The best slasher film has to be Halloween (1978) for me. No other slasher film - at least none of the ones I've seen so far - has managed to scare me as that film did. I think that's thanks to Carpenter's direction, but also Dean Cundey's excellent cinematography.

Not sure what the best slasher franchise is though, as I haven't seen that many slasher films. The funny thing is that A Nightmare on Elm Street is (from what I've seen so far) the most consistently 'good' franchise, yet of the 'big three' slasher series (Halloween, Friday the 13th, ANoES), it's the one I care the least for. That probably has to do with the fact that I'm not a fan of Freddy.

I also love Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives, by far the best directed, written and possibly acted entry in that series. I really like that the filmmakers abandoned the boobs and blood for a moment to actually try to make a great film. How would you guys rank the Friday the 13th films? My ranking looks something like this:

1. Part 6

2. Part 2

3. Part 4

4. Friday the 13th (1980)

5. Freddy vs. Jason

6. Jason goes to Hell

7. Part 5

8. Jason X

9. Part 3

10. Part 7

11. Friday the 13th (2009)

12. Part 8