Essay

In the past, films that would have fitted under the slasher genre title were known simply as horror movies. One of the first slasher movies to be made was ‘Psycho’ by Alfred Hitchcock which was made in 1960 the famous shower murder scene proved to make the film successful as the audience found the suspense and anxiety within the scene very appealing and interesting.

This then led to a whole new type of genre which was taken from horror and developed into its own genre. In the same way, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre by Tobe Hooper was another slasher genre movie that was made in 1974 The connotations of a typical horror genre were prominent in this as well except this time the slasher genre began to be well known to audiences.The ways that the slasher scenes in ‘Psycho’ were portrayed were not as brutal and violent as those in ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’. In the era that ‘Psycho’ was made, the slasher genre was not recognized as much and this resulted in less violence shown on screen.

The famous shower scene was more about creating anxiety and suspense rather than giving the audience something gory to look at. However, now that the slasher genre is recognized well, the way in ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ portrayed its horror scenes was in a more violent way because at the time it was created it was catering to a younger audience who enjoyed watching violent scenes. An issue that can be raised though is the fact that when ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, the director was setting out to re-created real life events and this my have therefore resulted in harsher scenes as this was the reality.‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, also uses less music and relies on more diegetic sounds such as the chainsaw and the screaming to create suspense for the audience while in ‘Psycho’, the music is the main thing that makes the movie as tensed as it is. This is also an issue which can be raised because its appeal comes from what is heard and not what is seen. However, a debate that can be raised is that ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ uses more sexual imagery to appeal to its target audience, while ‘Psycho’ uses only some to appeal to its audience. This means that over the years the slasher genre has needed to incorporate these elements to appeal to its target audience. Also, over the years the violent images have become more real. For example, the way in which the victim is killed in ‘Psycho’ is not literally shown to the audience because this would have been too explicit for the audience but in ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, the scenes are more brutal and way in which the blood and flesh is shown throughout is more visual than in ‘Psycho’.There are other elements that have changed with time such as the last girl which is prevalent in ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’. It happens with the virgin of the film, while the other girl who has slept with her boyfriend dies during the film. In ‘Psycho’, the female dies in the middle of the film and there is no last girl, but there is a last couple who go in search of the killer together. This shows that the generic form of the slasher genre has changed overtime.

The whole link of a virgin to survival can be raised as an issue because it may outline the way society favours those who have more respect for themselves and do not give into their weaknesses. This in the movie could be showing that there is a connection to how those seen as mentally and emotionally strong in real life are also strong in the same way in movies.The killer is ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ is also very different from the one in ‘Psycho’ because he is actually deformed to the audience and does not look like a human however, in ‘Psycho’, the audience sees the killer as a human and this differs a lot from ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’. This could outline that now the audience of the slasher genre may want something more than just the human form to be shown as a killer. However, this can again be viewed as a debate because what happens in ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ is actually true life events.Overall, I believe that the way in which the slasher genre has evolved overtime has been due to the fact that the audience demands much more from what they are viewing. The genre itself has developed because people get too bored with watching the same old storylines and ask for something more than that, so as time has gone by the slasher genre has developed too.

Similarities and Diffrences

Both text use similar techniques to the engage the audience e.g. create suspence.

Both contain a lot of violence in it however in comparison to the new psycho there is far much more.

Texas Chainsaw contains a monster, mask, teenage group and last girl two clear iconographic images in a slasher movie.

cover work migrain analysis

Form: - The function of the clip is to attract potential viewers to the film. It creates suspense and makes the audience continuously engaged within the text which they are watching.

Media language: The film set in the 1960‘s depicts the encounter between a secretary, who is in hiding at the motel after stealing from her employer, and the motels owner. The film was produced in black and white to make original and hence create more effect upon the audience. During the 60s there was the introduction of colored films However Alfred Hitchcock decided to create his movies in black and white hence to create further suspense and to hide away all the gore for instance the blood and killing scenes. As the woman is the central protagonist of the film throughout the scene of the shower there is a phallic symbol which can be inferred as a penis. Thus she is having pleasure whilst taking a shower. She is also represented as a male gaze when she is shown when she enters the shower.

Institution: Paramount

Genre thriller, slasher

Representation: firstly, When the women gets killed she is illustrated to be vulnerable and unable to help herself, hence showing the women is dominate upon the men. Hence, in the last scene the victim’s sister shows that she plays upon the role of finding her dead sister. However, thought this scene it shows that her sister takes upon the central protagonist again and takes the main role by entering the ‘haunted’ house by herself. Representation of women (how they are portrayed as the sex object hence the male gaze, as stated by Laura Mulvey.) The death of the psychos mother has taken upon a great toile upon him therefore he is portrayed as weird – hence his split personality where he acts in the role of his mother. He takes upon revenge as a way to cope with his mother’s death.

Audience: firstly, the way in which she is shown mainly appeals to mainly male audiences. Clearly engages the audience, hence keeping them engaged throughout by not giving the plot away.-The main target audience for this Alfred Hitchcock film is males aged above their 30s.

Ideology: Dominant role are still not achieved by women to play within society, due to the fact that even if she does have a white collar job this shows the unbalance and unjust within society. Hence, women will always be seen as a sex object and an object of the male gaze.

Narrative: The narrative is Non-linear narrative there are flashbacks therefore reinforcing what has happened throughout the film so far.

Wider context: Representation of women has changed within society and how women are now working and being called the housewife anymore.