Australasian horror special issue editorial : putting Australian and New Zealand horror movies on the map of cinema studies

This Australasian horror special issue is an important step forward in putting Australian and New Zealand horror movies on the map of film and cinema studies as a subject worthy of intellectual debate. The journal issue is the first devoted solely to the academic discussion of Australasian horror movies. While an Australian horror movie tradition has produced numerous titles since the 1970s achieving commercial success and cult popularity worldwide, the horror genre is largely missing from Australian film history. While there have been occasional essays on standout titles such as Wolf Creek (Mclean, 2005), an increasing number of articles on ‘Ozploitation’ movies, and irregular discussion about Australian Gothic, overall the nature of Australian horror as a genre remains poorly understood. In terms of New Zealand, debate has tended to revolve around ‘Kiwi Gothic’ and of course Peter Jackon’s early splatter films, rather than Kiwi horror as a specific filmmaking tradition.

Amnesia: apontamentos sobre o género survival horror

Dissertação de Mestrado, Comunicação, Cultura e Artes, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Universidade do Algarve, 2014

O som, o sentido e o gênero Giallo: análise do filme Prelúdio Para Matar (1975), de Dario Argento

Considerado exemplo modelar do gênero giallo, estilo exclusivamente italiano e que envolve a solução de um mistério relacionado a uma série de assassinatos, o filme Prelúdio Para Matar (1975), do cineasta Dario Argento (1940-), é o objeto central deste projeto de pesquisa. Para esta pesquisa se dá especial atenção à investigação da trilha sonora, que, parcialmente, junto à composição visual, formalizam as dimensões de estrutura e sentido desse filme. Serão esclarecidas informações introdutórias sobre o som e composição para o cinema de horror e o ambiente de produção de filmes na Itália; os fatores concomitantes e anteriores a produção do objeto de estudo. No tocante à trilha, serão analisados dois elementos centrais da narrativa: (1) a música, com seus códigos específicos de composição sonora; (2) os efeitos sonoros que projetam ao espectador o reconhecimento ou não de determinados sons. Partindo da premissa que o som ainda é um elemento fílmico pouco explorado nas narrativas audiovisuais, esta pesquisa estabelece uma hipótese, a qual pode ser enunciada nos seguintes termos: a trilha musical e os efeitos de som, presentes no filme Prelúdio para matar, são elementos centrais para a articulação do gênero discursivo giallo nesse caso, co-participando, de modo visível ao espectador, com o controle, a estruturação e as estratégias de narração ali presentes

The national specificity of horror sources in Asian horror cinema

This dissertation explores the relationship between horror films and the national contexts in which they are produced by analyzing several Asian horror movies – Ringu (Japan), The Eye (Hong Kong) and Shutter (Thailand). Utilizing these films as case studies, the dissertation examines the degree to which genre cinemas are nationally-specific, and the degree to which it is possible to make genre films that can enter international markets and be comprehensible in various national markets as well. The dissertation also makes the following claims on the national specificity of genre cinema: i) The sources of frightening elements in horror films are nationally-specific. ii) There is a regional "Asian" horror because of the intertwining national histories and shared cultural elements across several Asian countries.

A estética documental no cinema ficcional de horror

O presente trabalho tem como proposta estudar o uso de estruturas documentais no cinema ficcional de horror, tipo de narrativa que ficou conhecida popularmente como found footage. Esses filmes fazem uso de uma linguagem propositalmente híbrida, associando a forma do documentário ao conteúdo da ficção e, hoje, encontram-se tão em voga que já possuem até mesmo clichês e estereótipos. A intenção é entender de que forma o gênero do horror se apropria douso de uma estética associada a registros documentais para favorecer as reações de medo no espectador. Para tanto, privilegiamos recortes na história do cinema e conceitos que possam contribuir para o desenvolvimento de nosso estudo, tanto no que diz respeito ao cinema documental, quanto no que diz respeito ao gênero de horror. Como objeto de análise mais detalhada, trazemos a trilogia inicial de da franquia Atividade Paranormal

Streaming Italian horror cinema in the UK: Lovefilm Instant.

This article investigates the distribution of Italian horror cinema in the age of video streaming, analyzing its presence and categorization on the platform Lovefilm Instant UK, in order to investigate the importance of ‘niche’ in what is known as the long tail of online distribution and the online availability of exploitation films. I argue that looking at the streaming presence of Italian horror and comparing it to its prior distribution on home video formats (in particular VHS and DVD) we can grasp how distribution and access have shaped the understanding of the genre. In particular, I address the question of the categorization of the films made by the S-VOD services and the limits of streaming distribution, such as lack of persistency in availability and the need of enhanced curatorship.

Cinema horror: storia ed influenze. Proposta di sottotitolaggio di due cortometraggi di Rubin Stein e Aitor Uribarri.

In questo elaborato verrà discusso il sottotitolaggio sia nella sua forma teorica, sia pratica. e verranno presentati due cortometraggi in lingua spagnola di genere horror, “Tin & Tina” di Rubin Stein ed “Horizonte” di Aitor Uribarri e ne verranno proposte le traduzioni sotto forma di sottotitolaggio. Nel primo capitolo verrà trattato il sottotitolaggio e le sue varie tipologie e caratteristiche, con particolare attenzione al sottotitolaggio interlinguistico, utilizzato per i due cortometraggi precedentemente elencati. Nella seconda parte saranno presentati i due cortometraggi ed i rispettivi autori, contestualizzandoli all’interno del cinema del cinema horror attraverso una analisi storico-tematica del cinema dell’orrore spagnolo e internazionale; concluderò il capitolo con un confronto con il cinema horror italiano. Nel terzo capitolo verranno analizzate le difficoltà riscontrate nella traduzione dei sottotitoli, la metodologia utilizzata e le tecniche di sottotitolaggio utilizzate.

