Research
Potential Questions:
References that I have used so far:
Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film. (2006). [film] Directed by J. McQueen. USA: Starz Entertainment.
~ This is a documentary that describes how the horror started to become slasher films, how slasher movies where made to scare their audience, the special effects to make death scenes look gruesome and realistic as well as the response the slasher movies received (especially the reputation they gained from the media). This is appropriate research for my essay as the topics and movies that are discussed in this documentary correspond with what I plan to include in my essay - such as the reputation from the media, and since I will be talking about desensitisation, I will need evidence that slasher films where gory enough for people to get used to the violence that they consume. Furthermore, I can rely on the information that has been used in this documentary as it was fully published as a documentary, and the information that is included was said by professional directors, set designers and producers of slasher movies. This makes it reliable as it comes from people who have worked first hand in the industry.
Why do we like watching horror films?https://partner.sciencenorway.no/film-forskningno-inland/why-do-we-like-watching-horror-films/1451826
~ This entry on Science Norway allowed me to get an idea of why people enjoy watching horror related movies. This is helpful to me as it allows me to get an idea of why the audience in the Golden Ages of slashers enjoyed watching slashers, as well as what they where interested in. Furthermore, it was an interesting read for me personally, as I also enjoy horror and slasher movies, it allowed me to gain an understanding about why I watch these genres of film and what interests me. This article is reliable as it was published by the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, meaning that appropriate research would have had to be conducted for this article to be published - and it would have been peer-reviewed before publishing.
The Numbers. (2020). Halloween (1978) - Financial Information. [online] Available at: https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Halloween-(1978)#tab=box-office [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].
~ This website is similar to IMDB, however its purpose it to provide financial information about movies and tv shows. For example, it can provide the sum of the Domestic Box Office for a movie that I have used in my essay - Halloween (1978) made $47,000,000 in Domestic Box Office. This information is important in my point of how easy it was to put a small budget into a movie (in this case, $320,000) and make a huge profit for it ($47,000,000). I am unsure of how reliable this source is due to never using this website before, and I am unable to find much information about the person who published the information on to the website. However, I have looked at other websites, such as IMDB, which has matched the number of Halloween's profit - moreover, I used a similar link for the budget of the Halloween movie which I found to be reliable.
Navarro, M. (2018). The 30 Most Influential Slasher Movies of All Time. [online] Vulture. Available at: https://www.vulture.com/article/best-slasher-horror-movies.html [Accessed 5 Mar. 2020].
~ This website goes into detail about the most influencal slasher movies from the Golden Age, which was helpful as it allowed me to gain an idea of what movies where orginal and successful in their influence. I feel that this websites information is reliable as I have looked at several other websites, including IMDB, and these websites have similar, if not identical, view-points of which movies are most popular.
Ragusa, G. (2018). What Was the Budget for The Original 'Halloween' And What Did The Cast Get Paid?. [online] Showbiz Cheat Sheet. Available at: https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/what-was-the-budget-for-the-original-halloween-and-what-did-the-cast-get-paid.html/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].
~ This website posted an article detailing the amount of money that went into the production of the Halloween movie, along with how much the cast got payed for their work. This website helped me figure out how much of a profit the production gained from its small budget, which proves that the Halloween movie and other slasher movies like it are extremely successful. I feel that this website is significantly less reliable than the other sites that I have found as there is no references in the information that they have given, however, the publish date and author is visable on the website. Additionally, I am unsure is the article has been peer-reviewed, meaning that information could be incorrect. Having said that, other websites such as IMDB and even google have confirmed that the budget was 325,000 USD. This leads me to believe that the website is more reliable than I enitially thought it to be.
Arrowfilms.com. (n.d.). About Us | Arrow Films. [online] Available at: https://arrowfilms.com/about-us/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].
~ Arrow films are the official creators who are working on reburbishing and re-distributing "classic and cult/horror films" (Arrownfilms.com, n.d.). This is their website, and the information that I used in my essay was retrieved from thier official "About Us" page - this makes the information reliable as it came directly from the people who wrote the about page, not found on a different website. The information that I used was to help me discribe that there are still companies working on bringing the hype and interest back to slasher movies, Arrowfilms are achieving this by refurbishing old movies and promoting them, making them eye-catching for people who might be interested in slasher movies. They also mention that they aren't just trying to get the slasher genre to be loved again, but are also helping collectors find Limited Edition box sets.
Atwood, K. (2019, March 19). The Golden Age of Slasher Films. Retrieved from ReelRundown: https://reelrundown.com/film-industry/The-Golden-Age-of-Slasher-Films [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].
~ This is my least reliable source due to it being a blog. I am unable to tell whether or not this blog was peer-reviewed or publoshed - it appears to be a students blog, but doesn't specify where they are from. However, the information about The Golden Age was extremely helpful to me as I was unsure of what I could classify the be the Golden Age in my essay. It helped me plan which movies I would talk about and what ones to include.
