Blood Money A History of the First Teen Slasher Film Cycle [Paperback]

Scholars have consistently applied psychoanalytic models to representations of gender in early teen slasher films such asBlack Christmas(1974),Halloween(1978) andFriday the 13th(1980) in order to claim that these were formulaic, excessively violent exploitation films, fashioned to satisfy the misogynist fantasies of teenage boys and grind house patrons. However, by examining the commercial logic, strategies and objectives of the American and Canadian independents that produced the films and the companies that distributed them in the US,Blood Moneydemonstrates that filmmakers and marketers actually went to extraordinary lengths to make early teen slashers attractive to female youth, to minimize displays of violence, gore and suffering and to invite comparisons to a wide range of post-classical Hollywood's biggest hits; includingLove Story(1970),The Exorcist(1973),Saturday NightFever(1977),GreaseandAnimal House(both 1978).

Blood Moneyis a remarkable piece of scholarship that highlights the many forces that helped establish the teen slasher as a key component of the North American film industry's repertoire of youth-market product.

AcknowledgementsIllustrationsIntroduction: Co-ed FrenzyChapter One: There's more than one way to lose your heart': The teen slasher film-type, production strategies, and film cycleChapter Two: A slay-ride to small-town, U.S.A: The advent of the teen slasher film, Black Christmas (1974) and Halloween (1978)Chapter Three: They were warned ... they are doomed': The United Stlcé