At breaking point? Challenges for Australian film policy through the lens of genre (horror) films

Cultural policy settings attempting to foster the growth and development of the Australian feature film industry in era of globalisation are coming under increasing pressure. Global forces and emerging production and distribution models are challenging the “narrowness” of cultural policy – mandating a particular film culture, circumscribing certain notions of value and limiting the variety of films produced through cultural policy driven subvention models. Australian horror film production is an important case study. Horror films are a production strategy well suited to the financial limitations of the Australian film industry with competitive advantages for producers against international competitors. However, emerging within a “national” cinema driven by public subsidy and social/cultural objectives, horror films – internationally oriented with a low-culture status – have been severely marginalised within public funding environments. This paper introduces Australian horror film production, and examines the limitations of cultural policy, and the impacts of these questions for the Producer Offset.

Whither culture? Australian horror films and the limitations of cultural policy

Cultural policy that attempts to foster the Australian film industry’s growth and development in an era of globalisation is coming under increasing pressure. Throughout the 2000s, there has been a substantial boom in Australian horror films led by ‘runaway’ horror film Saw (2004), Wolf Creek (2005), and Undead (2003), achieving varying levels of popularity and commercial success worldwide. However, emerging within a national cinema driven by public subsidy and valuing ‘quality’ and ‘cultural content’ over ‘entertainment’ and ‘commercialism’, horror films have generally been antithetical to these objectives. Consequently, the recent boom in horror films has occurred largely outside the purview and subvention of cultural policy. This paper argues that global forces and emerging production and distribution models are challenging the ‘narrowness’ of cultural policy – a narrowness that mandates a particular film culture, circumscribes certain notions of value and limits the variety of films produced domestically. Despite their low-culture status, horror films have been well suited to the Australian film industry’s financial limitations, they are a growth strategy for producers, and a training ground for emerging filmmakers.

Australian horror movies

The Australian horror film is a fascinating specimen. While a tradition has antecedents in the silent era of cinema, and at times has produced popular and commercially successful titles, Australian horror films have existed among the shadows of Australian cinema. Within a national cinema funded by public subsidy to foster a sense of national identity, emphasizing ‘quality’ cultural films and refusing to recognize popular movie genres in attempt to differentiate itself from Hollywood, generic and low-culture horror films have been in opposition to these objectives. Consequently, horror movies have been heavily marginalized within public funding environments and mainstream film culture, and either ignored or despised by mainstream critics. The chapter provides a historical introduction to Australian horror cinema before reviewing a selection of recent Aussie horror titles, namely: Wolf Creek, Undead, Black Water, Dying Breed, Lost Things, Prey, Cut, Rogue and Storm Warning.

Australian cinema’s dark sun : the boom in Australian horror film production

There has been a boom in Australian horror movie production in recent years. Daybreakers (2010), Wolf Creek (2005), Rogue (2007), Undead (2003), Black Water (2008), and Storm Warning (2006) among others, have all experienced varying degrees of popularity, mainstream visibility, and cult success in worldwide horror markets. While Aussie horror’s renaissance is widely acknowledged in industry literature, there is limited research into the extent of the boom and the dynamics of production. Consequently, there are few explanations for why and how this surge has occurred. This paper argues that the recent growth in Australian horror films has been driven by intersecting international market forces, domestic financing factors, and technological change. In so doing, it identifies two distinct tiers of Australian horror film production: ‘mainstream’ and ‘underground’ production; though overlap between these two tiers results in ‘high-end indie’ films capable of cinema release. Each tier represents the high and low-ends of Australian horror film production, each with different financing, production, and distribution models.

Towards an understanding of Australian genre cinema and entertainment : beyond the limitations of ‘Ozploitation’ discourse

While Australian cinema has produced popular movie genres since the 1970s, including action/adventure, road movies, crime, and horror movies, genre cinema has occupied a precarious position within a subsidised national cinema and has been largely written out of film history. In recent years the documentary Not Quite Hollywood (2008) has brought Australia’s genre movie heritage from the 1970s and 1980s back to the attention of cinephiles, critics and cult audiences worldwide. Since its release, the term ‘Ozploitation’ has become synonymous with Australian genre movies. In the absence of discussion about genre cinema within film studies, Ozploitation (and ‘paracinema’ as a theoretical lens) has emerged as a critical framework to fill this void as a de facto approach to genre and a conceptual framework for understanding Australian genres movies. However, although the Ozploitation brand has been extremely successful in raising the awareness of local genre flicks, Ozploitation discourse poses problems for film studies, and its utility is limited for the study of Australian genre movies. This paper argues that Ozploitation limits analysis of genre movies to the narrow confines of exploitation or trash cinema and obscures more important discussion of how Australian cinema engages with popular movies genres, the idea of Australian filmmaking as entertainment, and the dynamics of commercial filmmaking practises more generally.