“Never say, ‘I’ll be right back,’ because you won’t be back.” (The State of the Slasher in 2009, Part Two)
March 3, 2009 at 6:29pm | In film, pop culture, sociology | Leave a CommentTags: "the rules", everyone loves randy meeks, final girls, friday the 13th, likeminded blogs, omfg why did someone make those sneakers, scream, slasher film, state of the slasher in 2009
It seems (after Nadine’s epic, long-awaited analysis of “The Twilight Saga”) that we here at Tiny Gems are very interested in talking about teenage sexuality and its representation in popular, youth-focused media. Which means, of course, that I’m back to the slasher film. We all know the frequently re-hashed tropes of the sexual politics of the slasher – the carnage and chaos unleashed by any active teenage (female) sexuality, the killer as punisher of sexual activity, the “Final Girl” as “masculinized” virgin, the Freudian implications of knives and wounds. Been there, done that. At this point, these generic cliches have even become the founding principle/in-joke of an entire slasher franchise (the Scream series). But what I’m wondering is, do these tropes still hold up – and if they do, do they really impose any normative ideologies over slasher audiences?
In other words – do Randy’s “rules” from Scream (1996) really mean anything today? Did they ever really exist to begin with? Could all of the many, many academics and critics who have trashed the slasher sub-genre for years be wrong about its implications?
The Night “He” Came Home (The State of the Slasher in 2009, Part One)
February 10, 2009 at 5:35pm | In film, pop culture, sociology | Leave a CommentTags: friday the 13th, horror, jason voorhees, reaganomics, slasher film, state of the slasher in 2009, this really should've been my senior thesis
Michael Myers has already been there, Jason Voorhees gets in this week, and Freddy Krueger will be there soon – of course, I’m talking about your local multiplex. The classic slasher is back in a big way, as CHUD.com writer Devin Faraci notes in a recent article. Slasher films, such as the Friday the 13th remake opening this Friday, the 13th – make up a significant amount of recent mainstream horror film production, and are definitely making a killing (pun intended) at the box office. As mentioned in Faraci’s article, as well as in the New York Times, this new Friday the 13th remake (and series reboot) comes on the heels of a series of other slasher remakes, including new versions of three of the sub-genre’s founding films – Black Christmas (2006), Halloween (2007), and Prom Night (2008).
Trailer for Friday the 13th (2009)
While Faraci’s attempt to answer the most often-repeated question about the slasher sub-genre (“What is it that makes slasher films appealing?”) from a fan’s perspective is interesting, it leads him to away from a much more intriguing question – that is, “Why slashers now?” What is it about these mask-wearing, unstoppable killing machines of the Reagan era that resonates so well with horror film spectators in 2009? Why do audiences look to slasher remakes over original horror storylines? And why have these slasher movies so completely replaced the much maligned “torture porn” films – the Saws and Hostels – that ruled the horror universe earlier in the 2000s?
Stay tuned for a detailed investigation of these questions – and in the meantime, don’t go in the woods… alone!
(While you’re waiting for the next installment of this series – or just while you’re waiting for the new Friday the 13th movie – check out The 10 Days of 13 Redux on CHUD – Devin Faraci re-visits and reviews each film in the original Friday the 13th series.)
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