University Press of Mississippi See! Hear! Cut! Kill!: Experiencing Friday the 13th

Review Providing a witty and chatty but deeply serious and comprehensive analysis of the slasher franchise Friday the 13th, Wickham Clayton offers arguments about using the series to explore developing aesthetics of several decades of cinema. Something for both fans and cinephiles.--Janet Staiger, professor emeritus, University of Texas at AustinThrough its cogent and convincing examination of the long-maligned Friday the 13th franchise, SEE! HEAR! CUT! KILL! proves that low-budget genre cinema is worth taking seriously.--Blair Davis, author of The Battle for the Bs: 1950s Hollywood and the Rebirth of Low-Budget Cinema Product Description Sean S. Cunningham and Victor Miller's Friday the 13th franchise is one of the most successful horror film franchises in history. To date, it includes twelve movies, a television show, comic books, and video games, among other media. In SEE! HEAR! CUT! KILL! Experiencing "Friday the 13th," Wickham Clayton explores several aspects of the films including how the technical aspects relate to the audience, their influence on filmmaking, and the cultural impact of the franchise.Clayton looks at how perspective is established and communicated within the Friday the 13th films, which is central to the way the audience experiences and responds emotionally to these movies. Then he considers how each sequel gives viewers, whether longtime fans or new audiences, a "way in" to the continuous story that runs through the series. Clayton also argues that the series has not developed in isolation. These films relate to contemporary slasher films, the modern horror genre, and critically successful Hollywood films in general. They reflect popular trends of film style and often act as key examples in the genre and beyond. About the Author Wickham Clayton is a lecturer in film production at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, United Kingdom. He is coeditor of Screening Twilight: Critical Approaches to a Cinematic Phenomenon and editor of Style and Form in the Hollywood Slasher Film and The Bible Onscreen in the New Millennium: New Heart and New Spirit.