Additionally, I have included 11 references to slasher movies.
Movies that I have decided to include in my essay:
Neale, Stephen (1980): Genre. London: British Film Institute [solely concerned with film]; an extract can be found in Tony Bennett, Susan Boyd-Bowman, Colin Mercer & Janet Woollacott (Eds.) (1981): Popular Television and Film. London: British Film Institute/Open University Press
~ I have taken a direct quote from Steve Neale, "instances of repetition and difference", which supports my points of the repetitive nature of horror related genres. Additionally, when filmmakers with original ideas set the difference in their movies, people continued to copy their ideas for the fame and money. In my essay, I called this "joining the metaphorical bandwagon" of ideas for revenue. This quote is reliable and relevant to the information in my essay as it was said by the man (Steve Neale) who created the Genre Theory.
Potential future references:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zksm8xs
- How has the film genre horror changed from the 80's to early 2000's? (This question is too broad as it means that I will have to cover at least 15+ years of film in only 2000 words - this will be difficult to achieve. However, I like the horror genre related question so I will have to try and narrow it down to something more specific)
- What happened to the 80's Slasher genre? (This question is much more specific and will be a great subject to talk about. There is even a documentary on the subject of this which will be a valuable source to refer to)
- The History of the Slasher Genre and how it Changed from the Late 1970's to Early 1990's
- The question that I have decided to answer in my essay is How Horror has Changed from the Late 1970s to the Early 1990s
After receiving feedback on my first draft, I have been able to look back on my essay and change aspects that don't fit in well. A main aspect of change is going to be my essay title. Instead of describing how Horror has changed, I will instead have my title be What Happened to the Slasher Genre? I have decided this, with the help of feedback, would be a better question for my essay as in my first draft, I have focused primarily on the slasher genre instead of the horror genre as a whole. This will be a better title as I have already talked about what has happened, but as the original title didn't relate to the information in the essay, the essay contradicted itself. Additionally, I feel more confident with this title as the genre of horror is very vast, and I will not be able to cover all aspects of the history of horror in 2000 words - now, however, I have established the Golden Age of slasher genres early on in the essay, which gives me a time period to talk about, as well as mentioning how it has changed towards the modern age of film, making this question easier to answer.
Examples of popular 80's Slashers:
- The Shining (1980)
- Nightmare on Elm St (1984)
- Friday the 13th (1980-89)
- Scream (1996)
I retrieved this list from: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls051128965/
References that I have used so far:
~ This is a documentary that describes how the horror started to become slasher films, how slasher movies where made to scare their audience, the special effects to make death scenes look gruesome and realistic as well as the response the slasher movies received (especially the reputation they gained from the media). This is appropriate research for my essay as the topics and movies that are discussed in this documentary correspond with what I plan to include in my essay - such as the reputation from the media, and since I will be talking about desensitisation, I will need evidence that slasher films where gory enough for people to get used to the violence that they consume. Furthermore, I can rely on the information that has been used in this documentary as it was fully published as a documentary, and the information that is included was said by professional directors, set designers and producers of slasher movies. This makes it reliable as it comes from people who have worked first hand in the industry.
Tyrrell, K., 2001. The Serial Killer in Cinema. Alternative Law Journal, [online] 26(6), pp.274-278. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1037969X0102600602?journalCode=aljb [Accessed 3 March 2020].
~ This journal entry helped me find a quotation from Steve Neale - who created the Genre theory. Reading through this journal was extremely helpful to me as it also talks a lot and goes into detail about the often used male murderer role in slasher movies. It is a key point in the slasher movies and allowed me to make the connection of repetition to the genre theory - and why slashers became repetitive. This research article is reliable as it was offically punlished in December 2001, from a student at The University of New South Wales - this makes it reliable as the student would have had to do a lot of research (which I can see at the bottom of the web page, they have included all of their references) and additionally, the essay would have been peer-reviewed by tutors and other students.Why do we like watching horror films?https://partner.sciencenorway.no/film-forskningno-inland/why-do-we-like-watching-horror-films/1451826
~ This entry on Science Norway allowed me to get an idea of why people enjoy watching horror related movies. This is helpful to me as it allows me to get an idea of why the audience in the Golden Ages of slashers enjoyed watching slashers, as well as what they where interested in. Furthermore, it was an interesting read for me personally, as I also enjoy horror and slasher movies, it allowed me to gain an understanding about why I watch these genres of film and what interests me. This article is reliable as it was published by the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, meaning that appropriate research would have had to be conducted for this article to be published - and it would have been peer-reviewed before publishing.
~ This website is similar to IMDB, however its purpose it to provide financial information about movies and tv shows. For example, it can provide the sum of the Domestic Box Office for a movie that I have used in my essay - Halloween (1978) made $47,000,000 in Domestic Box Office. This information is important in my point of how easy it was to put a small budget into a movie (in this case, $320,000) and make a huge profit for it ($47,000,000). I am unsure of how reliable this source is due to never using this website before, and I am unable to find much information about the person who published the information on to the website. However, I have looked at other websites, such as IMDB, which has matched the number of Halloween's profit - moreover, I used a similar link for the budget of the Halloween movie which I found to be reliable.
