Q: Clover, Dika, and Magistrale all talk about the anxiety and obsession of the Slasher film in relation to the viewer. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on how the writer or director is implicated. Are the theories of these authors ever based on the creator's desires rather than the consumer's?
The theories of these authors are definitely based on the creator’s desires. Vera Dika sums it up best - “Halloween functions to envelop its viewers in a precisely orchestrated system of gratification and shock.” In this film, in particular, John Carpenter has chosen to shoot scenes he has specifically written to get his desired effects. So much so, that it would be difficult to say that the anxiety and obsession of this film is not based on his own desires, feelings, and/or hang-ups. And, seeing as how all 3 authors acknowledge the influence this film had on future Slasher flicks; these films have effectively developed a formula based off of anxiety and obsession.
Dika gives a great example of this by pointing out the Freudian symbolism in Halloween. There are several scenes that demonstrate that Michael and Laurie are mirror images of each other: She is the good girl who isn’t a sexually active teen, and she is basically playing a motherly role by babysitting and protecting the children at all costs. Perhaps, most tellingly, she is the only one that senses that something is wrong in the neighborhood. None of her girlfriends actually see his face, even when they die; but Laurie spots him all over town throughout the film. The reason for this can be argued as such: as Dika describes, Michael Myers is her “id,” - she senses him, but does not confront him until there is no other choice but to defend the children. When she sees him amidst the swinging laundry after she comes home from school, she forcefully slams the window, trying to “keep him out.” And, it is this mirror-image quality between the stalker and the heroine that Clover has named as a major trait in what she has coined as “The Final Girl” - a character that has been adopted and used in virtually all subsequent Slasher films.
You could even go so far as to say that Carpenter wanted to establish this connection in the scene when he spies on her from the Myers house - as she walks away (after effectively handing him the key to the house of his youth), she sings a love song; while he spies on her, breathing heavily like a pervert. Now, you could say that this is all coincidence or unconscious decisions made by Carpenter - but seeing as how he chose to place homage to classic horror flicks that are all about confronting the “id” - The Thing and Forbidden Planet are playing on the television as part of a horror-thon - it’s difficult to dismiss it as such. Whether conscious or unconscious decisions caused these elements to become manifest in the film, Carpenter used these ideas to create anxiety, tension, and suspense - classic horror film elements for which Halloween is known.
However, I don’t believe that Slasher flicks are based solely on Freudian ideas and obsessions. What is great about the genre, especially when used in times of global and/or domestic uncertainty, is nicely summed up by Magistrale: “it is most adept at revealing our general impotence at the same time as it speaks to our hope for endurance.” The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a great example of this - the United States was at a domestic low-point when the film was made: gasoline shortages, we were no longer the “good guys” after needlessly invading Vietnam, and there was a general feeling of disillusionment after Kent State and multiple assassinations. In this movie, the feeling of helplessness is represented through nihilism, with a family that has been left behind by an industry that has embraced mechanization and technology. This unease is the tone and vibe, from the get-go, of Texas Chainsaw - through the consistent radio broadcasts of depressing news, juxtaposed with the seemingly aimless youth, traveling through an unknown countryside, looking for who-knows-what. These elements create anxiety and tension that isn’t Freudian in nature - but is still a creative choice by the director to set the mood for the film.
Wes Craven summed it up best in the 2001 documentary on 70’s horror, The American Nightmare: “There’s something about the American Dream, working hard, white picket fence, happy children... and discovering that that’s not the truth of the matter. I think that’s what gives American horror films and additional rage.” Whether it is Freudian or societal in nature, the directors of these films we’ve discussed have used this rage to create the anxiety that has set the standard for future Slashers.
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