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

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bernard, Mark, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Splatter films--United States--History.

Splatter films.

Splatter films--Economic aspects--United States.

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

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.

DVDs.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 213 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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 twenty-first century? 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. Taking a different tack, Mark Bernard proposes that the films of the Splat Pack were products of, rather than reactions against, 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 Zombie, 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 twenty-first century, this thought-provoking book provides students and scholars in Film Studies with an alternative perspective on the Splat Pack."

Contents:

Part I: The industrical context of the Splat Pack

Introuducing the Splat Pack

Politics and the horror film: an industry studies intervention

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

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

Part II: The Splat Pack on DVD

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

The 'white trash' world of Rob Zombie: class, collecting and the summing spectators

Seriality, subjectivity and new media: consuming the "Saw" series

Scars, both material and cyber: "Haute Tension" and "The Descent" on DVD.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 08 Aug 2016).

Includes bibliographical references, filmographies and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-4744-0644-0

0-7486-8550-2

9781322059723

OCLC:

888747336