Anatomy of the Slasher Film

Anatomy of the Slasher Film
Author: Sotiris Petridis
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2019-05-28
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1476674310

The term "slasher film" was common parlance by the mid-1980s but the horror subgenre it describes was at least a decade old by then--formerly referred to as "stalker," "psycho" or "slice-'em-up." Examining 74 movies--from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) to Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)--the author identifies the characteristic elements of the subgenre while tracing changes in narrative patterns over the decades. The slasher canon is divided into three eras: the classical (1974-1993), the self-referential (1994-2000) and the neoslasher cycle (2000-2013).

Anatomy of the Slasher Film

Anatomy of the Slasher Film
Author: Sotiris Petridis
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2019-05-10
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1476635676

The term "slasher film" was common parlance by the mid-1980s but the horror subgenre it describes was at least a decade old by then--formerly referred to as "stalker," "psycho" or "slice-'em-up." Examining 74 movies--from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) to Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)--the author identifies the characteristic elements of the subgenre while tracing changes in narrative patterns over the decades. The slasher canon is divided into three eras: the classical (1974-1993), the self-referential (1994-2000) and the neoslasher cycle (2000-2013).

The Book of Horror

The Book of Horror
Author: Matt Glasby
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group USA
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2020-09-22
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0711251797

“Glasby anatomizes horror’s scare tactics with keen, lucid clarity across 34 carefully selected main films—classic and pleasingly obscure. 4 Stars.” —Total Film? Horror movies have never been more critically or commercially successful, but there’s only one metric that matters: are they scary? The Book of Horror focuses on the most frightening films of the post-war era—from Psycho (1960) to It Chapter Two (2019)—examining exactly how they scare us across a series of key categories. Each chapter explores a seminal horror film in depth, charting its scariest moments with infographics and identifying the related works you need to see. Including references to more than one hundred classic and contemporary horror films from around the globe, and striking illustrations from Barney Bodoano, this is a rich and compelling guide to the scariest films ever made. “This is the definitive guide to what properly messes us up.” —SFX Magazine The films: Psycho (1960), The Innocents (1961), The Haunting (1963), Don’t Look Now (1973), The Exorcist (1973), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Who Can Kill a Child? (1976), Suspiria (1977), Halloween (1978), The Shining (1980), The Entity (1982), Angst (1983), Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1990), Ring (1998), The Blair Witch Project (1999), The Others (2001), The Eye (2002), Ju-On: The Grudge (2002), Shutter (2004), The Descent (2005), Wolf Creek (2005), The Orphanage (2007), [Rec] (2007), The Strangers (2008), Lake Mungo (2008), Martyrs (2008), The Innkeepers (2011), Banshee Chapter (2013), Oculus (2013), The Babadook (2014), It Follows (2015), Terrified (2017), Hereditary (2018), It Chapter Two (2019)

Writing the Horror Movie

Writing the Horror Movie
Author: Marc Blake
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2013-07-18
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1441193472

Tales of horror have always been with us, from Biblical times to the Gothic novel to successful modern day authors and screenwriters. Though the genre is often maligned, it is huge in popularity and its resilience is undeniable. Marc Blake and Sara Bailey offer a detailed analysis of the horror genre, including its subgenres, tropes and the specific requirements of the horror screenplay. Tracing the development of the horror film from its beginnings in German Expressionism, the authors engage in a readable style that will appeal to anyone with a genuine interest in the form and the mechanics of the genre. This book examines the success of Universal Studio's franchises of the '30s to the Serial Killer, the Slasher film, Asian Horror, the Supernatural, Horror Vérité and current developments in the field, including 3D and remakes. It also includes step-by-step writing exercises, annotated extracts from horror screenplays and interviews with seasoned writers/directors/ producers discussing budget restrictions, screenplay form and formulas and how screenplays work during shooting.

Misogyny, Misandry, and Misanthropy

Misogyny, Misandry, and Misanthropy
Author: R. Howard Bloch
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2023-04-28
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0520327306

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1989.

