Content area
Full Text
Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film: 1978-1986. Adam Rockoff. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2002.
The slasher film is not taken very seriously among film historians; film critics and even many horror film fans hold it in disdain. Considered the bastard child of the horror film, no other type of film has the bad reputation that the slasher film does. Despite such a reputation, the slasher movie has proved its economic worth at the box office, and its place in popular culture and film history is secure.
The slasher had its genesis in Halloween (1978), directed by John Carpenter. Rockoff rightly devotes a whole chapter to this movie and its influence. Even film critics like Roger Ebert gave this movie a positive review while panning nearly all of Halloween's offspring. The author devotes much attention to lesser-known films as well. While some complain that slasher films all have the same sort of plot, Rockoff points out that although all the films feature a killer, the plot, the filming technique, and the atmosphere are quite...