deeper cuts. By the time Final Cut was finished, I was as much of a slasher buff as my main character, Haze—and even, perhaps, the book’s masked killer. While I’m definitely more partial to the final girls than the monsters, Final Cut is my love letter to slasher movies, and I can’t wait for y’all to read it! In the meantime, here are some of my favorite films that inspired the book.

Black Christmas (1974)

While many people think of Halloween and Friday the 13th as some of the earliest slashers, Black Christmas actually has them beat by a few years. Partly inspired by the urban legend of “the babysitter and the man upstairs,” Black Christmas stars Olivia Hussey as Jess, a college student whose sorority house is plagued by obscene phone calls…and eventually a killer. I love this movie because while it has plenty of slasher standards—a cast of teens hunted one by one, a final girl, and killer POV shots—it also turns some of those conventions on their head before the genre even really existed. For that reason, Haze cites it as her favorite slasher movie in Final Cut.

Profondo Rosso (1975) 

Profondo Rosso (or Deep Red, as it’s known in English) was my first introduction to the Italian giallo genre—a name derived from the yellow covers of a series of crime novels published starting in 1929—and boy, did it deliver. As Haze says in Final Cut, “This movie’s got all the hallmarks of the Italian slasher genre: weird dubbing, a killer in fabulous black leather gloves, and plenty of gratuitous violence. Also, most importantly, a soundtrack of absolute bangers by a band called Goblin.” She’s not wrong—look up the title track, “Profondo Rosso,” and thank me later. You’ll even hear notes of the Halloween theme, which came out just a few years later.

Halloween (1978)

Speaking of Halloween, of course I had to include one of the most enduring classics of all time! Everything about this film is iconic: Jamie Lee Curtis’s performance as final girl Laurie Strode, the hauntingly invincible Michael Myers, and a killer soundtrack (look out for the Final Cut scene where Haze and her co-star Cameron jam out to “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” on their way to confront a suspect—air cowbell included, naturally.)

Friday the 13th (1980)

Another all-timer, Friday the 13th is the quintessential summer camp slasher. It also has several elements that inspired both Final Cut and countless movies that followed: an isolated setting, a mysterious killer hunting down a group one by one, and a story haunted by the sins of the past. Also, not for nothing, Mrs. Voorhees might be one of my favorite slasher villains ever—who else can rock a chunky knit sweater while brandishing a knife?

The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

While not as massive a hit as the previous two on this list, The Slumber Party Massacre is one of my personal favorites—partly because of its unusual tone. As the story goes, author and feminist activist Rita Mae Brown wrote the screenplay as a parody of the slasher genre; however, when it was picked up by producers, they wanted to play it as more of a “straight” slasher. As a result, this movie has a lot more humor than some of the other classics. My particular favorite moment is when, after the titular slumber party has found the pizza delivery boy brutally murdered, one of the girls eats a slice anyway, insisting, “Well, life goes on, after all.”

Scream (1996)

Not only did Scream revitalize the slasher genre in the 90s, but it’s also earned its place as one of the most iconic horror franchises of all time. Like I mentioned before, Scream was the only slasher classic I’d seen when I got the idea for Final Cut—a book which, like Scream, is full of meta moments and characters who love and respect the genre. Scream also popularized the convention where the masked killer will be unveiled as one (or more!) of the characters we’ve already met—aka my favorite type of slasher, since the viewer gets to play detective. If you also love trying to guess the killer’s identity, then I won’t give any spoilers away…but you’ll probably have a lot of fun with Final Cut 😉