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.

Deconstruction of the Costumes of Killers

 Stitches' costume consists of a rugged, dirty and old brown coat with matching trousers. His hair is untamed and dry and he is wearing gloves. This is to keep his fingerprints off things because he is killing the people who killed him (he has returned from the dead). Some people already find innocent clowns scary but this particular clown is killing people and his eye is stitched up, so this is terrifying because clowns are supposed to be fun-loving and kind.

Leatherface's costume in Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a normal workshop man's outfit - a t-shirt, trousers and apron. However, he is often carrying around his chainsaw and hurting/killing people, and this shows because his clothes are ripped and dirty with splatters of blood on them. This tells us that he does not change his clothes - he is more concerned about killing people.

The killer's costume in ATM is very realistic, it is a man wearing a dark coat with a fur hood and dark trousers. Because of the hood, we cannot see his face so he remains anonymous, similar to the examples above. As his clothes are realistic and many people wear that today, it is menancing this makes the movie more effective and scary.

The costume from Scream follows the conventions of it being dark and consisting of something which covers the killer's face. Darkness is associated with evil, death and bad and it blends in with the night which is when most killers attack. Plus, the ragged ends of the 'wings' could be ironic - good = white, wings = angelic but in this case, bad = black and ragged wings = trouble.












Chucky is a killer's spirit which has gone inside a Good Guy doll , which is ironic because Chucky is evil. The doll is a baby who is smiling and in baby clothing. A baby is not capable of killing which is why this costume is frightening yet interesting. Chucky has cuts all over his face and he carries a knife which is similar to Scream's and Leatherface's weapons.













A slasher convention is for the killers to hold their weapons in their hands as a way of indicating that they are going to kill and to have their face disguised to add more suspense as the killer remains anonymous to us. Also, wearing dark clothing to camoflauge in with the night and/or the clothing being worn-out and ragged is also a typical horror and slasher convention. So, our killer should wear dark clothing, which could be realistic, such as a t-shirt and jeans because, like ATM, it makes it more scary because it is believable.

Deconstruction of masks in films

These are masks worn by mentally challenged children and the fact that you cannot see their faces creates a sense of mystery which is why masks are often used in slasher films, to disguise/hide someone, especially the killer(s). As these are children wearing masks and whom are chained to their seats, you begin to wonder just how powerful/dangerous they could be. All the masks are creepy but the children with the scariest masks are the paper bag mask with a cut out of a toothy grin on it, the devil with horns and an extremely long torso, (the boy who drives the bus off a cliff who is wearing a) dracula style mask with long fangs, and the crazy clown. They seem scary because there is the element of the unknown - we do not know whether draculas and devils exist, but we do know that clowns are real and that anyone can put a paper bag over their head, but it seems strange that a wide mouth is pasted on the bag and that the clown looks jolly, yet evil. The bunny, baby, skeleton and upside down queen masks do not seems as daunting as the others. This may be because they are 'typical' masks, like the skeleton, or are masks of things which aren't terrifying, such as a bunny and a baby.



The infamous Saw mask which appears in every Saw film is very well known, a distinctive feature being the red swirls on his cheeks. Also, his eyes are red and red symbolizes blood, danger and threats which is exactly what the Saw films are brimming with. Especially as this is a human face with hair, it seems quite realistic which is what makes it more frightening. In slasher films, the more relatable and realistic something is, the scarier it is to the audience.

Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the most sickly masks because it is a human being's face which has been cut off. The killer then goes around killing people wearing a human's face as a mask to protect his real identity. This concept is very sickening and works very well with the slasher theme of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Slasher films consist of a lot of gore and nauseating content so this mask fits in well with those themes.











The masks used in The Purge are of a person who is smiling. In The Purge, 12 hours are allowed every year for all crimes to be legal, so people can go around killing each other. The happy expression of the masks contrasts with the negativity of commiting crimes. This is similar to Saw's Jigsaw mask, who is also smiling. It is a horror and slasher convention for the killer to be pleased by killing and torturing and this mask represents that.

Also, because the mask is some length away from the face, the eye holes disable us from seeing their eyes, so the one bit of identification we are normally given with masks is not given here. So the person behind the mask is completely anonymous.

 The masks used in The Strangers are used by the killers who enter the couple's house and torment them, then finally kill them. The two female faces with rosy cheeks and red lips are scary because a girl looking like that is often associated with innocence and youth, and these 'strangers' aren't innocent and do not seem young. The man wearing the scarecrow mask with a smile painted on it is also disturbing because when he torments and kills people, because of his mask it looks like he is enjoying it.

Genre Research

Genre Research

Genre Research

Genre Research

Research on two genres:

~ We decided to choose the 'slasher' genre for one of our choices. I firstly looked at the advantages and disadvantages that would come with choosing to do a 'slasher' film opening for our coursework.

The advantages of choosing to do a 'slasher'.

The disadvantages of choosing to do a 'slasher'.

~ After looking at the research, we decided unanimously that choosing to do the slasher genre would be the best option for us all.

Conclusion to our combined research of different genres.

Deconstruction of 'Sinister' trailer:

Deconstruction of the trailer for Sinister, how is it appropriate to the genre? 

