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nerdy-analysis · 6 months ago

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Slasher Horror, the Innate Horror of Disturbance, and a Defense of the Maligned

Horror, as most fans of the genre will know, is rather vicarious, as a genre. It allows us to indirectly experience and live through horrifying, traumatizing events through the lens of fiction, it allows us to view these events in such a way that we can process emotions that are centered on those situations, the core points of the horror. It allows us to examine how we might react to those situations.

For instance, Midsommar. Though not a movie of the subgenre I plan to discuss, it nonetheless stands as a good example of the vicarious nature of horror. At its core, the film is centered on trauma, and how that affects our relationships, how our relationships affect our reaction to trauma, and the horror of being controlled, and the loss of control. Dani, the main character, doesn’t fully control her own life, because of her abusive partner. She has also been traumatized by the death of her family at the hands of her sister. Eventually, she thinks she’s gained control of her life, through the cult that causes her to sacrifice the aforementioned partner, but she still doesn’t truly have control over her life.

Her abusive relationship affects how she processes her trauma. Her lack of control over her life leads her to the cult. The cult gives her the illusion of control and choice all while controlling her instead, and that illusion of choice is acted upon and informed by her trauma and relationships. All of those events are possibilities in someone’s life, and all of them are situations we can process through the lens of fiction.

I say all of this as a sort of preamble to the core point. Slasher Horror. It’s a subgenre that’s near and dear to my heart, and what got me into the broader genre of horror. And I feel like it gets a bad rap, in comparison to high-concept, more thematic-based, arthouse horror. And that isn’t to say that I’m not a fan of arthouse horror, some of my favorite horror movies are arthouse horror. But that doesn’t change the fact that Slasher movies are… maligned, by a decently sized group. Considered to not be “real” horror.

When most people think of or hear the words, “Slasher Movie”, they probably think of cheap jumpscares, cheesy antagonists, and extreme plot contrivances. Of course, that isn’t to say Slasher movies like those described don’t exist. The Leprechaun franchise is a perfect example of the archetype. But in my experience, those people tend not to understand why Slasher movies are horror movies, and they usually don’t understand the context behind the history of the subgenre either.

Which means it’s time for a history lesson.

The History of a Genre

Humans have always been interested in violence, and seeing other people being subject to it. There’s a reason the Coliseum was so popular in Ancient Rome. Of course, we aren’t going quite that far back. No, we’re only going back to the early 20th century and on. Our trip starts in 1908, with Mary Roberts Rinehart, and a book called The Circular Staircase. In it, we follow a woman named Rachel Innes, and her nephew and niece. She’s rented a summerhouse, which has a ghost, if the ex, and now current, butler Thomas is to be believed,

Events occur, and eventually, the body of one Arnold Armstrong is found, the estranged son of the homeowner. More events happen, and more bodies pile up, all under mysterious circumstances. The book was then adapted into a play, which became a movie, both titled The Bat. A lot was changed, but there are two key details. Murder is still committed, and an antagonist is added. A masked man who goes by The Bat.

Already, we see the seeds of the Slasher being planted. A string of murder victims, mysterious circumstances, and a masked villain. All things that are rather heavily associated with Slashers today. Let's jump forwards now, to 1932, and to a movie named Thirteen Women.

The movie follows, as one might expect, thirteen women. Sorority sisters who write to a clairvoyant for horoscopes. Unknown to them, however, is that the clairvoyant was manipulated by Ursula Georgi, who was snubbed by the sorority sisters for being mixed race, winding up with her leaving the school. Through the horoscopes, and other plans and plots, she manipulates the sisters into killing each other, with only one surviving, Laura Stanhope.

And with Thirteen Women, we see the seed of another of the Slasher’s most recognizable tropes. The Final Girl. The sole survivor of the murderous events of the movie, book, show, or play.

Now, we jump to the year 1946, and the movie The Spiral Staircase, which follows a mute woman, trying to not die at the hands of a serial killer. It opens with the murder of a mute girl who had been watching a silent film, the third murder in a string of killings. The movie then follows, for the most part, Helen, a mute woman who works in a mansion as the live-in companion for Blanche Warren.

