History of splatter
As a distinct genre, the splatter film began in the 1960s with the films of Herschell Gordon Lewis, who became notorious for such work as Blood Feast (1963). Lewis has been called the "Godfather of Gore." Blood Feast is widely considered as the first splatter film [1].
Blood Feast, produced by David F. Friedman, had a unique advertising campaign before its release. The film carried with it this warning: “Nothing so appalling in the annals of horror! You’ll recoil and shudder as you witness the slaughter and mutilation of nubile young girls – in a weird and horrendous ancient rite! An abomination: If you are the parent or guardian of an impressionable adolescent, do not bring or permit him to see this motion picture. Introducing Connie Mason: You read about her in Playboy. More grisly than ever, in blood color!” [2]
In the 15 years following its release, Blood Feast reeled in an estimated $7 million. It was made for an estimated $24,500. [3] The film has since become a cult favorite. Blood Feast was the first in what is called the "blood trilogy," which also includes Two Thousand Maniacs! and Color Me Blood Red.
In 2002, Lewis' sequel, Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat, which was more comedic than its predecessor, followed. Lewis said of the sequel, "Blood Feast 2 goes far beyond the original in violence and gore. But we make it 150 percent clear: It's black humor." [4]
While many splatter films fall into the exploitation film subgenre, some make their way into the mainstream. One of the most successful splatter films – critically and commercially – was George A. Romero’s 1978 zombie film Dawn of the Dead [5] , which was released in United States theaters unrated rather than with the X-rating it would have received for its explicit carnage [6]. Critic Roger Ebert called it "one of the best horror films ever made." [7] The film was the follow-up to Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968), which also featured scenes of gore but was relatively tame compared to its sequel.
Some splatter directors have gone on to produce blockbusters. Sam Raimi, now known for directing the Spider-Man film series, became famous from creating The Evil Dead (1981), which he followed up with the sequels Evil Dead II (1987) and Army of Darkness (1992)[8]. Peter Jackson, who is now best known for The Lord of the Rings trilogy, started off his career in New Zealand by directing splatter movies like Bad Taste (1987) and Braindead 1992) [9]. These films featured so much gore that it became a comedic device. These comedic gore films have been dubbed "splatstick", defined as physical comedy that involves evisceration (making the sound "splat!").
Splatter films have also proved influential in cinema. Cannibal Holocaust (1980), for example, is similar to The Blair Witch Project (1999) [10] Cannibal Holocaust is told through footage from a group of people making a documentary about a portion of the amazon which is said to be populated by cannibals. This "mockumentary" format was later used in Blair Witch.
Splatter and other genres
The term “splatter film” is often confused with “slasher film.” While there is often overlap, many slasher movies, like Halloween (1978), are not considered splatter films because they don’t have enough on-screen gore. Other films, like Maniac (1980), can fall into the splatter subgenre.
There has also been a surge of films influenced by the splatter genre in recent years, including Ichi the Killer (2001), Hostel (2006) and the Saw film series.
Scenes of splatter also appear in other genres. Some examples are Lady Snowblood (1973), a chambara film, El Topo (1970), a western, and Kill Bill (2003), a revenge-thriller.
Selected splatter film directors
Herschell Gordon Lewis:
* Blood Feast (1963)
* Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)
* The Gruesome Twosome (1967)
* The Wizard of Gore (1970)
* The Gore Gore Girls (1975)
* Color Me Blood Red (1976)
* Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat (2002)
George Romero:
* Dawn of the Dead (1978)
* Day of the Dead (1985)
Lucio Fulci:
* Zombie (1979)
* City of the Living Dead (1980)
* The Beyond (1981)
Sam Raimi:
* The Evil Dead (1982)
* Evil Dead II (1987)
Frank Henenlotter:
* Basket Case (1982)
* Brain Damage (1987)
* Frankenhooker (1990)
Peter Jackson:
* Bad Taste (1987)
* Braindead (1992)
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