Examples of Slasher
Slashers have been around for decades from the 1900's and they are occurring in the cinema more and more every day and people obviously love seeing the gore and violence that take place in slashers. Here we take a look at the opening title sequence in famous and well known slasher films. We analyse them, seeing what makes them applicable to the slasher category and why they are good overall opening title sequences. We also compare them to each other, seeing what similarities there are within them and why they use them.
Psycho (1960)
This is the first slasher film, in which the killer was known, and was actually human. It doesn't have any of the key features used in opening title sequences today, as the director doesn't want to give the audience to much information about what is to come. As it was made over fifty years ago, it doesn't seem as terrifying or gory as opening title sequences today, but back in the sixties this was revolutionary. This OTS has an exceptional element of slasher within it, suspense. The sundtrack to this opening title sequence builds up the tension and suspense throughout the entire length of the title sequence, making the audience quiver over fright.
Scream (1996)
This opening title sequence has a similarity with Psycho because it builds up suspense but in a different way. The suspense is built throughout the acting and dialogue, in fact the suspense is symbolised by the popcorn because at the start it is not that creepy or worrying but as we get see further into the OTS we discover that something is very wrong and we worry for the innocent woman who is clearly the victim. However, exactly like Psycho the sound is used effectively because when the first sign of eeriness occurs there is a sound effect to signify that this is the start of something very bad. The soundtrack then begins to build up midway through the trailer, acknowledge that there are multiple signs to show that there is an issue. As the soundtack builds up the aggressiveness of the killer or creep's language and tone does too, making the audience worry even more because there is a real sense of danger for the helpless and vulnerable woman. The dialogue also puts this film in the category of slasher because the guy says "I want to see your insides" which is gore, bloody and violent elements everywhere which is a typical death in many slasher films.
Halloween (1978)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
This film was made back in 1974, and was extremely popular, which allowed for a remake to be made in 2003. It goes against conventions of an opening title sequence, as it has text, giving a backstory of the film, something that has been picked up by other films; such as Star Wars, but was a new concept at the time. The film had a narrator, that told the audience, the synopsis of the film, which is very unusual, as it gave away key plot points to the audience, something that hasn't be used often since in other films, in particular horror and slasher films. They show a blank screen with noises of someone looking uneasy and in trouble, this creates an eerie presence and puts the audience on edge, something that we might consider when making our OTS.
Nightmare on Elm Street
Nightmare on Elm Street was first made back in 1984, but was rebooted in 2010. This was due to the popularity of the first film. IT matches the conventions of an OTS, as it has the titles in the proper order. This OTS has a non-linear style, showing different clips of children in the playground. We have decided to use this idea of a non-linear structure, as we feel it doesn't give away the story too much, as well as giving an interesting OTS, that will drag our audience to continue watching.
In conclusion, slasher films opening title sequences often have suspense build up in them, this is implemented in the opening title sequences because it makes people fear the film and it grips the audience to find out what all the suspense, that has been building up, has led to. There are always gruesome and gory things mentioned in the film but never shown, this is deliberately done because most people want to see the action and gory scenes and so to see those specific bits of the film they have to go and see the full length film.