Slashing Back! How to Revive the Slasher Genre. With new entries in several classic slasher franchises coming around the bend (Halloween, Friday the 1. Child’s Play, and more) it looks as if we’re headed for a stalk n’ slash renaissance. Not since Wes Craven’s Scream and its many imitators has the subgenre racked up the the box office dollars to go along with its massive body count. As a huge fan of “dead teenager” flicks and an aspiring (read: “wannabe”) writer/director myself, I’m often contemplating what the new iteration of the slasher will be.

The Monster Librarian Presents: Reviews of Horror Related Graphic Novels and Comics. There aren't a large number of horror graphic novels out there but those that. Les Misérables (French pronunciation: [le mizeʁabl(ə)]) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the.

The popularity of these films always tend to run in cycles. Each cycle contains its own specific clichés and characteristics.

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Despite this, a slasher- is a slasher- is a slasher, and they all retain certain tropes and themes that are instantly recognizable. The Slasher’s Past. For instance, the 7. Black Christmas, Halloween, and The Redeemer were setting the groundwork for what the subgenre would become. Their focus was more on building suspense and less concerned with piling up the bodies. The “Golden Age” of the 8. Audiences flocked to the Friday and Nightmare films.

The Slasher’s Past. For instance, the 70’s proto-slashers such as Black Christmas, Halloween, and The Redeemer were setting the groundwork for what the subgenre. Directed by Ronny Yu. With Robert Englund, Ken Kirzinger, Kelly Rowland, Monica Keena. Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees return to terrorize the teenage population. Friday the 13th is an American horror franchise that comprises twelve slasher films, a television show, novels, comic books, video games, and tie‑in merchandise, as. Sir Crocodile is the former president of the mysterious crime syndicate Baroque Works and the. Though it was overlooked during the busy summer movie schedule of 1986, Fred Dekker’s Night of the Creeps has gone on to become a quintessential cult classic. A. I don’t give a shit whether Hooper or Spielberg directed it – I only care that I love the damn movie, and the remake had disappeared already, while the legacy of.

They could care less about most of the characters. Fans were practically rooting for the next successive death to outdo the last in terms of shock and gore. After that, the slasher film laid dormant for quite some time until the late 9. Films released during this era were too hip to simply follow the previous blueprint. All the clichés and tropes were old hat, the mystery of “who is the killer” came to the forefront with self- referential humor poking fun at what had come before. All the more salacious bits of T& A, creative kills, and the unstoppable madmen fell to the wayside.

Then, audiences grew tired of it all. Our slasher surrogate for the early 0. So…what’s next? I’m genuinely asking. You see, I’m currently hashing out an idea for a screenplay that would present the slasher from a different angle. It’s not what I would call groundbreaking in any way, but it provides a modern update to all the tropes we’ve come to love and fear. At least, this is my intent with the project.

There’s a fine line to toe between “something different” and “something unrecognizable”. Breaking the Slasher Mold. The truth is, there has been a lot of innovation within the subgenre through the years. If Freddy never came for the Elm Street kids in their dreams, we might not have ever gotten the supernatural slasher. If the giallo (Italian murder mystery) film didn’t greatly inspire the original Friday the 1. Jason’s mother as the killer, would we have gotten Scream? However, while innovation and “original” concepts are always begged for, we don’t always welcome them.

The Friday series has become the quintessential poster child of the body count film. When you plop down in your seat for a new Jason flick, you know just what you’re getting into. That said, some Friday films have taken pretty big risks throughout the years, much to the chagrin of some fans. Friday the 1.

V: A New Beginning dared to give us “Fake Jason” in a twist that hearkened back to the original. The franchise has also gifted us “Slug Jason” and “Uber Jason” (I prefer the term “Mecha- Jason”, but I’m a Big G nerd). The majority of fans have not have not been too kind to those chapters in the franchise. I happen to enjoy all three to various extent, but am fully aware they don’t fit in the provided F1. Every time a cinema psycho is launched into space (Pinhead, Leprechaun) or given familial ties (Freddy, Chucky) to try and spice up the formula, they are greeted with less than mild applause. Why change things up at all?

The Slasher’s Present. I personally believe, in essence, there’s no original stories left to tell. There’s only so many ways to seclude a group of characters and only so many ways to unleash a murderous evil upon them. When Carpenter made Halloween he was already cannibalizing Clark’s Black Christmas. He pretty much copied the man’s idea for a sequel and made it his own. Mark Twain put it best: “There is no such thing as a new idea.

It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope.

We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.”Those same pieces of colored glass are coming back into play, and while I believe a lot of horror fans are hungry for “more of the same”, will they be happy if that’s all they get? If the new Friday the 1.

Or would they prefer the same pieces to be presented in a new combination? A simple shift could make all the difference. A group of teens return to Camp Crystal Lake for “insert reason here”. They soon learn the legend of Jason Voorhees only to be slaughtered one by one by the hockey masked murderer. The new angle would have all the “filler” characters bite the dust half way through the film, leaving only our final girl.

An entire 4. 5 minutes could be spent with the lead trying to escape, outsmart, and survive. My favorite part of most slashers are the chase scenes, so why not make that the major focus? See? There’s nothing really original in that concept, but we take a tired story and present it in a slightly different way…Or do we change nothing? The Retro Slasher Revolution. The release of Rodriguez and Tarantino’s Grindhouse opened the floodgates to faux- retro cinema. I can’t stand it (this coming from someone who utilized fake film scratch on a movie I shot years ago…lame). I’m all for a “throwback” or an “homage” if done through ones own creative kaleidoscope.