Men, Women, and Chain Saws

Men, Women, and Chain Saws
Author: Carol J. Clover
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2015-05-26
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0691166293

Examining the popularity of low-budget cinema, particularly slasher, occult, and rape-revenge films, the author argues that, while such films have been traditionally understood as offering only sadistic pleasure to their mostly male audiences, in actuality they align spectators not with the male tormentor but with the females being tormented--particularly the slasher movie's "final girls"--Who endure fear and degradation before rising to save themselves.--Adapted from publisher description.

Dreadful Pleasures

Dreadful Pleasures
Author: James B. Twitchell
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 378
Release: 1985
Genre: Art
ISBN:

Dreadful Pleasures offers a lively look at those stories that make our hair stand on end--their persistence in our culture, their manifestations in art, and our need for the frissons they provide. James Twitchell traces our fascination with horror from the cave paintings at Lascaux to the "slasher" movies today. Twitchell finds that three particular stories have had a special resonance in our culture: the bloodsucker (Dracula), the deformed creature (Frankenstein), and the transformation monster (The Wolfman, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde). Why have these stories persisted to the point of becoming mythic and to the exclusion of others? Whatever happened to the Phantom of the Opera or the Hunchback of Notre Dame or the Creature from the Black Lagoon? Using a psychoanalytic approach, Twitchell argues that the stories we seek out and preserve are th ones that carry certain information as well as horror. These myths, he contends, warn their adolescent audiences of the dangers of careless sexual behavior: they seem to say--subliminally--that sex itself is not horrible, but sex with certain people is. Whether discussing the engravings of William Hogarth or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Twitchell is consistently insightful, provocative, and entertaining. Film buffs and scholars literary critics and devotees of the Gothic novel will all welcome this study. About the Author: James B. Twitchell is Professor of English at the University of Florida, Gainesville. His previous books include GThe Living Dead: The Vampire in Romantic Literature and Romantic Horizons: Aspects of the Sublime in English Poetry and Painting.

How to Survive a Horror Movie

How to Survive a Horror Movie
Author: Seth Grahame-Smith
Publisher: Quirk Books
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2011-05-18
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1594745684

The screenwriter and producer behind Stephen King’s It shares a hilarious, tongue-in-cheek survival guide that celebrates iconic horror movies both past and present! THE PERFECT GIFT FOR HORROR MOVIE LOVERS: Features spooky illustrations, a list of 100 must-see horror films, and an introduction by Nightmare on Elm Street’s Wes Craven. Are you reading this in a cornfield, at a summer camp, or in an abandoned mental institution? Have you noticed that everything is poorly lit, or that music surges every time you open a door? If the answer is yes, you’re probably trapped in a horror movie. But don’t freak out—just read this book! With it you will learn how to overcome every obstacle found in scary films, including: • How to determine what type of horror film you’re trapped in • The five types of slashers and how to defeat them • How to handle killer dolls, murderous automobiles, and other haunted objects • How to deal with alien invasions, zombie apocalypses, and other global threats • What to do if you did something last summer, if your corn has children in it, or if you suspect you’re already dead So don't be afraid: no vampire, zombie horde, cannibal hillbilly, Japanese vengeance ghost, or other horror movie monster can hurt you—as long as you have this book.

Blumhouse Productions

Blumhouse Productions
Author: Todd K. Platts
Publisher: University of Wales Press
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2022-05-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1786838648

Blumhouse Productions is the first book that systematically examines the corpus of Blumhouse’s cinematic output. Individual chapters written by emerging and established scholars consider thematic trends across Blumhouse films, such as the use of found footage, haunted bodies/haunted houses, and toxic masculinity. Blumhouse’s business strategies and funding model are considered – including the company’s high-profile franchises Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge, Happy Death Day, and Halloween – alongside such key standalone films as Get Out and Black Christmas, and nonhorror films like BlackKklansman. Taken together, the chapters provide a thorough primer for one of the most significant drivers behind the contemporary resurgence of horror cinema.

Recreational Terror

Recreational Terror
Author: Isabel Cristina Pinedo
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2016-02-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1438416164

In Recreational Terror, Isabel Cristina Pinedo analyzes how the contemporary horror film produces recreational terror as a pleasurable encounter with violence and danger for female spectators. She challenges the conventional wisdom that violent horror films can only degrade women and incite violence, and contends instead that the contemporary horror film speaks to the cultural need to express rage and terror in the midst of social upheaval.