Name That Convention
I’m the cautious one who stays sober, observant, and strong. I’m repeatedly put into violent and traumatic situations until I finally overcome the monster I face.
Who am I?
The Final Girl
This audience-needs theory explains why people actively choose slashers for diversion, social relationships and personal identity.
Uses & Gratification Theory
"Death has come to your little town Sherriff"
Dr. Loomis
Halloween
When there is a contrast between what is said or shown in a text and what is really meant
This is called...
Irony
This 1960 film is credited as a primitive slasher film; widely acclaimed for the way it established a new acceptability of violence in American cinema.
Psycho
I represent intimacy, danger, and control. I’m sharp, personal, and often linked to power and sexuality.
What am I?
A knife
Explain why films studios created a large wave of Slasher films during the 1980s.
Studios realised slashers were cheap to make and very profitable.
The budget to box office ratio was high.
Audiences kept paying to see familiar stories, producers repeated the same formula too often, leading to over-saturation.
''No, please don't kill me, Mr. Ghostface, I wanna be in the sequel''
Tatum Riley
Scream
Derived from a French word to mean a certain type or kind of text which shares similarities in form, style or content
This is called...
Genre
This media scholar argues that genres survive through instances of repetition and difference.
Steve Neale
I look calm, clean, and safe. I represent a picture of middle class success. But I hide dark secrets, repression, and danger behind white picket fences.
What am I?
Peaceful Suburban Setting
They knew 'the rules' of the genre.
"You're not a virgin. Now you got to die. Those are the rules."
Stu Macher
ScreamWhen a text borrows from, or responds to another text to create new meaning
This is called...Intertextuality
Provide two reasons to explain why sequels are so common within the slasher genre?
1) They are cheap to make
2) They are easy to market
3) They contain intellectual property that audiences are already familiar with
4) Their profits are generally reliable
I’m supposed to protect and guide, but in the world of the slasher, I’m clueless, absent, or simply too late.
What am I?
Ineffectual Authority
In The Cabin in the Woods, how does the control room represent the way horror films are made for audiences?
The control room acts like the film industry in the way that it follows the slasher formula and conventions.
This shows how the industry is restricted by audience expectations.
“I’m on a reality TV show.”
Marty Mikalski
The Cabin in the Woods
When a text knows that it is a text and draws attention to its own performance, or comments on its own making
This is called...
Self-Reflexivity
This social movement of the 1960s and 70s emerged as women entered the workforce and challenged traditional gender roles. It focused on equality in both public and private life, including fair pay, reproductive rights, and freedom from discrimination and violence.
Second-Wave Feminism
You see through my eyes as I hunt my victims. My perspective traps the audience inside the killer’s mind, making them complicit in the horror.
What am I?
Subjective Camera/POV Camera
How does Halloween speak to the destruction of the idea of the American Dream?
It exposes the myth of safety and perfection within suburban America.
The veil of suburban safety has been broken by an intruder.
It shows the violence that hides beneath the clean and orderly fashion of the suburbs.
“The Virgin’s death is optional. As long as she suffers. The others must die.”
The Institute Director
The Cabin in the Woods
When a text imitates the style or elements of another work without the intent to criticise or mock them
This is called...
Pastiche
Why can The Cabin in the Woods be described as a postmodern slasher film?
It mixes horror with comedy and self-awareness.
It breaks the fourth wall, comments on slasher rules, and makes the audience think about how horror films are made and consumed.
It has pastiche, self-reflexivity, irony and intertextuality.