While we can play semantics with the term “slasher” as well as argue about where this subgenre truly began—some say Black Christmas, others say Friday the 13th—there is no denying the spate of movies that predate it. This includes the fairly unknown The Severed Arm, a real ’70s-era oddity directed by Thomas S. Alderman.
Vinegar Syndrome released The Severed Arm on Blu-ray not that long ago, and if patrons were like me, they were won over by this unearthed hidden gem. In the vein of the many whodunnit slashers that followed it, this movie also has characters being punished for a past sin. In this case, though, the targets got what’s coming to them.
In The Severed Arm, several men were trapped inside a cave, and in order to survive their ordeal, they eventually decided to cut off a fellow man’s arm and eat it. The “volunteer” is naturally opposed to losing a limb, but he’s outvoted and forced to submit. Strong-armed, if you must. But as the movie’s expository flashback soon reveals, the decision was a hasty one; rescuers showed up mere seconds after the arm was detached. To save face and not be labeled as cannibals for the rest of their lives, the other men fabricate a cover story.
Five years have passed since the incident, and now the guilty party is being hunted down, presumably by their one-armed victim. So you can see why this movie is called a proto-slasher. It may not have a masked killer with a penchant for horny young prey, but the one-by-one approach and grisly sense of retribution are synonymous with movies like Prom Night and I Know What You Did Last Summer. This being a ’70s horror movie, however, you can expect a slowness that won’t click for everyone watching. For others, that deliberate pacing allows for a lot of creepy atmosphere and buildup.
When it seems like The Severed Arm is going right where you expect it to, it pivots just enough to surprise you. The ending it serves up is also wickedly delicious and a must-see. It’s movies like this that make me love ’70s horror.
Watch The Severed Arm on Tubi.
Short Cuts is a recurring series that spotlights unsung, overlooked and underrated horror. These mini-reviews single out the reasons why these titles might be worth your time.
Tales from the Paulside 
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