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Just in time for Halloween: Scariest Movie Scenes October 30, 2009Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Uncategorized, Horror, Artfully Deranged, Genre , add a comment
The horror genre produces some of the most iconic movies to grace cinema as well as some of the most derided. It might have been dismissed as low-grade entertainment, satisfying the darkest fetishes of society's social outcasts and degrading our youth, but horror gives audiences the sort of frenzied adrenaline rush other forms of cinema cannot achieve. In effect, fictional entertainment should take you out of yourself and into the satisfying and gratifying world of the make-believe. Horror achieves this like no other genre because it breaks down those inherent defence mechanisms by focusing on our primal instincts. Read on here.
Top 10 Tom Hanks Movies of the 1980s October 26, 2009Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Comedy, 1980s, Top 10s, Film reviews, Artfully Deranged, Genre , add a comment
From 1984 to 1989 Tom Hanks solidified himself as one of the Hollywood elite. Aside from a couple of more restrained dramas in the middle of the period showing his diversity and pre-cursing his later work, predominantly the films of the middle to late eighties highlighted Hanks' natural gift for comedy. His characters were always loveable yet flawed creations that pulled at the heart strings while playing relentlessly on the funny bone.
For many, Tom Hanks' body of comedic work during the 1980s was the actor's finest and most enduring. Because of this Top10Films.co.uk presents the best Tom Hanks films between 1984 and 1989. Click HERE for the Top 10
Please visit my new site www.top10films.co.uk for other Top 10 lists
Alien (Ridley Scott, USA, 1979) March 23, 2009Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 1970s, Film reviews, Artfully Deranged, Feminism, Genre, Audience , 6 comments
Dir. Ridley Scott; Written by Dan O'Bannon; starring Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, Yaphet Kotto
My introduction to Ridley Scott's space opus came sometime after being bowled over by James Cameron's sequel. I guess it must have been around 1990, before David Fincher released the third instalment of the Alien saga. My ignorance of Scott's sci-fi horror had to do with the fact I wasn't born when it was first released in 1979, and partly because my mother had withheld the video from her impressionable son's eyes; possibly fearing permanent psychological damage. This fear didn't last long, since my determination to witness the Alien's first cinematic adventure far outweighed her parental guidance. Coupled with the fact Alien was one of my Mum's favourite movies, it wasn't long before I was another devoted fan of Alien, Ripley, and the space-horror franchise. And, for the sake of not undermining my mother, I can safely say there was no psychological damage causedat least, that's what my shrink tells me.
My first impression of Alien was one that appears the going trend. Quite honestly, it was one of the most frightening experiences of my movie watching life. Director Ridley Scott concocts a claustrophobic, uncompromising cinematic experience that bottles up all that is good about the haunted house movie and delivers it with teeth sharp enough to cut through the screen and take your arms and legs off. From the minute the opening credit sequence starts (bringing you out of your home comforts - that include a reassuring open fire and a locked door - into the unending expanse of outer space), the hieroglyphic letters appearing slowly and methodically onscreen offering no sense of hope, you're left exposed, alone, vulnerable.
Alien was developed in the mid-1970s, the brainchild of film school graduate Dan O'Bannon. O'Bannon had worked with John Carpenter on what would become simultaneously the most successful student film and the worst professional film ever released theatrically - Dark Star. The film, a precursor to O'Bannon's Alien, saw a group of astronauts bidding to stay alive aboard a spacecraft housing a rather nasty but ultimately timid looking alien creature. After O'Bannon left film school and saw his next project fall flat on its face, he turned to friend and producer Ronald Shusett for help. Together, they fleshed out O'Bannon's concept and started shopping it… [MORE]
Top 10 Scary Movie Moments February 16, 2009Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Top 10s, Artfully Deranged, Genre , 4 comments
The horror genre produces some of the most iconic movies to grace cinema as well as some of the most derided. It might have been dismissed as low-grade entertainment, satisfying the darkest fetishes of society's social outcasts and degrading our youth, but horror gives audiences the sort of frenzied adrenaline rush other forms of cinema cannot achieve. In effect, fictional entertainment should take you out of yourself and into the satisfying and gratifying world of the make-believe. Horror achieves this like no other genre because it breaks down those inherent defence mechanisms by focusing on our primal instincts.
It was difficult picking ten scary moments from the countless horror movies I've seen. Regrettably, my order will probably change from day to day, and I'm sure there's a few outstanding moments I'm forgetting but below I present what I believe to be a pretty close representation of the ten biggest frights I've had during a horror film.
