In my assignment I am going to be talking about the sub genre ‘Slasher’, this is a type of horror. I will be discussing the film language, genre, film/genre pleasures and the film reception. My favorite movies in the Slasher genre are; Them (2006), Switchblade Romance (2003) and Scream (1996). Scream is a cult classic in the Slasher genre that triggered a lot of spin offs. I think that these three films are the best films to watch when looking for a good Slasher films that have a bit of everything in them. I enjoy watching Slasher’s for the gore, the tension and sometimes when the plot has a twist. First I am going to be talking about the film language, this is split up into four categories, mise-en-scene, sound, cinematography and narrative.
A film genre can be recognized by what is happening on the screen what people can see and how the characters in the film are acting, this is called mise-en-scene. Bruce Kawin’s (1992) definition of mise-en-scene:
Choice of filmstock (Black-and-white or colour, fine-grain or grainy) …aspect ratio (the proportion of the screen) …Framing (how much of the set or cast will be shown at a time) … Camera placement and movement, and … sound environment’ (Kawin, 1992: 98)
Mise-en-scene is basically everything in the picture that you can see and it translates roughly into ‘in the picture’.
The sound that is used in a horror/Slasher film is going to be completely different from any other genre; this helps the audience to understand what they are watching. The purpose of the sound used in horror films is to add tension and to exaggerate something that is going to happen on the screen or to throw the audience off and make them believe that something is going to happen. An example of this is when in the movie Strangers (2008) the character Kristen McKay is in the kitchen and the shot is wide so the audience get a large view of the screen the sound is complete silence. It makes the audience pay attention to the screen because they are expecting something to happen and maybe a loud banging noise to make you jump but what actually happens is the killer creeps slowly into the screen, and the slice ads to the intensity of what is happening and makes the audience want her to see him, this is a form of active spectatorship.
Cinematography is the Lighting, lens choice, composition, exposure and filtration. The lighting shown in the film contributes towards the emotional response that the audience has when watching the film, the lens choice can change the view that the audience is having and the cinematographer can use this to change the focus point on the screen, I will give examples of this later.
The narrative is the story. The film will always be pushing towards following the story so the audience knows what is going on and it makes sense. Most movies will have the narrative in a chronological sequenced but some films it will be edited to jump between past and present this gives the film a disjointed narrative. Disjointed editing has been used in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010).
When watching a film you know what the conventions are with out knowing it yourself. You will pick up on things that you recognize from other films this is called intertextuality and know what the type of film it is and what you can expect form what the characters are wearing the setting they are in, the narrative, iconography and sometimes certain actors or stars. The horror genre is so easy to recognize because the conventions are so obvious.
In horror the characters are usually a group of High school teenagers that are out partying or are somewhere they shouldn’t. The group would consist of two girls, one of them been all over guys and not caring what people think of her and wear more revealing clothes; typically blond, and the other being uptight and shy and wearing more coved up normal clothing like a pair of jeans and a jacket. They will be accompanied by two or more guys one of them been a popular rich ‘jock’ that would be wearing his football jacket all the time and acting like a big shot. The other being just a partying guy that is a close copy of the jock but been less popular and wearing the typical jeans and t-shirt and the last been a geekier guy that doesn’t want to be there and is overly conscious about what they are doing this guy would wear less fashionable cloths than everyone else. A good example of this is All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006) and I know What You Did Last Summer (1997) where they have used most cliché characters in this genre.
The setting that most people think of when talking about Slasher films is the characters in a house been chased by a killer; this is because it is typical of Slasher films to do this, an example of this is See No Evil (2006) where a group of teenagers are send to an abandoned hotel for the weekend but are chased by a serial killer with an axe. But some horror films have had different locations such as in a forest (Camp Slaughter) or around a town (Final Destination).
A Common plot for the story in a Slasher film is a group of people been followed by a killer and one by one they all start to get killed. First the jock gets killed and eventually the last person left out of the group is the young woman this is common for Slasher films to have a woman left with the killer this status represents evil vs. innocence This happens at the end of A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) when Nancy goes down to the cellar to face Freddy alone. Some people don’t like this because they think women shouldn’t be punished for sexuality. When you see somebody holding a bloody knife in a film you know that this person is going to be a killer and from that moment you start to expect cliché things to happen in the movie and you recognize it form a set genre and all this was picked up from just seeing a bloody knife, this is called iconography. Common things in Slasher’s movies that you know make it a Slasher is; knifes, masks, dark and creepy settings, ripped cloths, isolated locations, and screams. Typical actors you can see in a horror movie are; Christina Campbell who would play the role of the sexy woman, Billy Drago who would play the killer and Michael Berryman who would play a deformed mutant or killer.
People who watch films will be able to tell the difference between the genres as each genre that is not a sub have strong iconography and plot that is easy for the audience to recognize. Romance will be noticeably different to an action film and that will be different to a comedy. But when things start to get complicated and sub genres start to get made like Zomcom, which is a zombie comedy for example Shaun of the Dead (2004) or Zombieland (2009). Romcom is a romantic comedy that follow a basic plot of two protagonists usually a man and a woman and they part ways maybe due to arguments or circumstances but it will follow both conventions, style, formulas, iconography and narrative as comedy film and romance films, an example of this is The Proposal (2009) where a woman is going to be deported to Canada but she asks her assistant to marry her, but then they get suspected of fraud.
