Enemies of the State: the Films and Filmmakers of the Underground — Part 4 “Slashers”
As a genre, the Slasher is both famous and infamous for its gore. However, there is another adult element essential to its framework, nudity. During its zenith, the primary audience of the genre were teenage boys, and there is no better way to market to that member of the public than by including gratuitous gore, and women who spend the majority of the film with their shirts open. Of course, this formula made Slashers the subject of lowbrow discourse. In their time, they were seen as pornographic snuff by some; subversive art by others. The 21st century public is similarly split: while the genre boasts a considerable amount of modern day fans, many still consider the Slasher to be inherently misogynistic.
Fig. 1 Night of the Demons (1988)
Fig. 2 Night of the Demons (1988)
Fig. 3 Night of the Demons (1988)
TROPES OF THE SLASHER
The formula for a Slasher is quite simple: A handful of teenagers, the majority women, are stalked by a silent killer who murders them one by one, until we are left with a “final girl”— often the one character in the film to have not partaken in any form of substance abuse, or any kind of sexual intercourse. The biggest variation found between each film is the killer's outfit, and their murder weapons. The victims remain the same film to film, each fitting into the stereotype of — for example — “slut,” “sleazeball,” “stoner,” etc. In any Slasher, one can expect the female cast to spend most of the film’s runtime in — at the very least — their underwear, if not going fully topless and bottomless, allowing the camera to linger on breasts or behinds (hence the posited misogynism). Most of these tropes were popularized by the giants of the Genre, Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th (1980). Below are some lesser known (less-giant) Slasher films, which each in their way represent a particular part of the genre.
Fig. 4 Night of the Demons (1988)
Fig. 5 Night of the Demons (1988)
Fig. 6 Night of the Demons (1988)
TORSO (1973) — Sergio Martino
While more Giallo than Slasher, Torso and films like it — those that leaned more toward the spectacle of the murders themselves, and the use of nudity as connective tissue — were inspirations for Western films like Halloween (1978), that created the genre as we know it today. Apropos of the title, Torso features multiple shots of women’s breasts, often from the POV of the killer as he watches students through the window of their Sorority house (a common setting of the Slasher). Torso finds a balance — one that would prove profitable, and inspire filmmakers abroad — between sex and violence.
Fig. 7 "Torso " (1973)
Read the complete article in Premium and check out reviews of two other striking slashers from the Golden Age (1978 to ‘84), the end of Slashers, and numerous additional pics of arousing film stills.
Click HERE for a publication on the fetishistic violence of Giallo
What is your favorite slasher and why? Leave your reaction in the comment box below...!!
