Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film

Abstract

Other films which receive notable mentions in the documentary include My Bloody Valentine; New Year's Evil; Silent Night, Deadly Night; Sleepaway Camp; and Happy Birthday to Me. Going to Pieces is not merely concerned with the most popular films of the genre, but also showcases a litany of 'B'-roster slasher films that attempted to cash in on the sub-genre's newfound popularity. A notable and often forgotten scene from Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) is included, in which a maniacal Grandpa (Will Hare) informs young Billy (a genuinely traumatised Danny Wagner) that Santa Claus murders naughty children on Christmas Eve with an axe, a clip which helps illustrate both the genre's ludicrous studio spin-offs and the controversies that emerged as a response to the slasher's popularity.

Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (Rachel Belofsky , Mike Bohusz & Rudy Scalese) USA 2006

While attending last year's ' Horro rthon' at the Irish Film Institute in Dublin, I encountered something rather special: Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film. Most horror documentaries leave one with the distinct impression that interviews have been cut too short, or that any form of in-depth analysis has been removed for the sake of showing some over-familiar and conventionally 'shocking' footage. By contrast, Going to Pieces presented itself as a fully-realised documentary from its elaborate opening sequence, which was a visual cross-section of horror's finest directors, actors, producers and writers commenting on the nature of the slasher sub-genre. The film is based on Adam Rockoff's book of the same name, the definitive academic study of the development of the slasher film from John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) to its misunderstood and poorly-received finale in April Fool's Day (1986). To date, there is no other guide to this controversial sub-category within the horror genre which rivals the sheer scope and depth of Rockoff's book. The film's structure mirrors the book's chapters and arguments, and is interspersed with illustrative extracts from the slasher films under discussion, making it a worthy companion piece to Rockoff's study.

The documentary begins by examining the roots of the slasher genre, placing them firmly at the heart of the real 'American Nightmare': the Vietnam War. In particular, make-up artist Tom Savini - whose most notable work includes George A. Romero's zombie films and Sean S. Cunningham's Friday the 13th - draws on his experiences in Vietnam as a combat photographer who documented the devastation of the region and its inhabitants. Savini recalls seeing severed limbs, torture victims and badly decomposing bodies strewn around like garbage, an experience which profoundly affected him. Wes Craven similarly recollects the effects of the era's political upheavals, paraphrasing Allen Ginsberg's Howl to encapsulate end results of this ongoing national trauma: "All that bad Karma has to go somewhere". He describes his graphic rape/revenge film Last House on the Left (1972) as an immediate response to the Vietnam crisis, illustrating the violation of a vulnerable America from within. Another excellent horror documentary - Adam Simon's The American Nightmare (2000) - examines these social

and political contexts for 1960s and 1970s horror in more detail. In contrast, Going To Pieces builds on Simon's work by acknowledging the contributions of such forefathers as Wes Craven, but focuses more specifically on the rise of the slasher sub-genre from Halloween on. Once Carpenter succeeded in securing a regional release for Halloween, the film began to gain unprecedented momentum, grossing over $50 million at the US box office: the slasher sub-genre was officially bom. Carpenter's interviews in Going to Pieces are often poignant, especially when he speaks about his long-time producer (and former girlfriend) Debra Hill, who passed away in early 2006. In following the specific history of the slasher sub-genre, the film focuses on the immediate aftermath of Carpenter's success, particularly on the release of bandwagon-hopping films such as Sean S. Cunningham's Friday the 13th (1980) and the franchise it generated. As Going to Pieces suggests, no national or cultural holiday was safe from the genre's creative clutches once the films of Cunningham and Carpenter had established the basic conventions of the slasher, and subsequent filmmakers drew further inspiration from Bob Clark's influential (and prescient) Black Christmas (1974). Other films which receive notable mentions in the documentary include My Bloody Valentine; New Year's Evil; Silent Night, Deadly Night; Sleepaway Camp; and Happy Birthday to Me.

Going to Pieces is not merely concerned with the most popular films of the genre, but also showcases a litany of 'B'-roster slasher films that attempted to cash in on the sub-genre's newfound popularity. These often boasted unintentionally hilarious or virtually non-existent plot lines, as well as a healthy dose of cringe-worthy dialogue and imaginative onscreen deaths. A series of revealing clips merges classics of the sub-genre and its many imitators, and adds to our appreciation of the whole. A notable and often forgotten scene from Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) is included, in which a maniacal Grandpa (Will Hare) informs young Billy (a genuinely traumatised Danny Wagner) that Santa Claus murders naughty children on Christmas Eve with an axe, a clip which helps illustrate both the genre's ludicrous studio spin-offs and the controversies that emerged as a response to the slasher's popularity. Protests over the film's content sparked a litany of criticisms of the genre and brought the slasher to the public's attention as a medium of low culture and bad taste. And as the documentary correctly chronicles, the slasher was to suffer badly from the studio's demand for sequels, a trend which helped tum a genuinely interesting sub-genre of horror into a cash-cow of mediocrity.

Going to Pieces is a very glossy, well-researched documentary that leaves the viewer thirsty for more. The film is stylishly presented, making memorable use of music throughout its thematically and historically structured segments, and is edited in such a way that there is a sense of real excitement in viewing it for the first time, even if one is already an aficionado of the sub-genre. At ninety minutes, the documentary does necessarily under-represent some sub-categories, and it would perhaps have benefited from some elaboration on the "spaghetti splatter" movies of Italian filmmakers like Mario Bava and Dario Argento. However, as the slasher sub-genre is recognised as a predominantly American phenomenon which often dramatises overtly American issues and anxieties, one can forgive this omission of a topic which surely deserves a documentary of its own anyway.

It is a documentary that is indispensable for both scholars and loyal fans of the genre, and an interesting medium with which to recruit a new fan base to horror overall. As the horror genre is finding itself in a state of legitimacy in both academic studies and mainstream taste, this documentary fulfils two important functions: it promotes and encourages horror filmmakers of thefuture (in keeping with producer Rachel Belofsky's work with her annual "Scrcamfcst" festival in Los Angeles) and it successfully and compellingly narrates the history and the cultural importance of a neglected but fascinating sub-genre. As yet, no release date has been set for the documentary in Ireland or the UK (although Swiss-based distribution company Ascot Elite Entertainment Group has recently acquired the rights for German-speaking territories); however, it is available through online American retailers. Going to Pieces has received critical acclaim in the US and richly deserves further attention in Europe. It offers invaluable insights, lots of humour and rare archive footage, which is in itself a treat for any hardcore fan. Overall, it is a delightfully bloodthirsty pleasure.

Sorcha Ni Fhlainn