Deconstruction of the Names of Horror and Slasher Films

Having come to a point where we are nearly ready to start filming, I felt it important that we start thinking of names for our film opening. However, not wanting the name to sound too cliche, and for it to be appropriate for the our idea for the film opening, as well as genre, I decided to do a few deconstructions on different horror/slasher films and their names. Analysing why they are called the names they are called, how they create effect and also how they are appropriate to genre.

Below show the different horror/slasher films names that I looked at. I also put a brief overview of the movie, to link the name to the contents of the film:

Scream 

Sidney Prescott, is a normal girl, until everything changed. The Ghostface Killer is targeting Sidney and all of her friends and family. He is trying to make a point, terrorising her until everyone she loves around her is dead, and she becomes the target.

In this movie, the ghostface killer wears a black cloak and a ghost mask, shielding his identity from his victims. Attacking them with a favoured knife, multiple murders result in a lot of struggling, screaming and running away from the killer.

The name of the film, "Scream", is appropriate to the amount of death scenes within the movie. It is a typical sound that you hear within slasher films, and so links to the concept of the film. As a previously unused name, tells the audience that there is going to be violent, it relates to the film contents and it is applicable for genre.

 Texas chainsaw massacre-

Five friends visiting their grandfather's house in the country are hunted and terrorised by a chain-saw wielding killer and his family of grave-robbing cannibals.

The name "Texas chainsaw massacre" basically tells the audience what the movie is about. The location-"Texas"- is referenced, as well as the weapon of choice for the killer- a "chainsaw". It also has the word "massacre" within it, giving the impression that the film would be graphically gory with quite a lot of death scenes and blood.

Saw-

Within various situations, several victims are thrown into life threatening situations by a serial killer who's been nicknamed "Jigsaw". The victims must follow various rules and objectives if they wish to survive and win the deadly game set for them.

The reason for the name being "Saw" is arguable. There are two possible reasons why it was called this, firstly being that in the first of the series of films, the victims are given the option to die or to saw off their own feet. This, however is rather a poor link, I felt, so I researched into the film. I found that the serial killer "Jigsaw" takes sections of his victims skin after they are dead, and once the police who are  investigating the murders figure this out, they name him "Jigsaw" as if he were taking different pieces of a jigsaw puzzle from his victims. This was then condensed down to "Saw" for the title.

This means that there is a direct link of a phrase or a word from within the film, to the title. It also links to the gruesome ideas within the film, relating to the genre and the contents.

Final Destination-

After a teenager has a terrifying vision of him and his friends dying, he prevents the accident only to have Death hunt them down, one by one, until there are no more survivors.

The name of this slasher film, "Final Destination" links to the beginning of the film where someone has a vision, and saves people by warning about the fatal accident that is about to happen. The phrase "final destination" relates to the people as they are killed by "Death". It also stands for "the last journey that they ever make" before they die. This is therefore appropriate to the film as it describes what happens to the people within it.

I saw the devil-

When his pregnant fiancee becomes the latest victim of a serial killer, a secret agent blurs the line between good and evil in his pursuit of revenge.

This film is about a man, looking for the man who killed his family. The title "I saw the devil" is a typical thing for a man describing the person who did this, to say. The word "devil" also links to the brutality and heartbreakingly horrible way that the killer kills the pregnant fiancee of the secret agent, being so evil, that he is compared to the devil. This title therefore links to the description of the killer, in the secret agents point of view- relaying a hint of what the story will be about to the audience and giving the effect that something so "evil", as to be compared to the devil, happens within the contents of the film.

Cabin in the woods- 

Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

This title is rather unimaginative. It simply relays the location of the majority of the film. It does also suggest that there's something not quite right with this cabin, that something is going to happen within it, but it really only relates to the location.

This is interesting to see that a film can be named after simple aspects of the films content, for example the location, rather than having to think too imaginatively about it.

Sinister-

 A true-crime writer finds a cache of 8mm home movies films that suggest the murder he is currently researching is the work of a serial killer whose career dates back to the 1960s.

The googled definition of the word "sinister" is, giving the impression that something harmful or evil is happening or will happen. This symbolic word links to the story within the film, where the true-crime writer, finds the home films of a serial killer murdering his victims, leading onto signs that this serial killer is going to come for the writer and his family, and eventually does.

The word, however, doesn't come up within the film, making it a descriptive title of the films contents rather than a location or a weapon used in the film.

The Collection-

A man who escapes from the vicious grips of the serial killer known as "The Collector" is blackmailed to rescue an innocent girl from the killer's booby-trapped warehouse.

As the serial killer is called "The Collector" it is understood why the film is called "The Collection" as it looks at what the killer "collects" along with a storyline to make the film be substantial and interesting.

The effect it gives is the idea that the killer has a collection of victims that he takes and/or kills as a hobby, as a collector would collect things for. It also degrades his victims, making them objects rather than actual human people that are being held and murdered. This links to the horror/slasher genre being that the killer holds his victims against his will, the fact that "The Collector" is a serial killer, and the gore and blood aspect adds to it as well.

The Helpers- 

Seven friends on a road trip to Las Vegas break down near a rest-stop motel, where they encounter a seemingly helpful group of people. Convinced to stay overnight, the friends wake up in their rooms to a gruesome and bloody terror.

The name of this film "The helpers" gives a contrasting effect that the story is going to be nice and about people helping each other. This links to the contrasting interpretation that the seven friends thought when they were convinced to stay overnight by a group of helpful people after they break down. The film then starts getting darker and more twisted as the friends wake up to "gruesome bloody terror" and the rest of the story unfolds.

The name of the film links to the wrong idea that the friends got from the "helpers", making the audience think that as well, and making the audience feel as if they are more connected with the film, as they made the same mistake.

Evaluation

After I had deconstructed the specifics of this variety of different film names, I found a similar set of "rules" that were followed for all the different names:

• They were all reasonably short, one to three words maximum, and if it was more than one word, they were memorable- such as "Texas chainsaw massacre".
• They all explicitly link to defining feature within each movie such as the location, the name of killer, the killers motives, etc. 

Regarding to the typography of the names, the following trends stood out:

• The colours black, white and red are used- bold, contrasting colours and the red linking to blood and gore- a convention in horror-slasher films. 
• A traditional block typography is also used, differing only to add texture such as a "dripping  blood effect" to the block letters. 
•  The titles are always positioned in the middle of the screen, either at the top, bottom or across the entire screen, making it obvious that it is the title of the film.
• Rather than taking up the entire width of the screen.

Taking what we have I have researched here into account, my group and I have decided on a name for our film opening- "A + E". This name is a play on words, linking to the doctor aspect of the killer, and also the quote that we found in Shordditch "Adore and Endure Me" of which my group and I really want to incorporate into the film opening.