Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film is a 2006

2006 in film

- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...

 documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 about slasher films

Slasher film

A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...

. It makes reference to many popular horror and thriller films.

Plot

The film is a historical and critical look at slasher films, which includes dozens of clips, beginning with Halloween

Halloween (1978 film)

Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern...

, Friday the 13th, and Prom Night. The films' directors, writers, producers, and special effects

Special effect

The illusions used in the film, television, theatre, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects ....

 creators comment on the films' making and success. During the Reagan

Reagan

Reagan is an Irish surname, most commonly associated with Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States. Reagan may also refer to:-Surname:*Nancy Reagan , widow of Ronald Reagan and First Lady from 1981 to 1989...

 years, the films get gorier, budgets get smaller, and their appeal diminishes. Then, A Nightmare on Elm Street

A Nightmare on Elm Street

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American slasher film directed and written by Wes Craven, and the first film of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film features Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund, and Johnny Depp in his feature film...

revives the genre. Jumping to the late 90s, when Scream

Scream (film)

Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, and David Arquette...

brings humor and TV stars into the mix. Although some criticize the genre as misogynistic, most of the talking heads celebrate the films: as long as there are teenagers, there will be slasher films.

Movie References

• A Nightmare on Elm Street
  A Nightmare on Elm Street
  A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American slasher film directed and written by Wes Craven, and the first film of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film features Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund, and Johnny Depp in his feature film...
  
  (1984)
• Friday the 13th (1980)
• Halloween
  Halloween (1978 film)
  Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern...
  
  (1978)
• Saw
  Saw (film)
  Saw is a 2004 American independent horror film directed by James Wan. The screenplay, written by Leigh Whannell, is based on a story by Wan and Whannell. The film stars Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Ken Leung, Whannell and Tobin Bell...
  
  (2004)
• Scream
  Scream (film)
  Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, and David Arquette...
  
  (1996)
• Prom Night (1980)
• The Last House on the Left
  The Last House on the Left (1972 film)
  The Last House on the Left is a 1972 horror film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Sean S. Cunningham.The story is inspired by the 1960 Swedish film The Virgin Spring, directed by Ingmar Bergman, which in turn is based on the 13th century Swedish ballad "Töres döttrar i Wänge"...
  
  (1972)
• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
  The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
  The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a 1974 American independent horror film directed and produced by Tobe Hooper, who cowrote it with Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, and Gunnar Hansen, who respectively portray Sally Hardesty, Franklin Hardesty, the...
  
  (1974)
• I Know What You Did Last Summer
  I Know What You Did Last Summer
  I Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 American horror film. The film stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. The screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream, and very loosely based on Lois Duncan's popular novel of the same title...
  
  (1997)
• Psycho
  Psycho (1960 film)
  Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...
  
  (1960)
• The Boogeyman
  The Boogeyman (1980 film)
  The Boogeyman is a 1980 horror film directed by Ulli Lommel. It was followed by Boogeyman 2, and Return of the Boogeyman.-Plot:As children, Willy and Lacey watch their mother with her lover and are punished for it...
  
  (1980)
• My Bloody Valentine
  My Bloody Valentine (film)
  My Bloody Valentine is a 1981 Canadian slasher film released in the wake of the popularity of the slasher genre that had overtaken the 1970s...
  
  (1981)
• April Fool's Day (1986)

External Links

'Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film' at the Internet Movie Database