Action Films of the 1980s and The Slasher Paradigm

Body count films of many forms found success in the 1980s. Slasher pictures dominated the horror market, generating major margins of profit on miniscule budgets (Parmount Pictures shuddered with eye-winking embarrassment when releasing the numbers on their senses-assaulting splatter flick, Friday the 13th). 

At the same time, major studios were redefining action movies for modern audiences. Hollywood had gone corporate. The social climate of the 1960s and 1970s had passed and was replaced by a more escapist form of entertainment. Instead of willfully challenging the political structure in America, Hollywood aimed to produce event pictures with wide popular appeal. 

Large-scale actioners offered adrenaline-filled thrill rides replete with dangerously exciting inclines and gratuitously violent plunges while echoing the structural framework and narrative tone of the slasher film. While the two genres may seem dissimilar, their themes and essential features bear scrutiny. 

Below are examples of three major action films of the ’80s and their contextual connection with the slasher paradigm.

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Action Films of the 1980s and The Slasher Paradigm

Don’t Call It That: Horror’s Peculiar Method of Selecting Titles

How often have you wasted the night away trying to decide on a movie to watch?  I remember spending hours as a kid perusing the shelves of the local mom and pop video store with my buddies in search of the perfect title to bring home. Finally, someone would say, “Here’s one that sounds good!” Nowadays we scroll aimlessly through Netflix.  “What should I watch…?”

Titles can do many things. They can convey themes or tones and provide narrative clues before a single frame of film is played. Mostly, they try to draw viewers in: they compel audiences to see a picture. Selecting the precise set of words to market a movie is a daunting task. What reads as promising to one may come off as less assuring to another. 

Hollywood’s creative juices have been evaporating for some time. The predictability of the movie industry even extends to the practice of naming films. The bottom line is profit, and Hollywood will exploit any strategy that promises success.

Below are a few peculiar methods used by horror filmmakers to name their movies. How many do you find annoying?

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Don't Call it That!