Individual Essay..

"Compare the two versions of TCM. HOW and WHY are they similar or different, paying close attention to ideas/theories about the ways genres repeat themselves and the wider contextual factors that have influenced any changes."

Genre is not a category which is fixed. It is dynamic. The definition of a genre is fluid; therefore it changes over time and across cultures. The director of Texas chainsaw massacre (1999) was Tobe Hooper, and after a few years Marcus Nispel decided to remake the film. Texas chainsaw massacre is a typical slasher film as it conforms to the generic conventions of a slasher. Both version of the film are similar in many ways however they also differ slightly.
The film is about a group of teenagers who are stalked and hunted down by a deformed killer with a chainsaw in order to sustain his poor family who can only afford to eat what they kill. During the time the first version of TCM was produced, there was an economic decline and a fuel crisis. The film highlights the fact that these things lead to terror. Therefore it reflects the zeitgeist. The main similarity between both films is that it has a final girl. Clover theory suggested that every horror film, especially slasher films have a final girl who survives at the end of the film after everyone else is killed. This could be linked to the fact the women are becoming more independent and strong and no longer rely on men. Also at the time that the film was produced there was the second wave of feminism which had an influence on the way women were represented on screen. Both films conform to this theory as the Madonna of the film ends up being the final girl; however in the old version of TCM it is a male character who drives the car therefore saving her whereas in the new version it is the girl herself who is driving away, saving herself and the baby, therefore depicting the idea that women are more independent and powerful now. Similarly both films also show that sex equals death. For example at the beginning of the films we are introduced to the characters and one female character seems to be represented as the Madonna and the other as the whore, and it is usually the whore who tends to die first. There are also many iconographies which are repeated in both films. One of the main props used in both of the films is the chainsaw. There is also the repetition of the masked killer, blood, the bad house where the teenagers are killed and the slaughter house family.

Both films have a hitchhiker at the beginning who causes the disruption of the film. The hitchhiker is the one who leads the group to the place where they all end up getting killed. The cinematography used in both films is similar. For example both films use fast paced shots, for example when the killer is running after the girl. Also there is a use of tracking camera, where the camera follows the characters around. This tends to create suspense and tension within the audience which makes them want to watch the film more in order to find out what happens. However the new version does differ from the old version in some ways. For example the new version of TCM shows a lot of blood and the murder scenes are very explicit. This shocks the audience however some may also gain sadistic pleasure from these scenes. Also some characters in the new version have different roles, for example in the old version of TCM the granddad is unable to do anything and literally dead, however in the new version we see that it is the granddad who also takes part in the killing of the group of teenagers.

Another scene TCM in the new version which is changed is when the girl is getting chased by the leather face and hides in a caravan where she meets two women and a baby. In the old version of the film the family does not have a baby. Similarly the chase is tenser as she ends up hiding in a factory where they slaughter animals, the slow paced shots crease suspense and keep the audience at the edges of their seats.

Overall the films are similar in a number of way, and the iconography is repeated however there are scenes in the new version of TCM which have been changed slightly for example the murder scenes are more extreme and include more blood, this could highlight the fact that technology has developed more and also it shows that genre is not fixed.

784