Below is my TOP 10 with brief introductions to the scenes in question. Read in FULL - HERE
ALSO: Watch clips and trailers for the films featured below HERE
#10 THE VANISHING (George Sluizer, France/Holland, 1988)
The Vanishing is a peculiar movie. It was badly remade by Hollywood when it should have been left alone. Alas, as a foreign movie with subtitles, it is still largely undiscovered outside of horror aficionados and foreign film buffs but I'd recommend anyone with a passing interest in psychological horror to…[MORE]
#9 THE EXORCIST III (William Peter Blatty, USA, 1989)
The Exorcist, my favourite horror film is, as you'd expect full of great scary moments. I've kept myself down to just two moments in my top ten but I've had to include this brilliant scene from the second… [MORE]
#8 ROSEMARY'S BABY (Roman Polanski, USA, 1968)
When picking this list I kept thinking I'm forgetting great scary moments in film's that aren't very good. It's easy to remember those great films and scenes within them, but it's more difficult to remember those poor movies… [MORE]
#7 THE OMEN (Richard Donner, USA, 1976)
The Omen was one of those horror films I saw when I was probably too young to watch it. I remember seeing it in my parent's VHS collection and knew instinctively it was out of bounds. Firstly, it had the UK rating of 18, and secondly, it had that horrid image of a boy clad in black with a jackal's shadow. The poster is brilliantly… [MORE]
#6 THE EXORCIST (William Friedkin, USA, 1973)
William Friedkin's The Exorcist is the greatest horror movie ever made. Therefore, I can't help but choose two moments for my top ten list. The first of which is the head-spinning-foul-language-crucifix-masturbation sequence. There aren't any more words required… [MORE]
#5 ALIEN (Ridley Scott, USA, 1979)
Ridley Scott changed the way science-fiction was viewed heading into the 1980s; he empowered the female hero, and he inspired a slew of brilliant sci-fi horror movies to be made over the coming years as well as one of the… [MORE]
#4 AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (John Landis, USA, 1981)
An American Werewolf In London is the best horror/comedy ever made. I think of it in such high regard because it has some wonderfully funny moments (David Naughton running around London Zoo with a child's balloons covering his crown jewels; his best friend turning up beyond the grave and explaining to him how bored he is being dead) along with, as you'd expect, some hair-raising… [MORE]
#3 THE EXORCIST (William Friedkin, USA, 1973)
I've always felt that the scariest thing about The Exorcist is the possessed girl's face when she's beginning to fall more and more under the spell of her possessor. That's testament to the special-effects and make-up teams who created a facial design that evokes such threatening images of pure evil. Much of that evil is conveyed through the girl's eyes which take on a very animalist look. In choosing one moment when Regan - the victim - is at her most unsettling was a difficult… [MORE]
#2 THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (Daniel Myrick/Eduardo Sanchez, USA, 1999)
The Blair Witch Project was the best horror movie of the 1990s and one of the most groundbreaking since the 1970s. Filmed with grainy video and a 16mm black and white film camera by the actors, the movie had an authenticity never before achieved. The film was more than just a movie, it was a definitive precursor to the You Tube generation and reality television, and it used the internet to generate a cheap but brilliant buzz that inferred the events depicted… [MORE]
#1 JAWS (Steven Spielberg, USA, 1975)
I only recently read the Peter Benchley novel that Steven Spielberg's film is based on. It came as little surprise, given the quality of Jaws the movie, that its cinematic incarnation is an exceedingly more pleasing experience than its literary form. Jaws is one of those anomalies - the film is better than the book… [MORE]
Watch clips and trailer from these films including the very scenes themselves right HERE
Check out my top 10 horror movies of the 1980s
Top 10 Horror Films of the 1980s May 7, 2007Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Horror, Top 10s, Artfully Deranged, Genre, The Film Industry, Audience , 54 comments
To see the Top 10 Scariest Horror Film Moments - CLICK HERE
Where there is no imagination there is no horror.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The success, both in terms of the comment generated and the amount of visitors, this Top 10 list enjoyed is in no small part inspiration for my new site www.top10films.co.uk. Accessed HERE, the site includes hundreds of Top 10 film lists across a wide variety of topics with the purpose of providing you with a great choice of films to watch based on anything from a simple theme, to a genre, a time-period, or even special interest lists including world renowned filmmakers' Top 10s.
Check out this feature with bells and whistles - video clips, interviews, and trailers!
