{"id":10359,"date":"2014-12-30T11:49:30","date_gmt":"2014-12-30T16:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=10359"},"modified":"2014-12-30T12:17:50","modified_gmt":"2014-12-30T17:17:50","slug":"dvd-going-to-pieces-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-slasher-film-2006","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=10359","title":{"rendered":"DVD: Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\"GoingtoPieces\"<\/a>Film<\/strong>: Very Good<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0Very Good<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: n\/a<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong>Velocity \/ THINKFilm<\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a01 (NTSC)<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0March 20, 2007<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0 Documentary \/ Horror \/ Film History<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0Detailed and visually graphic chronicle of the slasher genre.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Filmmaker Commentary \/ A Message from Author Adam Rockoff \/ Bonus Interviews \/ Trivia Game \/ Trailers<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Based on Adam Rockoff’s book,\u00a0Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher\u00a0<\/strong>Film\u00a0<\/strong>(2006), this feature-length documentary is a fairly entertaining chronicle of a genre that was largely reviled (if not held in contempt) by seventies and eighties critics for the nasty, violent, sometimes misogynistic content that, according to some, had no socially redeeming aspects, and portrayed the world as a crappy place to live.<\/p>\n

And yet, while the doc\u2019s title may infer the genre\u2019s failure in the global market, the slasher film isn\u2019t just alive and well today; it\u2019s a staple food for fans of all ages and all walks of life – something no one would\u2019ve guessed in the eighties when the last batch of imitative films failed to make the massive cash of the genre\u2019s iconic blockbuster, John Carpenter and Debra Hill\u2019s\u00a0Halloween<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(1978).<\/p>\n

Of course, that wasn\u2019t the first slasher film, and although the doc cites Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s\u00a0Psycho\u00a0<\/strong>and Michael Powell\u2019s\u00a0Peeping Tom<\/strong>\u00a0as pioneering works for assembling some of the core principles of the genre, it was really Mario Bava\u2019s\u00a0Bay of Blood<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(1971) that codified the marriage of gore and a rapid succession of tongue-in-cheek deaths.<\/p>\n

Bava and his Italian torch bearers (notably Dario Argento) are given short-shrift in the doc, as is Bob Clark and his influential\u00a0Black Christmas<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(1974), but the Italian stream of violent thrillers is really a distinct genre known as the giallo – a native blend of police procedural, whodunit mystery, absurdism, and a sleazy, stylized mix of sex and death.<\/p>\n

Bava\u2019s contributions notwithstanding, it\u2019s perhaps fair to say that the slasher genre, certainly during the seventies and eighties, was a uniquely North American genre that focused on the stalking and killing of youths, vulnerable women, and those hungry for sex.<\/p>\n

Were the films escapist fodder that allowed repressed audiences a wet and wild cathartic experience from the conservative\/puritan behaviour throughout North America? None of the interviewed subjects goes there, and most of the personal opinions in the doc has directors and makeup artists admitting they just had a keen interest in the bizarre, the cruel, and simple fears that scare the heck out of us. No grand plan to speak of.<\/p>\n

If Bava at least can be credited for basically showing us gory deaths by a mysterious killer, then Bob Clark\u2019s\u00a0Black Christmas<\/strong>\u00a0codified what the killer should be in a slasher film. Unlike the giallo, where some ludicrous explanation about childhood trauma or a massive mental snap explains why people are dying fast and furiously, in a slasher, the killer\u2019s past is kept murky (\u2018he went bonkers\u2019) or very simple (\u2018he was teased too much\u2019), because it\u2019s the suspense of the hunt, the stalking, and the kill that propels the film and is gave audiences their thrills.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Halloween<\/strong>, Carpenter milked that formula with elegantly mounted, bloodless montages, whereas in\u00a0Friday the 13th<\/strong>\u00a0(1980), Sean S. Cunningham went for the gore, and it was the gore and prolonged torment that became the slasher\u2019s signature focus, and inevitably progressed to nastier material (much like the giallo) until every imitation and sequel had nothing new to offer and the genre started to weaken. Unlike the giallo, though, which hasn\u2019t really come back as much as fans have hoped, the slasher went into stasis until one of its pioneers, Wes Craven (Last House on the Left<\/strong>), directed Kevin Williamson\u2019s satirical script,\u00a0Scream<\/strong>, and rekindled a repressed fondness for watching people die, but with a sense of humour and the absurd (death by garage door, for example).<\/p>\n

