With the odd exception of "Stagefright" and a few German stabs at the genre, I'd say the archetypical slasher HAS TO BE set in the US, most likely in suburbia or an idyllic campsite location. Schools, dorms, even supermarkets also qualify...very rarely slashers go for the urban setting.
The protagonists are most likely bland teenage/early 20's types- preferredly played by unknowns to add a certain sense of "believability".
While some "pure" slashers clearly crossed the line as far as what the MPAA is willing to allow in an "R-Rated" movie, they hardly ever reach the unlimited nastiness of the likes of "New York Ripper" or "Murder Set Pieces".
Most films I'd consider "slashers" offer unspoiled entertainment, they are not meant to be "downers", which would exclude films like "Maniac" or "MSP" due to their depressing mood, even "TCM" is imho "too intense and grim" to cut it as a real slasher.
Slasher movies by their very nature are meant to deliver easy thrills for the "young crowd".
A bit of sex and nudity doesn't hurt either, though those ingrediants have been significantly cut down since the "Scream" movies attracted a huge portion of young female fans to the slasher genre....
It's only after you've spent a few years with horror that you'll usually be "ready" for/interested in the more downbeat/adult/sleazy/exploitative genre output.
In so many ways, I should have gone "past" the slashers for years by now, but they were my first true love within the genre....and as they say: "The first Cut is the Deepest"
