Anatomy of the Slasher Film: A Theoretical Analysis

by Sotiris Petridis

Overview

The term "slasher film" was common parlance by the mid-1980s but the horror subgenre it describes was at least a decade old by then--formerly referred to as "stalker," "psycho" or "slice-'em-up." Examining 74 movies--from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) to Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)--the author identifies the characteristic elements of the subgenre while tracing changes in narrative patterns over the decades.

The slasher canon is divided into three eras: the classical (1974-1993), the self-referential (1994-2000) and the neoslasher cycle (2000-2013).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476635675
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	05/10/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	178
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Sotiris Petridis is an adjunct professor at Hellenic Open University, Greece. His research interests are about film and television genres, audiovisual horror, screenwriting theory and practice, viral marketing, and the new ways of film and television promotion and has written academic books and articles on cinema and audiovisual narrative. He is a member of the European Film Academy and the Greek Film Academy.
Sotiris Petridis is a postdoc researcher at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece. His research interests are film and television genres, screenwriting theory and practice, audiovisual rights, and the new ways of film and television promotion. He is a member of the European Film Academy and the Hellenic Film Academy.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. A Theoretical and Historical Approach to Slasher Films
Slasher Films: A Horror Subgenre
The Semantic/Syntactic Elements of Slasher Films
The Cycles of the Slasher Film Subgenre
An Epilog to the Theoretical and Historical Approach
2. The Classical Cycle of Slasher Films
The Normality of the Classical Cycle
The Other of the Classical Cycle
The Final Survivors of the Classical Cycle
The Victims of the Classical Cycle
An Epilog on the Classical Cycle
3. The ­Self-Referential Cycle of Slasher Films
The Normality of the ­Self-Referential Cycle
The Other of the ­Self-Referential Cycle
The Final Survivors of the ­Self-Referential Cycle
The Victims of the ­Self-Referential Cycle
An Epilog on the ­Self-Referential Cycle
4. The Neoslasher Cycle of Slasher Films
The Normality of the Neoslasher Cycle
The Other of the Neoslasher Cycle
The Final Survivors of the Neoslasher Cycle
The Victims of the Neoslasher Cycle
An Epilog on the Neoslasher Cycle
Conclusions
Appendix A: Films Referenced
Appendix B: Semantic Elements
Chapter Notes
Filmography
Bibliography
Index