Mass media/mass murder: serial killer cinema and the modern violated body
Масс-медиа/массовое убийство: кинематограф о серийных убийцах и современное подвергнутое насилию тело
2012-12-06
SCID: 54.1/m3gt346n
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modern Gothicpsychological investigative thrillerserial killer cinematrue crimeviolated body
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Abstract (AI)
The serial killer film is a prevailing mode of contemporary cinema.
Conjoining elements of the horror film, for instance, the stalker
narratives of the 1980s, and the psychological investigative thriller, a
popular and commercial modern Gothic has emerged. These films may
explore police procedures and the commitment of the detective, forensic
scientist or psychological profiler, but it is the serial killer that is arguably
the attraction. Not too far removed from the modern horror film’s
mythical monsters of Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Leatherface and
Freddy Krueger, these screen imaginations of the body violator imitate
aspects of true crime and connect with society’s most infamous serial
killers: from Jack the Ripper and Ed Gein to Ted Bundy and Jeffrey
Dahmer.2
Key Findings
1
Serial killers, rather than investigators, are typically the genre’s primary attraction, functioning as modern equivalents of horror cinema’s mythical monsters.
2
Serial-killer cinema has become a dominant contemporary film mode combining horror conventions with psychological investigative thrillers.
3
The genre forms a commercially successful modern Gothic that incorporates stalker narratives, police procedures, forensic science, and psychological profiling.
4
These films imitate aspects of true crime and draw on cultural associations with notorious historical and modern serial killers, including Jack the Ripper, Ed Gein, Ted Bundy, and Jeffrey Dahmer.
Research Object
serial killer cinema
Research Subject
the representation of the violated body and its connection to true crime and societal fascination with serial killers
Publication Details
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2012-12-06
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