No matter what, though, digital video looks like modern technology. I don’t care how many scratches, “missing reel” inserts, or cigarette burns you add to your footage. This is not the 8. Why is it that indie filmmakers insist on doing this? Because, the 8. 0’s were the Golden Age, and nothing has come along since to ignite the subgenre the same way.

Yes, Scream was great, and some the films that followed its success were fun. The point is, the revival of the 9. Upon Scream 3’s release in 2. So, whether we grew up in the 8.

Golden Age with memories from either the cinema or the video store. We want to recreate that magic. The Possible Slasher Solution. Two recent indies that come pretty close to that magic are All Through the House (2. Lake Nowehere (2. ATTH is a blast of Christmas cruelty, shot with slick digital photography, served up with all the sex and gore an 8.

It works because it plays its ludicrous killer Santa plot straight, and it delivers on the expectations of the genre without resorting to faux- retro gimmicks. Lake Nowhere does exactly what I’ve already rallied against; it presents itself as a lost VHS classic. Hypocritical? Sure, but the filmmakers handle this exceptionally well. The film only lasts about 5.

Different from ATTH, Lake Nowhere works by NOT delivering on the expectations of its premise, a partying group of kids spend a weekend at a cabin in the woods. There are two examples of modern films in the subgenre that work for different reasons. ATTH is a film that borrows the tropes and clichés of the 8. Lake Nowhere passes itself off as an old school slasher only to go in a wildly different direction, ending on an almost mystical note. Is this the future of the slasher, an amalgam of old and new?

The Slasher’s Future. I don’t claim to have all the answers. I believe the key for future slashers’ successes are in the details. Filmmakers must crack the modern audience code in order to elicit maximum scares and minimum eye rolls. Only it can’t be done by ignoring the over 4.

We can’t rely on the meta approach of the 9. This brand of humor has been done to death with increasingly diminished returns.

Maybe “self- referential” could be replaced by “self- reflective”? If general audiences won’t show up for the meat and potatoes vibe of the 8. The pacing of 7. 0’s genre fare may bore some of today’s moviegoers, but suspense is always in style.

The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre. THE WORLDWIDE CELLULOID MASSACRE. An encyclopedia and film- diary of extreme, surreal and bizarre movies. Contact: movies at thelastexit dot net. Last updated: 1st September, 2. Movies: 2. 85. 7. These pages contain a collection of concise reviews for movies and film- makers that are extreme in various ways. Watch Literally, Right Before Aaron 4Shared.

This is an encyclopedia (up to 2. Dadaists and Surrealists. From 2. 01. 7 and onward, this site ceased to be a comprehensive encyclopedia and becomes a film- diary of extreme cinema instead (reasons/rant). While the term 'extreme' is a relative one and could be applied to any aspect of a movie (e. Rather than succumb to a vague, subjective and meaningless classification, this site makes use of the following dictionary. Of a character farthest removed from the ordinary', and 'exceeding the bounds of moderation'.

It focuses on movies with extraordinary content that is. Therefore, as opposed to a populist viewpoint that assumes extreme cinema. For a personal manifesto on extreme movies and why I watch them, try. Straightforward horror, art- house or creepy movies are not included, nor are formalist/structural movies that merely experiment with structure, light, camera and sound. The movies should make one feel unusually disturbed, right- brain challenged, or confused. Many movies nowadays have disturbing, bleak.

Correspondingly, although many horror movies have gore, what counts as far as this site is concerned is that the movie revels in it and gives it top. Movies that were extreme for their time, or milestones in extreme cinema may be included as well. In some cases, you may feel that the director/writer may be. They are not recommended to the faint of heart, the prude, the morally righteous or the.

Hollywood aficionado. Taking the above into account, pages on film- makers provide only a description of the types of films they make, their general approaches and trademarks, and reviews. Extreme short movies and short- film- makers are usually not. I don't use rating systems because there are too many aspects to a movie to allow a summary with a single number.

I simply classify a movie as either. The reviews are deliberately concise. For more information and reviews, click on the IMDB links. All reviews and criticisms are subjective and personal.

I don't make any attempts at objectivity, and there are bound to be many strong disagreements. If you want to know how big a grain of salt to take my reviews with, this is my taste in general: I generally. Gratuitously sick movies with nothing else going for them are worthless to me, as is exploitation trash, and I am not a fan of the so- bad- it's- good genre. I do enjoy the occasional campy b- movie. Classics receive the same level of criticism and are not given special treatment just because they are. Do not expect my opinions to coincide with underground movie trends just because I watch underground.

Low budgets are fine but not if the writing and acting are lacking. I have very high standards for the 'Recommended' listings.

What this means is that if you enjoy experiments, z- movies, exploitation, pointless sickness, or watching outrageous movies in order to poke fun at them. My likes and criticisms are pretty consistent and therefore could be used as. If a movie isn't listed here it's usually either because I haven't gotten my hands on it yet or because I didn't find it to be extreme, or because it. Also see the Honorable Mention section for names just beyond the scope of.

Feel free to e- mail me with feedback. This site was the first of its kind created in 1. Reviews may be improved.

It has no commercial aspirations, as is evident by the lack of advertising, and it has no goals to. It is what it is. TABLE OF CONTENTSGore/Splatter.