Sub-Genre Research
History of the slasher
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It could be argued that the idea of slasher films started with Alfred Hitchcocks adaptation of the popular novel Psycho. This started the general interest in slasher films and led the way to the production of great and famous slasher films.
Some examples of notable Slasher films would be 'Psycho', 'Friday the 13th' and 'Halloween'. A more recent slasher, that helped to revive the genre, would be the 'Scream' franchise Psycho On the left is the famous shower scene from Alfred Hitchcocks original slasher 'Psycho'. Psycho (1960) was one of the first slasher films. It captivated the audience with the unknown killer and made them question who it could be. It shocked audiences when first released, fooling them into thinking they had witnessed horrifying acts of violence, when really they had only seen clever camera shots edited to appear as though they had witnessed a brutal murder. |
Nightmare on Elm street
Nightmare on Elm street (1980) was a major success. It created 9 films and is famous for its poster figure Freddy Krueger. The franchise was such a success that it made lots of merchandise ironically enough aimed at kids. It made books, toys, magazines, soundtracks and even a brand of bubblegum The film included an iconic character figure Freddy Krueger who murdered the children of the people who had him killed, many years ago. Interestingly he was a school janitor, a person who should be all means be safe. The film turned the idea of a safe haven (in this case a school) upside down and made the safe haven many of the characters eventual demise. |
Halloween
'Halloween' (1978): 'Halloween' was a a very cheap independent film costing a total of $325,000. It did incredibly well at cinemas getting $47,000,000 at box office. Like 'Nightmare on Elm Street' (1980) it familiarises the audience with the killer, Michael Myers. Slasher films such as the three shown started the trend of the horror genre, and paved the way for the most popular genres now, such as the zombie. |
The History of Paranormal
It could be argued that paranormal films really started with The Blair Witch Project. It was a major success but nothing really followed it until the arrival of the Paranormal Activity films.
'The Blair witch project' (1999): Like 'Halloween' this film made a major profit costing between $500,000 and $750,000 to make $248,639,099 at box office. It is thought to be the film to revive paranormal films and was successful with viewers being on edge constantly throughout the whole film. |
Paranormal Activity restarted the paranormal trend and brought paranormal entities as fearful villains. It spawned several films similar to it and is now a massive franchise of 5 films, with a 6th coming out this year.
'Paranormal activity' (2007): This film was extremely successful as it cost $15,000 to make an gathered $193,355,800, making a huge profit of $193,340,800. Part of the reason it was successful was because of the 'Found footage' style of filming, which made the audience see the film through various video cameras, and made the film more believable and realistic. Therefore the film was scarier and more attractive to the audience. |
The History of Zombie
The 'Night of the living dead' (1968) was the first portrayal of zombies as they are now conceived in todays media. The film featured a group of people trapped in a farm house, besieged by hordes of the living dead.
Previously zombies had only been viewed as singular products of voodoo, rather than a shambling horde of flesh eating monsters, however romero changed the conventions and the threat to something similar to what we can see now in films such as 'World war Z' (2013) and television shows such as the 'Walking dead' |
Romero continued to perfect the zombie genre with 'Dawn of the dead' (1978) with a larger budget than his originals. 'Dawn of the dead' soon became a zombie horror phenomenon, being called romero's 'Gore filled masterpiece' by critics at the time. The film highlighted themes of mass consumerism in America at the time.
The film also sported a remake in 2004, with again a higher budget and improved visual effects the film continued to impress critics decades after its original release. |
The AMC original series 'The Walking dead' (2010-present) based of Robert Kirkman's graphic novel of the same name catapulted the zombie subgenre into massive popularity with the general public. Since its release in 2010 it has spawned 4 series, with the 5th ready to be released in october, and countless amounts of merchandise including toys, posters and two award winning video game adaptions, as well as boosting sales of the original comics through the roof.
Interestingly throughout the series the zombies have become less of a threat to the characters, and other surviving humans have started to become a larger threat. The season 3 finale resulted in a climatic battle between two groups of survivors, for control of a safe haven. The walking dead franchise's popularity has increased the amount of people willing to spend money on a zombie horror and has resulted in the popularity of many other films, as well as a rise in interest of classic films, like Romeros original subgenres. |
The release of 'World war Z' (2013) continues to prove the popularity of the zombie genre in recent years. The retains a position in the top 50 films on amazon, was one of the highest grossing films of 2013 and continues to hold position in the box office since its release.
The film attracter superstar Brad Pitt in its leading role, proving that massive stars can appear in a chilling zombie film, and the film can still retain eeriness without it being ruined by the presence of a well known figure. The fact the film has maintained popularity for such a long time proves how popular the genre is currently. (NE) |