Film Theory: Film Theory, Film Noir, Film Genre, Feminist Film Theory, Marxist Film Theory, Mise En Scne, Structuralist Film Theory

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Dark Nights Over Neo-Tokyo A Life in the Shadows Among Generations: Film Noir and Cyberpunk – A Comparison using a Cyberpunk Film Canon

Cyberpunk and film noir have never been explicitly compared before. Therefore, the most thrilling part of this research is to enter virgin soil with the basic question: Does cyberpunk contain clearly recognizable elements of film noir? This complex question leads to a detailed examination: Firstly, the definitions of film noir and cyberpunk used in this work are presented. Secondly, a cyberpunk film canon including the most important films must be developed to enter this sub genre. Finally, the film canon is compared with defining elements of film noir. The results give conclusions as to the importance of the revolutionary character of film noir depending on the strength of influence on the authors and directors of cyberpunk. But can cyberpunk be described as: Film Noir + Science Fiction? In order to check the truth behind that thesis, you will undergo a little time travel from the 1940s through Los Angeles in 2019 until the dark age in which machines misuse us humans as batteries. Put on your trodes and dive into the gloomy world of cyberpunk.

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Amazon.co.uk Review
This sensational, extremely influential, 1974 low-budget horror movie directed by Tobe Hooper (Poltergeist, Lifeforce, Salem’s Lot), may be notorious for its title, but it’s also a damn fine piece of moviemaking. And it’s blood-curdling scary, too. Loosely based on the true crimes of Ed Gein (also a partial inspiration for Psycho), the original Jeffrey Dahmer, Texas Chainsaw Massacre follows a group of teenagers who pick up a hitchhiker and wind up in a backwoods horror chamber where they’re held captive, tortured, chopped up, and impaled on meat hooks by a demented cannibalistic family, including a character known as Leatherface who maniacally wields one helluva chainsaw. The movie’s powerful sense of dread is heightened by its grainy, semi-documentary style–but it also has a wicked sense of humour (and not that camp, self-referential variety that became so tiresome in subsequent horror films of the 70s, 80s and 90s). OK, in case you couldn’t tell, it’s “not for everyone”, but as a landmark in the development of the horror/slasher genre, it ranks with Psycho, Halloween, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. –Jim Emerson

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre – The Seriously Ultimate Edition

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Amazon.co.uk Review
This sensational, extremely influential, 1974 low-budget horror movie directed by Tobe Hooper (Poltergeist, Lifeforce, Salem’s Lot), may be notorious for its title, but it’s also a damn fine piece of moviemaking. And it’s blood-curdling scary, too. Loosely based on the true crimes of Ed Gein (also a partial inspiration for Psycho), the original Jeffrey Dahmer, Texas Chainsaw Massacre follows a group of teenagers who pick up a hitchhiker and wind up in a backwoods horror chamber where they’re held captive, tortured, chopped up, and impaled on meat hooks by a demented cannibalistic family, including a character known as Leatherface who maniacally wields one helluva chainsaw. The movie’s powerful sense of dread is heightened by its grainy, semi-documentary style–but it also has a wicked sense of humour (and not that camp, self-referential variety that became so tiresome in subsequent horror films of the 70s, 80s and 90s). OK, in case you couldn’t tell, it’s “not for everyone”, but as a landmark in the development of the horror/slasher genre, it ranks with Psycho, Halloween, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. –Jim Emerson

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – The Seriously Ultimate Edition

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Amazon.co.uk Review
One of the patients in an institution for the incurably insane was once its director, and a young psychiatrist (Robert Powell) has to figure out which one as they all tell him their stories. What better setting for a horror anthology? It’s an inspired framing device, making this one of the better examples of the genre, even if screenwriter Robert Bloch at times resorts to gimmicks rather than invention. The first two stories are less than brilliant (the first is highlighted by dismembered body parts neatly wrapped in butcher paper wriggling back to life for revenge), but Charlotte Rampling and Britt Ekland are marvellous in the third tale, about a mentally unbalanced young woman and her dangerous best friend. Herbert Lom is also excellent in the final story as a scientist who carves an army of dolls he claims he can bring to life by sheer willpower. Director Roy Ward Baker (Quatermas and the Pit) builds momentum with each story until the dark and deliciously bloody climax. This Amicus Studios production looks visually dull compared to Hammer’s gothic gloss, but it features a great British cast (including Patrick Magee and Hammer stalwart Peter Cushing), and ultimately Baker makes that gloomy look work for his increasingly creepy production. Amicus produced a series of horror anthologies, including the original 1972 Tales from the Crypt and The Torture Garden (also scripted by Bloch). –Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com

Asylum

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In a Lonely Street: Film Noir, Genre, Masculinity

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