Matthew Cullifer's Blog - Posts Tagged "slasher"
Of Monsters and Madmen (slasher flicks)
We got cable TV in 1980. I was five years old, and lived in an isolated rural area, but in many ways, that black coaxial cable connected me to the outside world--a world that soon revolved around Star Wars, raunchy comedies like "Porkey's" and "Revenge of the Nerds," and perhaps my favorite--the slasher flicks.
Secretly, we rooted for Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Freddy Kreuger, but of course there had to be a sole survivor--the virginal heroine. We can argue that slasher flicks were in fact a morality play, in which those who engaged in sex and abused drugs and alcohol were being punished--or that Michael's butcher knife, Jason's machete, and Freddy's finger knives represented male genitalia--but what fun is that? Thirty five years ago, it was mindless fun that was repeated by a sequel almost annually. We wanted more gore and more inventive kills than the last installment. Little did we know, the trade off was a reduction in quality.
John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) is a classic, and could be considered the "Step Father of the Slasher Flick Genre" behind Hitchcock's 1960 gem, Psycho. The 1981 follow-up, picked up directly where Halloween ended, and despite negative reviews from critics, was satisfying. The body count was higher and there was less suspense than the original, but it's far better than any of the sequels.
On a side note: Halloween III is a creepy film, that might have a better reputation if it was known simply as "The Season of the Witch" instead of having the Halloween moniker attached.
Halloween 4 had its moments, but Michael Myers just didn't look as sleek (cool) as he did in the first two films. Part 5 was awful. Part 6 was worse. Too much time was devoted to building a motive for Michael, when all we wanted was a mindless killer.
The return of Jamie Lee Curtis in 1998 brought hope, but the unfortunate name "H2O" killed the enthusiasm. The franchise should have ended there, but Michael never dies. He returned in the aptly named Resurrection--one of the worst movies ever made.
2007 ushered in the unnecessary Rob Zombie re-make (it wasn't as bad as the dreadful Gus Van Sant Psycho remake though). Again, Zombie tried to humanize Michael--a character we had loved since 1978. In the process, Michael, the person, became wholly unlikable. He's a madman--a killer. The wanton and random display of brutality was endearing, not the backstory.
Don't even get me started on Zombie's sequel that fell apart after the first fifteen minutes.
The Friday the 13th franchise dabbled a little in back story, but it was simple: a mother's revenge followed by a son's. Jason was a killing machine, and it didn't matter who got in the way.
The first four movies were excellent. Part V stunk. Part VI was campy and fun, but the rise of supernatural Jason wrecked the remaining films in the series, including the 2009 remake.
The original Nightmare on Elm Street terrified me as a ten year old. The concept was fresh--here the threat comes when you fall asleep, and sleep is unavoidable. The series could've been gold, but they turned into a comic vehicle driven by one-liners from Freddy. Only part 3 is worth watching.
Perhaps, I'm longing for a simpler time in my own life--when the killer dispatched his victims in 90 minutes and was seemingly vanquished himself at the end....
Secretly, we rooted for Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Freddy Kreuger, but of course there had to be a sole survivor--the virginal heroine. We can argue that slasher flicks were in fact a morality play, in which those who engaged in sex and abused drugs and alcohol were being punished--or that Michael's butcher knife, Jason's machete, and Freddy's finger knives represented male genitalia--but what fun is that? Thirty five years ago, it was mindless fun that was repeated by a sequel almost annually. We wanted more gore and more inventive kills than the last installment. Little did we know, the trade off was a reduction in quality.
John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) is a classic, and could be considered the "Step Father of the Slasher Flick Genre" behind Hitchcock's 1960 gem, Psycho. The 1981 follow-up, picked up directly where Halloween ended, and despite negative reviews from critics, was satisfying. The body count was higher and there was less suspense than the original, but it's far better than any of the sequels.
On a side note: Halloween III is a creepy film, that might have a better reputation if it was known simply as "The Season of the Witch" instead of having the Halloween moniker attached.
Halloween 4 had its moments, but Michael Myers just didn't look as sleek (cool) as he did in the first two films. Part 5 was awful. Part 6 was worse. Too much time was devoted to building a motive for Michael, when all we wanted was a mindless killer.
The return of Jamie Lee Curtis in 1998 brought hope, but the unfortunate name "H2O" killed the enthusiasm. The franchise should have ended there, but Michael never dies. He returned in the aptly named Resurrection--one of the worst movies ever made.
2007 ushered in the unnecessary Rob Zombie re-make (it wasn't as bad as the dreadful Gus Van Sant Psycho remake though). Again, Zombie tried to humanize Michael--a character we had loved since 1978. In the process, Michael, the person, became wholly unlikable. He's a madman--a killer. The wanton and random display of brutality was endearing, not the backstory.
Don't even get me started on Zombie's sequel that fell apart after the first fifteen minutes.
The Friday the 13th franchise dabbled a little in back story, but it was simple: a mother's revenge followed by a son's. Jason was a killing machine, and it didn't matter who got in the way.
The first four movies were excellent. Part V stunk. Part VI was campy and fun, but the rise of supernatural Jason wrecked the remaining films in the series, including the 2009 remake.
The original Nightmare on Elm Street terrified me as a ten year old. The concept was fresh--here the threat comes when you fall asleep, and sleep is unavoidable. The series could've been gold, but they turned into a comic vehicle driven by one-liners from Freddy. Only part 3 is worth watching.
Perhaps, I'm longing for a simpler time in my own life--when the killer dispatched his victims in 90 minutes and was seemingly vanquished himself at the end....