Once more, murders occur at the hands of the antagonist, but we see a few new pieces of the puzzle enter the picture. First, Helen is confronted by the murderer, who wants to kill her as well. The second, the unsuccessful murder that leads to the murderer's death. Additionally, an opening kill, and one committed by a serial killer.

Now we can see the baseline of the Slasher stitching itself together. Mysterious murders, caused by a serial killer, a lone survivor, and confrontations with the murderer.

Of course, the Slasher wasn’t developed in isolation, its base wasn’t just thriller-horror and psychological horror. Art can’t be made in isolation. It’s influenced by other pieces, by its very nature. Which brings us to Splatter horror and Giallo movies.

Splatter horror, more commonly known as “Torture Porn”, is a subgenre of horror that centers on gore, the name being derived from blood splatters. The horror aspect, the part of the subgenre that scares, is the idea that there might be people who would do those things in real life. That someone you walk past might have dismembered someone in their house the other day. As you might assume if you’ve watched Splatter and Slasher films, the influence that Splatter horror had on Slasher is the kills. The gory nature, the gratuity, the body count.

It also, though rather more indirectly, led to the development of a less commented on, though rather ubiquitous, trope. The Body Crawl. Wherein our Final Girl, in her run to avoid the murderer is confronted by the bodies of their other victims.

Then, of course, we come to giallo films. A unique form of murder-mystery story, or just mystery in certain cases, that finds its origin in Italy, the giallo film primarily influenced the Slasher insofar as cementing the mystery aspect of the genre, namely in that, in franchise firsts, or stand-alone movies, we have yet to meet the murderer, with it being revealed at the end of the movie, though such isn’t always the case. One such example would be the reveal that Pamela Voorhees was responsible for the murders in Friday the 13th Part One.

Giallo films, however, also weren’t developed without external genres influencing its tropes and formulas, with the stylings and films of Alfred Hitchcock being an influence on the genre, once more bringing the roots of the slasher back to the thriller and the psychological.

And now, we come to two movies that are, by most fans of the genre, considered the Grandfather, and Father of the Modern Slasher.

The Sanctity of Suburbia, and the Horror of its Shattering

Black Christmas (1974) and Halloween (1978). The two movies that most consider the progenitors of the Slasher. Of course, that isn’t to say that movies that are recognizable as Slashers didn’t come before. Why, in the very same year that Black Christmas was released, the first Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released as well. But that isn’t a movie I’ll be discussing here.

Black Christmas: The Plot

Let’s tackle 1974’s Black Christmas first. It is, in many ways, Halloween’s father. Stylistically similar, a similar premise, and even themed around a holiday. Much like the earlier Thirteen Women, Black Christmas follows a group of sorority sisters. Second verse, same as the first feels a rather fitting phrase to use here, I feel. Of course, Black Christmas is a different film to Thirteen Women. It happens o find itself in another unique category, one that tends to be lumped in with the Slasher. Rather unfairly, I might add. The Exploitation Film.

Rather counterintuitive to the name, and the associated trends, the Exploitation film isn’t entirely about exploiting people. It gained its name for exploiting contemporary topics and trends, though it’s rather undeniable that the subgenre tends toward the sexually exploitative.

Black Christmas was labelled one such film for the rather brutal, for the time, kills found within the film. It takes place over the days before, and on, Christmas, where an unknown murderer is making obscene calls to a sorority house, one that is missing a member, by the name of Clare.

Clare is, of course, dead. When a search party is finally organized, the sorority’s Housemother, Mrs. MacHenry finds Clare’s body in the attic, before being murdered herself. More calls happen, leading the police to tap the phone, and trace one of the calls, leading to the iconic line of “The calls are coming from inside the house.” Our Final Girl, Jess, has her Body Crawl before locking herself in the basement, where her boyfriend, Peter enters through the window.

In a panic, she beats him to death. The police, thinking Peter was the killer leave Jess to sleep. The movie ends with the killer’s voice sounding from the attic, where Clare and MacHenry remain, undiscovered. The attic hatch opens, and the phone rings.

Halloween: The Plot

Halloween (1978), much like it’s father and one of the primary inspirations, Black Christmas, has a cold open kill. This time instead of it being a sorority sister, and an unknown killer, we meet the movie’s murderer as a child, as he murders his sister, Judith.

