Have reboots killed the slasher film? An analytical comparison of the visual violence and gore found in slasher films of the 1970's and 1980's against contemporary slasher reboots

Abstract

This research project attempts to decipher what has happened to the slasher film in the 21st century. This is done through comparing John Carpenter's Halloween and Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street against films which can be read as either remakes or reboots of both films. Through textual analysis it breaks down the different transformations that have occurred over time, mainly within the realm of on-screen violence and blood and gore, in order to determine how current films approach the slasher sub-genre. The research provides an insight into how the slasher sub-genre of today is constituted, and how this differs from how the sub-genre operated in the 1970's and 1980's, when it was most prominent.