2. The German Expressionism
German Expressionism was a movement which occurred during
the 1920s, it refers to several creative movements beginning
within Germany before the First World War, which ultimately
reached its peak in Berlin. The movement reflects the historical
context of the time, it does this by using sets consisting of abstract
shapes to form psychological landscapes, leaving little to be
realistic. The aim on a larger scale was the influence of the
isolation the country was experiencing during the war and the
portrayal of that through film. In terms of mise en scene within the
film however, it represented the characters state of mind and/or
their situation. The films, contained extreme distortions to convey
an inner emotional reality rather than what is on the surface. This
movement was short lived however, fading away after only a few
years. The themes of expressionism did not die there though, as a
number of German filmmakers emigrated to Hollywood, America
and influenced Hollywood films by subtly adapting extracts of
german expressionist techniques and style (of lighting and
shadows) within ‘B’ films. This resulted in the new era of ‘Film
Noir’, as well as unsettling the tipping balance between ‘A’ and ‘B’
films as they were never presented in the same way.

3. Film Noir
Film Noir is a cinematic term used to describe stylish
Hollywood crime dramas. It was relatively influenced
by German Expressionist cinematography in regards to
its visual style e.g. Shadows, black and white with low
key lighting. The low key lighting is used to highlight
certain situations and emotions. This is when a certain
feature is highlighted by light whereas everything else is
in the dark. Film noir was highly regarded and popular
from the early 1940s to the late1950s . It had a direct
impact on horror films, as seen in China Town and
Maltese Falcon. Its functional use, message of the time,
was that no one could be trusted. Which is why it was
mainly centred around detectives, betrayal and
conspiracy. The films were being made whilst America
was dealing with the threat of communism, this could
have had a subconscious effect on the film industry.

4. Within every slasher film there is a
person who survives, they are more
likely to always be female and are
referred to as the final girl. It is the
last woman/ girl alive to confront
the killer and therefore the one left
to tell the story. She usually had an
ambiguous name and brown light or
dark hair. This is due to the fact that
the male teenage audience can
relate to her.
She is not made out be extremely
feminine as to not attract much
attention to herself. She tends to
represent purity and righteousness
by being virginal and survives due to
not being considered ‘corrupted’.

5. Slasher films always contain a group of friends.
These are the unlucky souls that are picked off one
by one. Within the group there are certain roles that
are fulfilled, these are: the virgin, harlot, fool,
athlete and intellectual.

6. Monster/KillerMonster/Killer
Monsters often wear masks to hide their face which is usually scarred or disfigured. The
idea of this is, the audience have a fascination with- and fear of- the unknown. The
monster usually had a traumatic childhood which has resulted in his psychotic killing
spree. Sometimes but not all the time the killer will have a reason as to why they are
killing these teenagers. The monsters usually use weapons that result in more gore and
have creative ways in which they do it, however, the most typical weapon is a knife. They
are portrayed as unstoppable, giving the illusion that they cannot be killed, and always
seem to posses a lot of strength.

7. The benefactor is usually meant to symbolise knowledge and
therefore the character is of an older generation. This character
tends to try and help the final girl my giving her advice which
will hopefully lead to the monsters defeat. They are usually in
position of power e.g. policeman, doctor etc. and the role can
also be mixed with the ineffective authority figure. On a rare
occasion, the benefactor can have a dual role and be the
‘monster’ too.

8. Within a slasher, the
location is either in a
suburban area or an
isolated one. The
suburban location is
used to make the
audience uneasy about
where they live as the
film suggests they are
not safe anywhere, not
even in their home. The
isolated area however,
is that of the unknown
and what comes from
exploration. Locations
such as, graveyards,
alley ways, basements,
attics and warehouses
are typical for slasher
films.