Brian

Some Horror sites....

http://www.filmsite.org/horrorfilms.html **Horror Films** are unsettling films designed to frighten and panic, cause dread and alarm, and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Horror films effectively center on the dark side of life, the forbidden, and strange and alarming events. They deal with our most primal nature and its fears: our nightmares, our vulnerability, our alienation, our revulsions, our terror of the unknown, our fear of death and dismemberment, loss of identity, or fear of sexuality. Horror films go back as far as the onset of films themselves, over a 100 years ago. From our earliest days, we use our vivid imaginations to see ghosts in shadowy shapes, to be emotionally connected to the unknown and to fear things that are improbable. Watching a horror film gives an opening into that scary world, into an outlet for the essence of fear itself, without actually being in danger. Weird as it sounds, there's a very real thrill and fun factor in being scared or watching disturbing, horrific images. Whatever dark, primitive, and revolting traits that simultaneously attract and repel us are featured in the horror genre. Horror films are often combined with [|//science fiction//] when the menace or monster is related to a corruption of technology, or when Earth is threatened by aliens. The [|//fantasy//] and [|//supernatural//] film genres are not synonymous with the horror genre, although [|//thriller films//] may have some relation when they focus on the revolting and horrible acts of the killer/madman. Horror films are also known as chillers, scary movies, spookfests, and the macabre. See this site's [|//Scariest Film Moments and Scenes//] collection - illustrated, including //Entertainment Weekly//'s selections for the 20 Scariest Movies Horror films, when done well and with less reliance on horrifying special effects, can be extremely potent film forms, tapping into our dream states and the horror of the irrational and unknown, and the horror within man himself. (The best horror films only imply or suggest the horror in subtle ways, rather than blatantly displaying it, i.e., Val Lewton's horror films.) In horror films, the irrational forces of chaos or horror invariably need to be defeated, and often these films end with a return to normalcy and victory over the monstrous.

http://horror.about.com/od/horrormoviesubgenres/a/slashers.htm

Slashers are among the most prevalent types of horror movies, especially on video, and they're a particular favorite of modern horror fans. The definition of a slasher film varies depending on who you ask, but in general, it contains several specific traits that feed into the genre's formula: Every slasher has a killer. He's usually male, and his identity is often concealed either by a mask or by creative lighting and camerawork. Even if his identity is known, as in the case of //Halloween//'s Michael Myers, he still tends to mask his face. This, combined with the fact that he's usually mute and seemingly unstoppable, heightens his ominous, threatening nature. His back story often includes a childhood trauma (atomic wedgies and the like) that turned him into the homicidal maniac he is today, thus creating a level of sympathy in the viewer. After all, the real star of a slasher is the killer, not the hero. Throughout a franchise like [|//Friday the 13th//], heroes come and go, but the killer is constant: the iconic antihero valued for speaking softly and carrying a big machete. What's a killer without victims? In slashers, the victims tend to be young, attractive and often nude. They're typically high school- or college-aged adolescents who engage in vice-ridden activities: sex, alcohol, drugs, crime, football. Rarely does the killer pick these kids explicitly because of their misdeeds, but there is an unwritten moral code in these films that punishes bad behavior. As nihilistic as they might seem, slasher fans like to know that the people who die somehow "deserve" it. Although slashers are often criticized for being misogynistic, they're one of the few film genres that primarily feature strong, independent female leads. The heroine is almost always a peer of the victims, but unlike her cohorts, she's virtuous. She doesn't go along with all of the sexual hijinks and drug usage, and if she doesn't outright stop her pals from bullying the geeky outcast who may someday grow into a homicidal killing machine, she at least feels really bad about it. The heroine is also known as the "final girl" because by the end of the movie, all of her friends are dead, and she's left alone to deal with the killer. One thing that separates slashers from thrillers and murder mysteries is the level of violence. Slashers shift the focus of the film from such trivialities as "plot" and "character development" and instead concentrate on the killing. Storylines are basically constructed around giving the killer reason and opportunity to do what he does best: murder and mayhem. The deaths are violent and graphic, and the more originality shown in the methods and tools used, the better. John Carpenter's //Halloween// (1978) is often considered to be the first "true" slasher in terms of tying all of these components together, thus setting the standard by which all other films are judged. However, earlier works laid the groundwork, including a pair from 1960: //Peeping Tom// and //Psycho//. A lesser-known film, 1963's //Violent Midnight//, foreshadowed in the long run the mystery killers in slasher movies and in the short run, it predated the development of an Italian slasher forerunner later in the '60s. Around the middle of the decade, Italian filmmakers like Mario Bava began to focus their crime stories on the perverse beauty of bloody deaths, developing a style known as //giallo//. Bava's //Twitch of the Death Nerve// (1971) in particular forecasted the slasher movement to come, as did the Canadian entry //Black Christmas// in 1974. Others, like 1976's giallo-like //Alice, Sweet Alice//, incorporated elements that would later become associated with slashers (e.g., a masked serial killer). It took an American film in //Halloween//, though, to put all of the pieces together and show that the slasher could be a powerhouse moneymaker in the US. Made on a shoestring budget, //Halloween// became the most profitable independent picture to date. Its success led to //Friday the 13th// in 1980, which then opened the door for hundreds of imitators during the 1980s, with 1984's //A Nightmare on Elm Street// containing one of the few original concepts in its supernatural, dream-fed villain, Freddy Krueger. By the start of the '90s, the slasher concept had worn thin, with fewer and fewer films succeeding at the box office. But in 1996, Wes Craven's //Scream//, an often tongue-in-cheek affair that toyed with the conventions of slashers, became the biggest hit the genre had ever seen. The slasher was reborn in a modern whodunit mold, generating similar fare like //I Know What You Did Last Summer//, //Urban Legend// and //Valentine//, as well as, ironically enough, resurrecting the //Halloween// franchise. In the early 21st century, the slasher has continued to search the past for its inspiration, as remakes of //Black Christmas//, //When a Stranger Calls// and //Halloween// have hit the big screen, while the //Friday the 13th// and //Nightmare on Elm Street// franchises both saw their biggest payday when they combined forces for 2003's //Freddy vs. Jason//.
 * The Killer**
 * The Victims**
 * The Heroine**
 * The Violence**
 * History**