~ Although Sinister is considered a horror film, I thought that a lot of aspects in the trailer were similar to those seen in slasher films. 

~ The trailer opens with a flashback from nine months earlier, with a montage of pictures with a news report playing over the top, describing the murder of a family. So within the first few seconds you know it’s going to be a horror movie and that the deaths will be described and explained in some detail. 

~ Another aspect is the mysterious character who appears to be connected to the murders as he is seen in the film footage of them but is never seen actually killing them. There are a few moments where the noise level goes from extremely quiet to a sudden bang or scream which is intended to make the audience jump and feel scared. This is a main trait of horror films, to scare the audience, make them jump and almost get inside their head so they imagine it’s real. 

~ The trailer uses a lot of flickering imagery as most shots are a lot scarier when only seen for a millisecond, especially when it’s a gruesome bloody image of a death or a shrill loud scream after silence. It also mentions that “children exposed to the images were especially vulnerable” which makes it even more frightening as children are seen as innocent and it seems worse when it’s happening to children. 

~ During the credits, it mentions that the film has been produced by the same people who made “Paranormal Activity” and “Insidious”, which are well known, successful horror films, to raise the expectations of the people going to watch it, so they know it should be as good as the other films.  Towards the end, there is a shot of an axe being dragged across the floor to show the deaths are going to be slow, painful and very bloody, confirming the horror genre. 

An alternative movie poster for Sinister.

Deconstruction of a Film Screenshot:

Deconstruction of a screenshot from 'The Others':

Out of the numerous screenshots available, I chose to analyse the one below from the film The Others, which is seen as a Drama, Horror and/or Mystery.

Screenshot from 'The Others'.

~ This is a two shot image from The Others with two children, a boy and a girl, in the centre of the shot, peering through the banisters of a staircase. Their faces are pale and they don't look healthy, almost as if they've been ill for a long period of time. They seem to be in shock, maybe by looking through the staircase, they've seen something that's surprised them and they seem scared.

~ This image has low-key lighting as the two children are the only things visible so the focus is meant to be on them. The boy is wearing old fashioned pyjamas and the girl is dressed in an old, white nightdress, hinting that the film was set a while ago. 

~ They appear to be clinging onto the banister, as if it is their source of safety and that it will save them from whatever they've seen. On the other hand, the way that they are holding the banisters resembles prisoners in jail so maybe they are the ones who have done something bad and are not allowed downstairs, which could explain why they are looking down.

~ This screenshot reflects the genre(s) as we don't know what's happened to these children and that gives an air of mystery to the scene. As their faces are pale, they don't look like 'normal' healthy children and that makes them slightly creepy as if something's wrong with them. Something major has clearly happened, as shown by their facial expressions and body language, which adds to the drama sub-genre.

Deconstruction of the Sinister Trailer- How it is Appropriate to Genre

With the very first glimpse of the sinister trailer, it tells the viewer that it is a horror with the quick change in shots, the loud, harsh sounds that are aimed to make the viewer jump, the subject of murder in the non-diegetic, off screen news report covering the changing images and the contrasting sound, immediately builds up tension.

With the text "9 Months Later" displayed across a black screen, the scene changes to show an introduction into the main story within the movie. A family moving into this house, ready to start a "new beginning", hoping that because they have moved, their lives are going to get better- this is a convention of some horror films, having the victims move away, or go on a trip to be able to have a "fresh start".

However, when the father, the main character, goes up into the attic- a cliché location for horror movies- he finds a box holding old, homemade films from the previous owners. After watching them though, the father finds that the films are recordings of murders of families that had previously lived in the house the man is living in now with his family. This twist in events is where the camera angles, editing and non-diegetic sound starts getting frantic, speeding up along with the intensity of the situation on screen, where previously, it had been slower, creating a calming effect to the viewer.

Clips and photographs of these serial murders, along with scenes of death, fire and destruction are shown, as a reference to the old recordings, building the tension that had originally started to build, but was lost with the "lighter" introduction to the story- stopping the trailer being emotionally draining for the viewer.

A clip of the scene where the father notices the same symbol within each of the home films is then shown, which develops into the realisation that the symbol is linked to this supernatural pagan deity that “consumes the souls of young children”, and that he is the one that has committed these murders- adding a supernatural aspect to the already marked horror genre.

Throughout the rest of the trailer are short, quick scene of strange occurrences, violence and weapons being dragged along the floor with each change in scene relating to the sound of one of the homemade tapes going around the wheel, making a repeating slapping sound, making the editing of each scene not smooth and unnoticed but disjointed and harsh, adding to the effect that it gives the audience of tension rising. All the while, a constant single sound is building, increasing suspense, until sudden silence is introduced, and all in view is a horrific sight of the fathers two children sitting next to two other, seemingly dead (from their appearance), children, to which the face of the pagan deity who is tormenting the family moves into the screen all of a sudden, making the final view of the trailer a “jump” that would leave the audience with the impression that it is extremely scary, but worth watching.
 

Everything within the trailer shows common conventions within the supernatural-horror genre such as “jumps”, supernatural occurrences and the revealing of a threat that together brings violence and destruction.

Below is the trailer being discussed: