Selling the splat pack : the DVD revolution and the American horror film / Mark Bernard.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bernard, Mark.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Horror films--United States--History.

Horror films.

Horror films--Economic aspects--United States.

Horror films--Production and direction--United States.

Motion picture industry--United States.

Motion picture industry.

Horror films--Production and direction.

History.

United States.

DVDs.

Physical Description:

ix, 213 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 2014.

Summary:

Selling the Splat Pack Unravels the history of how the emergence of the DVD market changed cultural and industrial attitudes about horror movies and film ratings. These changes made way for increasingly violent horror films, like those produced by the 'Splat Pack' - a group of filmmakers who were heralded in the press as subversive outsiders. Were brutal American horror movies like the Saw and Hostel films a reaction to the trauma of 9/11? Were they a reflection of 'War on Terror'-era America? Or was Something else responsible for the rise of these violent and gory films during the first decade of the 21st century? Taking a different tack, Mark Bernard proposes that the films of the Splat Pack were products of, rather than reactions aganist, film-industry policy. This book includes an overview of the history of the American horror film from an industry-studies perspective, an analysis of how the DVD market influenced the production of American horror films, and an examination of films from Splat Pack members such as Eli Roth, Rob Zomble, James Wan and Alexandre Aja. By re-examining the history of the American horror film from a business perspective and exploring how DVD influenced the production of American horror films in the early 21st century, this thought-provoking book provides students and scholars in film studies with as alternative perspective on the splat pack. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I The Industrial Context of the Splat Pack

1 Introducing the Splat Pack 13

2 Politics and the horror film: an industry studies intervention 27

3 The DVD revolution and the horror film, take one: from trash to art to collectable 48

4 The DVD revolution and the horror film, take two: rise of the 'Unrated' 70

Part II The Splat pack on DVD

5 Text, subtext and the story of the film: Eli Roth's Hostel and Hostel: Part II on DVD 97

6 The 'white trash' world of Rob Zombie: class, collecting and slumming spectators 119

7 Seriality, subjectivity and new media: consuming the saw series 142

8 Scars, both material and cyber: Haute Tension and the Descent on DVD 165.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780748685493

0748685499

OCLC:

873746482