The latest release from cult specialists Headpress, publishers of the excellent magazine of the same name and the Critical Vision imprint, Jim Harper's Legacy of Blood explores the slasher film phenomenon.
The introduction usefully establishes where the author is coming from. He explains that he's a fan of the form, happy to recognise its good, bad and ugly examples, rather than condemning them outright – bar a few carefully selected critically respectable instances – as most genre critics prefer to do. He likewise establishes what is missing, in particular the Italian giallo (whose enthusiasts would be better seeking out the Blood and Black Lace guide if they haven't done so already), while at the same time making a fair claim to be providing "A Comprehensive [note, not Definitive] Guide to Slasher Movies".
Part I of the book proper, running 22 pages, provides a brisk history of the genre from its origins in the likes of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace and Twitch of the Death Nerve – "Slasher Bloodlines" – through Halloween – "Genesis" – and Friday the 13th , on to A Nightmare on Elm Street – "The nightmare ends?" – before concluding – "Too young to die" – with the emergence to Scream and company. In other words, it covers all the major bases, though there are also some noteworthy omissions, such as Sergio Martino's Torso which may have been of Italian origins but featured a co-eds in peril plot and was a reasonable success on the US drive-in circuit in the mid-70s.
Part II, running 30 pages, focusses on the key themes and motifs of the slasher film, in the form of "the heroine", "the killer", "location", and "parents and authority figures" and is, for me, probably the best part of the book. Not only summarising the academic commentaries on the genre from the likes of Carol J Clover, Harper also responds to their assertions. Using a broader sample of films and genre knowledge – as distinct from sometimes over-enthusiastically applied theory – he demonstrates that some of the by now well established dogmas, such as the "have sex and you die" notion, are nowhere near as definitive as many have assumed. Perhaps more importantly, to continue to repeat them and to fail to acknowledge the changes that have taken place in the genre, not just post-Scream – in the 2000 film Cherry Falls , for instance, the killer targets virgins – but also through the course of the 1980s – more nudity and less gore, for instance – runs the risk of reifying a continually developing form.
Part III, the largest at over 120 pages, provides reviews of some 190 slasher films, ranging from the well known franchies and series to some genuine obscurities, including a smattering of foreign language entries. Typically combining exposition, critique and background detail, these make for lively reading and give a good idea of whether an individual film will suit the reader's tastes. For example, on Jim Wynorski's Sorority House Massacre II : "To be honest the last half of the film is fairly atmospheric and the ending is pretty cool. Even so, the only real reason to watch it is the excessive nudity – even when they're not naked the cast are running round in their underwear. If you're after a T&A slasher film, then [this] is about the best you can do. You get the added bonus of watching Gail Harris trying to keep up an American accent, before giving up halfway through and slipping into her native Yorkshire lilt"
On the downside, there are again a few questionable omissions: Dario Argento's Trauma , for instance, was made by the Italian director in the US in a bid to break into the American marketplace, such that its exclusion when Italian-made slasher imitations like Michele Soavi's Stagefright or Ruggero Deodato's Body Count are included seems odd. Likewise, there's also the occasional sense that a connection between pieces of trivia hasn't been made, as when in the aforementioned Sorority House Massacre II review Harper notes that Wynorski originally had himself credited as Arch Stanton and that Ennio Morricone's theme music for The Good, The Bad and the Ugly plays over the film's end credits without seeming to recognise that Arch Stanton is the name on the grave (next to the one) that holds the gold in Leone's film.
Still, again the good outweighs the bad here, with the reader likely to pick up both some new facts and a shopping list of slashers to check out.
Part IV contains what are really four appendices: "banned films," on slashers that fell foul of the DPP in the UK's "video nasties" scare of the 80s; "before they were famous," detailing the slasher film exploits of various A- and B-list actors including George Clooney and Tom Hanks; and brief notes on "international slashers" and "seasonal slashers", all seeming to do little more than compile together and highlight material present within the other sections.
A few minor misgivings aside, Legacy of Blood is a worthwhile read for slasher fans, though whether there's enough in it to really warrant going for it in preference to the cheaper Movie Essentials volume (list prices of £3.99 and £9.99 respectively) is harder to say.
Copyright © K H Brown 2002-2005
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