Navarro, M. (2018). The 30 Most Influential Slasher Movies of All Time. [online] Vulture. Available at: https://www.vulture.com/article/best-slasher-horror-movies.html [Accessed 5 Mar. 2020].
~ This website goes into detail about the most influencal slasher movies from the Golden Age, which was helpful as it allowed me to gain an idea of what movies where orginal and successful in their influence. I feel that this websites information is reliable as I have looked at several other websites, including IMDB, and these websites have similar, if not identical, view-points of which movies are most popular.
Ragusa, G. (2018). What Was the Budget for The Original 'Halloween' And What Did The Cast Get Paid?. [online] Showbiz Cheat Sheet. Available at: https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/what-was-the-budget-for-the-original-halloween-and-what-did-the-cast-get-paid.html/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].
~ This website posted an article detailing the amount of money that went into the production of the Halloween movie, along with how much the cast got payed for their work. This website helped me figure out how much of a profit the production gained from its small budget, which proves that the Halloween movie and other slasher movies like it are extremely successful. I feel that this website is significantly less reliable than the other sites that I have found as there is no references in the information that they have given, however, the publish date and author is visable on the website. Additionally, I am unsure is the article has been peer-reviewed, meaning that information could be incorrect. Having said that, other websites such as IMDB and even google have confirmed that the budget was 325,000 USD. This leads me to believe that the website is more reliable than I enitially thought it to be.Arrowfilms.com. (n.d.). About Us | Arrow Films. [online] Available at: https://arrowfilms.com/about-us/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].
~ Arrow films are the official creators who are working on reburbishing and re-distributing "classic and cult/horror films" (Arrownfilms.com, n.d.). This is their website, and the information that I used in my essay was retrieved from thier official "About Us" page - this makes the information reliable as it came directly from the people who wrote the about page, not found on a different website. The information that I used was to help me discribe that there are still companies working on bringing the hype and interest back to slasher movies, Arrowfilms are achieving this by refurbishing old movies and promoting them, making them eye-catching for people who might be interested in slasher movies. They also mention that they aren't just trying to get the slasher genre to be loved again, but are also helping collectors find Limited Edition box sets.Atwood, K. (2019, March 19). The Golden Age of Slasher Films. Retrieved from ReelRundown: https://reelrundown.com/film-industry/The-Golden-Age-of-Slasher-Films [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].
~ This is my least reliable source due to it being a blog. I am unable to tell whether or not this blog was peer-reviewed or publoshed - it appears to be a students blog, but doesn't specify where they are from. However, the information about The Golden Age was extremely helpful to me as I was unsure of what I could classify the be the Golden Age in my essay. It helped me plan which movies I would talk about and what ones to include.
Additionally, I have included 11 references to slasher movies.
Movies that I have decided to include in my essay:
- The Pray (1983) - E. Brown
- Halloween (1978) - J. Carpenter
- A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) - W. Craven
- Friday the 13th (1980) - S. Cunningham
- Mausoleum (1983) - M. Dugan
- Madman (1981) - J. Giannone
- Sleepaway Camp (1983) - R. Hiltzik
- Eaten Alive! (1980) - U. Lenzi
- Blood Cult (1985) - C. Lewis
- Maniac (1980) - W. Lustig
- Drive-In Massacre (1976) - S. Segall
(These movies are sorted in alphabetical order of Directors last name)
Neale, Stephen (1980): Genre. London: British Film Institute [solely concerned with film]; an extract can be found in Tony Bennett, Susan Boyd-Bowman, Colin Mercer & Janet Woollacott (Eds.) (1981): Popular Television and Film. London: British Film Institute/Open University Press
~ I have taken a direct quote from Steve Neale, "instances of repetition and difference", which supports my points of the repetitive nature of horror related genres. Additionally, when filmmakers with original ideas set the difference in their movies, people continued to copy their ideas for the fame and money. In my essay, I called this "joining the metaphorical bandwagon" of ideas for revenue. This quote is reliable and relevant to the information in my essay as it was said by the man (Steve Neale) who created the Genre Theory.
Potential future references:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zksm8xs
Although these links where useful to read through, I have not included them into my essay. This is because I located all of my potential references and information before I started writing my essay - this way, as I was finding evidence, I was learning through reading other people's work, this also meant that I had my reference before I started writing and I wouldn't have to locate them whilst I was trying to write. Furthermore, these websites are less reliable than the others that I have found - a lot of them do not have any information about who has published them, which means that I will not be able to include the author in a harvard reference. Adittionally, websites like wikipedia are unreliable due to anyone being able to write a wikipedia page and having the ablity to edit them - because of this, I chosen not to include any wikipedia pages in my research and essay.
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