When the audience understand genre and they like a certain genre they are going to actively look for a film that comes under a specific narrative and conventions. They will use their knowledge of movies to talk to other people and watching movies becomes more of a social activity, this is the uses and gratification theory. Other people have criticized this theory saying that gratification and satisfaction is blurred and we only seek out movies that we enjoy.
The movie that was considered the first Slasher movie was Black Christmas (1974) and that sparked off movies such as ‘Halloween’ (1978) and Friday the 13th (1980) after that the Slasher genre died down until Scream was made in 1996 and had allot of success and then other Slasher movies started to be made following the trend of Halloween, Black Christmas and Friday the 13th like I Know What You Did Last Summer and its sequels. Many Slasher movies focus of special occasions like Prom Night (1980), Christmas Evil (1980) and Slaughter High (1986).
The Slasher genre has made the audience more active now, this is where the audience wants something to happen and they are literally shouting at the screen to turn around or not to answer the door. A passive audience is when the audience isn’t relating to what is happening on the screen an is not been engaged with this film. Abercrombie wrote this about audiences ‘Audiences are not blank sheets of paper on which media messages can be written; members of an audience will have prior attitudes and beliefs which will determine how effective media messages are’. (Abercrombie, 1996: 140). When the audience is watching a ‘Slasher’ and they are been gripped by the plot it makes them get more involved by thinking about what they would do in that situation and what other options could happen. The audience who would like the ‘Slasher’ Genre because it is a form of escapism, and it gives the viewer a sense of their personality and they can learn about what they like. It also gives the viewer a social aspect to their life after watching a film, they can relate to other people who like the same thing about have discussions about the movie or other films they might have in common. If you like ‘Slasher” movies then you are going to want to watch the newest film that is coming out this is our need to know what is going on in the world. We are more active audience now to when TV first came out and people thought that TV was about receiving messages from it, but now we are able to predict what is happening and understand genre and know what we like and what we wont like.
When watching a film the camera would be placed in a certain area this is to place the audience into a position to give them the most satisfaction or to give them a view on something that the characters on screen cant see. And an example of this is when in Strangers the character James Hoyt is been followed by a killer holding an axe and the camera is facing James and he is unaware about who is behind him. This is another thing that makes the audience more active, this is called audience positioning.
In films when there are things that you have seen before in different movies it is called intertextuality. A common form of intertextuality in Horror/Slasher movies is when a character is in the bathroom and you get a look at them looking at the mirror and then they move their head down to washing their face or brushing their teeth and then they look up at the mirror and the killer is seen in the reflection. When this form of intertextuality is been used the director can choose to put or not to put somebody into the mirror. When you expect it to happen and it doesn’t it still gives the audience a sense of satisfaction knowing that the film is not what they are expecting.
After somebody has watched a film they decide if they like the film or not, this is called reception theory. A Dominant viewer could watch the film and agree what happened in the film and enjoy it this would be somebody who probably wants to watch this film because they know what they can expect to happen from the film. An oppositional viewer would watch the movie understand why people would like it and what is happening but reject it for ideological reasons and an negotiated viewer would watch it but reject it and have their own opinion on how it should be done.
When watching a film the audience will have different opinions but this can be because of how they are watching it. If somebody is watching the movie in the cinema with the full effect and huge screen sharp picture and loud sound they will most of the time enjoy it because they will fell more immersed into the film than people who watch it online from a camera with poor sound. This can change the opinions and makes how and where you are watching the film almost more important than the film, it is almost the other half of the experience. When surrounded by a crowd in the cinema can also ruin the movie by people eating or talking compared to you at in your own home in front of a cinema system getting the full experience by your self. 3D is the new form of spectatorship that people are expecting from a film now and think that it is need for them to enjoy it. After My bloody valentine 3D (2009) and Avatar (2009) came out and had stunning 3D effects these films set the bar for what the audience is expecting from future movies.
This will improve the Slasher sub genre by making the audience even more active than they are now. My bloody valentine 3D had a scene when the killer turned round and swung the axe towards the screen and with the 3D effect it made this more dramatic and the audience was allot more engaged in the film.
Because everyone has their own favorite films and genres it is hard to get a review that is not bias and after somebody has watched a film they will make a choice if they like it film or if they don’t and this will be based off their personal interests. When a fan watched a trailer in a genre that they enjoy they will automatically be more excited about the film than somebody that doesn’t and because the trailer gives away the majority of the best bits the and they will have a lot of pre-viewing hype and cause them to talk about the film in a positive way with out viewing the full film yet. After watching the film they will have made a choice form what they expecting form the film and what happened in the movie. A diehard Slasher fan would argue that the film was good and even if it has the same as every other slash with cliché’s iconography and the same predictable plot because they enjoy them but a person who doesn’t understand the genre as much would be confused why it is still the same as the last big Slasher movie.