The rise and fizzling of the slasher is essentially ground\u00a0Going to Pieces<\/strong>\u00a0covers, and it\u2019s well-done with interviews from the usual majors \u2013 directors Craven, Carpenter, and Cunningham; makeup artists Tom Savini and Stan Winston; producer Bob Shaye (A Nightmare on Elm Street<\/strong>) \u2013 as well as lesser-known directors whose careers waned as the genre disappeared from theatre screens.<\/p>\n

Actress Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp<\/strong>) chimes in quite strongly against the genre’s vilification by ‘mad mothers against blood splattering,’ particularly the grass roots group that successfully convinced Columbia TriStar to dump\u00a0Silent Night, Deadly Night<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>because its prime time ads showed the film’s killer to unsuspecting children: Santa, with a bloodied ax.<\/p>\n

Director Amy Holden Jones (Slumber Party Massacre<\/strong>) also disputes claims made by critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert where the genre’s sole focus is the destruction of\u00a0independent-minded women; according to Jones, the greatest trauma is often inflicted upon men than women.<\/p>\n

The Siskel-Ebert observations aren’t inarticulate rants, though; they’re a reaction (and outrage) to a genre that basically went from a handful of indie flicks to studio-released waves, but what’s perhaps surprising among their taped discussion (excerpted from the duo’s ‘special edition’ of their\u00a0At the Movies<\/strong>\u00a0show) is how they completely forgot the age-old pattern of what happens when something is hot, and profitable: after a massive proliferation of imitations and sequels, a genre goes into hibernation, or just dies.<\/p>\n

Going to Pieces<\/strong>\u00a0has one surprising chapter on Paramount’s heavy involvement with\u00a0the genre, particularly the films shot in Canada, referred to by one subject as\u00a0‘slasher central.’ Producer John Dunning (My Bloody Valentine<\/strong>) provides more\u00a0candid views on Hollywood’s uncomfortable relationship with slasher films, as\u00a0well as “Canadian carpetbaggers” – producers who were making cheap\u00a0movies within the lucrative tax shelters offered at the time.<\/p>\n

Paramount made a lot of money from its slasher product, but those films have\u00a0often been regarded by the studio with a sense of embarrassment, and that’s probably why theFriday the 13th<\/strong>\u00a0franchise – including the TV series, which had nothing in common with the films except in name only \u2013 took so long to arrive on DVD, whereas\u00a0Halloween<\/strong>\u00a0has been around since the format\u2019s debut, as well as Blu-Ray.<\/p>\n

The most amusing aspects of the doc occur in the final wrap-up, and concern the \u2019return\u2019 of the slasher, with new directors forging ahead, and of gore limits being exceeded yet again.<\/p>\n

Going to Pieces<\/strong>\u00a0was made in 2006, just as the torture porn genre (Saw<\/strong>,\u00a0Hostel<\/strong>) and remake waves (Texas Chainsaw Massacre<\/strong>,\u00a0The Hills Have Eyes<\/strong>) were starting up by the major studios, and we’re arguably in the middle of that wave now: torture porn has been relegated to formulaic sequels and indie productions aimed at niche home video markets, and the remakes \/ sequels \/ prequels \/ reboots \/ re-imaginings (When a Stranger Calls<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Amityville Horror<\/a><\/strong>,Black Christmas,\u00a0The Hills Have Eyes 2<\/a><\/strong>), while coming fast furious, mostly stink.<\/p>\n

Horror is still regarded as an easy way to enter a film career, if not make money. The challenge is making a good movie, and one that doesn’t insult fans. The differences between the eighties and new millennium shockers, though, are rather profound: while we’re still imitating and trying to top the most extreme aspects of prior films, audience appeal of the slasher now spans several generations, and more sub-genres.<\/p>\n

Whereas home video in the eighties made it possible for kids and teens to see t R-rated forbidden fruit at home, it\u2019s easier than ever for teens to see more violent and sadistic films on disc and online, so there has been a progression into more vicious terrain. That progression, and our desensitization towards scenes of torment are worth examining in a follow-up film, but for those intrigued by the makers and popularity of slashers,\u00a0Going to Pieces<\/strong>\u00a0offers just the right balance of history and plenty of juicy clips that will motivate newcomers to hunt down these genre classics.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2009 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

External References:<\/strong>
\nEditor’s Blog<\/a> — IMDB<\/a>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nVendor Search Links:<\/strong>
\nAmazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Based on Adam Rockoff’s book, Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006), this feature-length documentary is a fairly entertaining chronicle of a genre that was largely reviled (if not held in contempt) by seventies and eighties critics for the nasty, violent, sometimes misogynistic content…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[3232,3236,3237,3238],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-2H5","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10359"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10359"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10361,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10359\/revisions\/10361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}