We then flash to fifteen years in the future, where Samuel Loomis, our murderer’s psychiatrist, is driving with Marion Chambers to escort Michael Myers, the aforementioned murderer, to a court hearing.

Michael, however, manages to make his way to Haddonfield, the location of the movie, killing a mechanic and buying a white mask, creating the iconic look of The Shape. Having seen Laurie Strode drop off a key to his old home, he decides to stalk her. Laurie naturally notices, though her concerns are brushed off by her friends, Annie and Lynda.

That night, Laurie and Annie go to their babysitting jobs, all the while followed by Michael. Annie takes her charge to the Doyle house, where Laurie is babysitting, so that she can pick up her boyfriend. Michael then kills her in her car. Laurie’s other friend Lynda, and her boyfriend Bob, go to the Wallace house, where Annie had been babysitting. They find it empty. After having sex with each other, Bob is murdered as he goes to get a beer. Lynda is killed when trying to find out where Annie is, all while Laurie can hear her being strangled.

After the prerequisite Body Crawl Laurie attacks Michael, managing to take off his mask, and attracting Dr. Loomis’ attention. Loomis shoots him six times, but it winds up being revealed that Michael’s body is missing from where he should be.

The Horror and the Context

Boiled down to their core plot elements, Black Christmas and Halloween don’t sound very scary, right? But that would be because it’s missing the context surrounding the movies. You see, during the 1970s, when both movies released, there was a certain phenomenon sweeping the United States. The Serial Killer Scare, as I like to call it.

The ‘70s and ‘80s, the nominal golden decades of the Slasher, found themself as decades where seemingly every other day a new serial killer was being announced to the world. Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, the Golden State Killer, the Zodiac Killer, the Son of Sam, the Manson Family, the Hillside Strangler, Richard Ramirez. Was the person you passed by a serial killer? Was it someone you knew?

Before the Serial Killer Scare, suburbia was seen as somewhat of a safe haven, a den of safety away from the crime-ridden cities, away from those dens of iniquity where you could wind up being mugged, or assaulted, or even killed, heavens forbid. It was a place of safety and comfort, where your white-picketed dreams could come true.

So, when so many serial killers were revealed to be people that you wouldn’t give a second look, people who might seem like model citizens, it shattered that picket-fence veil of security. It revealed that, no matter how safe you had felt, no matter how secure you thought you were, you were still being hunted. Still prey, at the whims of a predator. That your death, idealized as natural and at old age, surrounded by your loved ones, was unpredictable. That your life could be stolen on a normal night, with a normal knife, by the hands of someone who, on the surface, is just. Like. You.

And art, as a sheer aspect of its existence, is necessarily a reflection, a commentary, and a method of processing the realities of our world. Art is made in reaction to circumstances, made as a deconstruction and analysis of circumstances, and is made to process those circumstances. So, when the elements of the Slasher that had been seeded finally came to bloom, it was only natural that that bouquet of tropes, stations and concepts would be arranged around the facets of life that are seen as safe. The facets of life that were held sacrosanct and unchangeable.

The peace of suburbia shattered in a single night by the blade of a knife. The joy and calm of a summer camp irrevocably rent asunder by the grief of a model woman. The soft land of dreams turned into damaging realms of nightmare and death. The innocence of childhood and children’s toys perverted by the whims of a murderer.

And that is where the horror of the Slasher movie comes from. Slashers aren’t scary because of the kills, the gore, or the designs of the murderer. Slashers are scary because, at their core, they’re about being stalked, being hunted, being prey, and having the illusion of normalcy, safety and peace irrevocably ruined. They’re scary, not for the what or why of the murder, but the maybes and what-ifs of real life.

Slasher’s horror is mistakenly believed to be the murderer. And, in a roundabout manner, it is. But it is not what or who the murderer is, but what they represent. A stranger. A brother. A dream. A toy. A grieving mother. A boyfriend. The horror is what we hold dear, and how it may be far more sinister than we thought, and the shattering of the illusion of safety.

#horror #meta essay #my posts #slasher movies #is the first post im making here about slashers?#yes #yes it #i really hate how some people discard an entire category because #its somehow doing horror “wrong” or something #like because they werent scared #that means it isnt horror #this is directed at film bros #and my shithead brother i like to forget im related to

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