Design Practice

Movie Season Film Choices:

5 Chosen horror/gore films for an alternative Valentines weekend

I have chosen to select films from around the 70's/80's which have often had later remakes or sequels and to this day have been seen as classic horror of mainstream cinema. The season of films ends with the premiere of the remake of a classic horror film from 1981 of My Bloody Valentine (2009).

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), directed by Tobe Hooper. Often considered controvertial it has a reputation as one of the greatest and most influential horror films of all time. Common in the slasher film genre the films sees the characterization of the killer as a large, hulking and faceless figure and the use of power tools as murder weapons which has become one of the stereotypical appearances of a murderer to date. The film has had currently had 3 sequels plus a remake in 2003.

Halloween (1978), directed by John Carpenter. The plot of the film is based around a child's murder from where he is sent into psychiatric care, the child turned adult then escapes from a psychiatric hospital after 8 years believed to be pure evil and so his subsequent murder of a number of teenagers begins. Often considered inspired from the alfred hitchcock slasher movie Psycho (1960). The films has seen 7 sequels to date with the latest in 2009, which was quite scary to be fair.

Friday the 13th (1980), directed by Sean S. Cunningham. Often considered similar to the Halloween (1978) franchise, the story is about a boy whom drowned in a Lake due to the negligence of camp staff. Decades later, the lake is rumored to be "cursed" and is the setting for a series of mass murders. Jason is featured in all of the films, either as the killer or the motivation for the killings. The film has seen 12 sequels to date and even a collaborative with Freddy Kruger of The Nightmare on Elm Street in 2003.

Hellraiser (1987), directed and wrote by Clive Barker. The first horror film explores the themes of pain as a source of pleasure and morality under duress and fear. The start of the film's theme centres around an impulsive and violent man who buys an antique puzzle box from a dealer. Back at his house he solves the puzzle box and hooked chains immediately fly out of it, tearing into his flesh. Demons from another world appear to inspect the remains, their leader A.K.A. "Pinhead" picks up the box and twists it back into its original state, and the room also returns to normal. A gruesome film for fans of the slasher genre which sees a more fantasiful twist with alternate dimensions and such, from the original film the story has seen seven sequel and there has been recently some commotion about a remake which was due for release in 2009.

My Bloody Valentine (2009 remake of the classic 1981 film), directed by Patrick Lussier. Returning to the mining town on the tenth anniversary of the Valentine's night massacre that saw the deaths of 22 people, with the legend of the murders nothing but a distant memory, a group of young miners and their girlfriends of course decide that the town has gone without a party long enough.