Slasher film is a sub-genre of the horror film genre typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking, and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a chainsaw or scythe. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slasher_film)
Slasher Movies by Mark Whitehead
"The slasher movie genre has a purposefully rigid formula, generally telling of a group consisting of usually teenagers, who are picked off one by one in an explicitly violent fashion by a vicious killer."
I decided to follow this "rigid formula" as my target audience, socio economic groups C1C2DE, prefer more conventional slashers rather than more complex hybrid (the blending of two or more generic styles) genres.
"The killer is punishing the group for either trespassing upon its territory or is avenging an
earlier wrong perpetrated by the group or a group they symbolically represent."
I reflected on this in my production as the two groups of teens are both killed for trespassing upon the killers territory. The latter group also symbolically represent the first group as they are sexually promiscuous.
"The killing continues until the final scenes of the film where a character is left, most frequently a girl, who after a protracted chase and struggle finally makes a stand and kills him/her. Variations to the plot and characters are rare. More often variations relate to the location, the reasons for the characters being there, the manners of their deaths and the killers reasons for killing them. Both Psycho (1960) and Peeping Tom (1960) can be seen as the forerunners of the slashers because of their portrayals of psychosis within everyday people turning them into monstrous killers. John Carpenters Halloween (1978) can be seen as the slashers blueprint and the financial success of Friday The 13th (1980) opened the floodgates to countless retellings of the same tale throughout the 80s."
"Slasher Movies according to this definition are American made and tap into a specifically American form of Gothic horror. America looked back to its puritan past, linked to the sanctity of home and family therefore the punishment for transgressing socially acceptable behavior weights on lustful partying teens. Teens away from the watchful eye of their elders and breaching wilderness, usually a heavily wooded area, trespassing on primal murderous forces. European Gothic emerged from and drew inspiration from the remnants of feudal systems governed by debauched aristocrats (eg. Dracula or Frankenstein)"
I decided to use the American definition of Slasher, rather than the European, as my production shows teens being punished for being sexually active ans drinking alcohol. To emphasise this the geeky boy who tells the story puts on an American accent in order to imitate other slashers such as Scream (Wes Craven 1996)
"Authority figures such as the police, teachers and parents can rarely be trusted or relied upon in the slasher-movie. They are either absent or peripheral. The police in Fridays the 13th and Halloween only serve to hassle teenagers about drug taking and offer vague warnings about taking care. The law often fails the victims who are then at mercy of the monster. They are freed on a technical difficulty or they are seen to be operating within the law due to insufficient proof otherwise (see Fatal Attraction)"
I used this technique in my plot as although the killer has murdered a group of teens and it has been in the news he has never been caught or punished for it.
Legacy of Blood by Jim Harper
Location
"Most slasher movies are set in one of three general locations-campus, wilderness or urban. Most of the action takes place within these confines which are desolate and deserted areas for the purpose of the film"
Although my film begins in an urban setting at the party it soon transgresses into the wilderness. I kept my genre research in mind when location scouting and found a "heavily wooded deserted area" to film my production in.
Casting
"Final Girls in slasher films are often virginal, whilst at least one of their friends are sexually active. In John Carpenters Halloween, generally assumed to be the first true slasher film Laurie Strode, a seventeen year old school girl and the Final Girl is only of the most notable examples of a virginal leading lady. She often makes disparaging remarks about her more experienced friends sexual appetites. Counter-types are used in A Nightmare On Elm Street 2 when Jesse finds himself unable to consummate his relationship with Lisa due to Freddy's interference however unusually for a slasher movie whilst the girl is eager, the boy is unable to go through with the act. In-fact the Nightmare series are remarkably free from sexual relationships."
"Most slasher movies are set in one of three general locations-campus, wilderness or urban. Most of the action takes place within these confines which are desolate and deserted areas for the purpose of the film"
Although my film begins in an urban setting at the party it soon transgresses into the wilderness. I kept my genre research in mind when location scouting and found a "heavily wooded deserted area" to film my production in.
Casting
"Final Girls in slasher films are often virginal, whilst at least one of their friends are sexually active. In John Carpenters Halloween, generally assumed to be the first true slasher film Laurie Strode, a seventeen year old school girl and the Final Girl is only of the most notable examples of a virginal leading lady. She often makes disparaging remarks about her more experienced friends sexual appetites. Counter-types are used in A Nightmare On Elm Street 2 when Jesse finds himself unable to consummate his relationship with Lisa due to Freddy's interference however unusually for a slasher movie whilst the girl is eager, the boy is unable to go through with the act. In-fact the Nightmare series are remarkably free from sexual relationships."
I used this stereotype in my production my portraying the final girl as virginal, whilst the other two girls drink and have sex with the boys she refuses alcohol and the third boys advances. I used the juxtaposed stereotypes of the girls as one of the ways to give the audience a firm idea that the film is a conventional slasher.
The Killer
"The aspects of the films that stick in the audiences minds are invariably the weapons eg Michal Myres and his carving knife. Popular evil protagonists are those with their own trademarks and quirks"
Based on this I decided to have my killer specifically using an axe to kill his victims as I felt the targeted use of one weapon builds more tension in the audience when that weapon comes into shot, compared to a variety of weapons.
Through my genre research I found the majority of slasher movies are very low budget for example the "slasher blueprint" Halloween only cost $320,000 but took in $60,000,000 at the box office in its first year. Despite the a dip in the popularity of slasher films since the 90s films such as Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli 2007) followed this trend in costing only $15,000 to make and taking $170,652,060 since September 2009 (http://www.imdb.com/)
Developments in technology have also lead to a rise in the popularity of the genre with the introduction of 3D effects. Remakes such as My Bloody Valentine (Patrick Lussier 2009) and franchises such as Final Destination have used 3D films to attract new and existing fans.
I found that the term "Final girl" was identified by Carrol H Clover in her book Men, Women and Chainsaws. She suggests viewers begin by sharing the perspective of the killer, then partway through this shifts to the final girl. She identifies final girls often have a unisex name for example Sidney in Scream. She argues the girl becomes maculinized through "phallic appropriation" in their confrontation with the killer when they take up a weapon such as a knife or chainsaw.