I vaguely remember my introduction to the horror film. My cousin was visiting, the curtains had been drawn on a sunny afternoon, and John Landis' An American Werewolf In London had been placed in the VCR. I was seven years old. I recollect that evening, and for many nights consequently, I hardly slept. There was something under my bed, and there was even something in the closet, I knew it too well. Of course, it was easy to see since I'd cry bloody Mary if anyone tried to turn my light off. Could I keep my eyes open? It was becoming more difficult, all I could see were those green hills shrouded in the black cloak of night, and the warning: 'Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors,' delivered in that Yorkshire twang. Bryan Glover's short, controlled outburst – probably his unusual form of goodbye – 'Beware the moon, lads.' Then our hero David and best friend Jack are stranded. They've wandered off the path, there are no lights around, no one to help. They hear a sound, distant at first but growing louder. Could it be a dog, no, it sounds much bigger. Then the screams, the tearing of flesh, the quick cuts and extreme close-ups; we see a gun fire, all goes silent, and the darkness pervades.
I grew up as part of the video generation. Cinema was changing again – attendances were down and people were far happier watching videos or catching re-runs on television than they were venturing from the comfort of their own home. By the early 1990s, eighties babies were beginning to enjoy cinema beyond family movies, cartoons and the Wizard of Oz. In Britain, this audience - post-1984 Video Recordings Act - wanted to find their niche and what better place to start than the forsaken shelves of the video nasty. Bootleg, grainy copies of The Exorcist and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre tormented young minds, while the horror film cemented its place firmly in cult circles. This fervent popularity from both adults and teenagers for the horror film encouraged the industry (especially Hollywood) to produce some wonderfully surreal, engaging and stylish pieces of cinema. We saw the rampant emergence of the 'Slasher' movie from Wes Craven and Sean S. Cunningham, gore and special-effects from Tom Savini, the body horror of David Cronenberg, the dreams and nightmares of Clive Barker, the cross genre comedy-horror from John Landis, Tom Holland, and Dan O'Bannon. There was franchised sequels, villains-as-heroes, gothic homage, iconic theme music, lunch boxes, action figures and other cross-promotion. Indeed, the horror film was as much derided as it was loved. But the eighties produced some of the greatest examples of the genre following, and certainly inspired by, the fears and trend-setting new traditions of the new-age horror from the seventies.
The genre has failed for years to get recognition from a critical standpoint. Much of the recognition it did receive was negative – throughout the 1930s and 1940s, horror movies were thought to be harmful to society and many local authorities banned films they deemed unsuitable. During the 1950s, Hammer Studios used negative press and liberal scare tactics to promote their films, and it was as much the backlash from politicians and critics that helped cultivate underground following for the genre. However, by the late 1960s, there was a trend beginning in France that saw critics warming to the genre, and by the time Carlos Clarens and Ivan Butler's books were released, there was a new feeling that looked at the films as serious art forms. Instead of lambasting horror movies as detrimental, even dangerous, to society, writers were beginning to look at the long literary traditions that had first inspired these films. And they also investigated the history and transformation of the genre since the first examples were seen in such German expressionism as Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. By the 1970s every critic who wanted a name for themselves had written about the horror movie, whether their point of view was positive, negative, or indifferent. Most importantly, horror had become a mainstream commodity with the obvious example being Steven Spielberg's Jaws. It isn't surprising that the seventies produced the best and most influential films of the genre (The Exorcist, Halloween, The Wicker Man, Dawn Of The Dead), with audiences, the art form, and the industry all benefiting from this budding type of film.
Yet, the eighties was a period not far behind the previous decade in terms of quality output. Certainly, the genre was much more diverse with self-reference, parody, and hybrids such as Kathryn Bigelow's brilliant Near Dark, showing what could be done. On top of that you had some lovely original pieces of cinema with such films as Dan O'Bannon's special-effects homage to Romero The Return of the Living Dead, Joel Schumacher's coming-of-age vampire flick The Lost Boys, and beyond Hollywood with the Dutch/French production The Vanishing, and stylistic Italian director Dario Argento's Tenebre and Inferno. Indeed, the vibrancy for the genre in the 1980s came from films which embraced and celebrated horror. Prime examples would be the self-referential Fright Night, gore-fest The Evil Dead, Peter Jackson's Bad Taste, John Carpenter's remake of The Thing, and Brian De Palma's Hitchcock-inspired Dressed To Kill. It has been said the eighties was, much like very early film, the cinema of attractions. It pushed the boundaries of the medium to new frontiers, backed by Reagan's forward-thinking plans. Director's thought visually, and nothing held their creative minds back. It was the period where dreams and nightmares were displayed on screen more realistically than had ever been seen. In effect, there appeared no better time for horror (much like science-fiction during the same period) – with its otherworldly themes – to prosper on a grand scale. In a sense you've got to thank George Lucas because with Star Wars he reintroduced audiences to escapism, which had somewhat been lost during the dominance of social-issue and character studies of the seventies.
The genre, which would continue to diversify into the nineties (postmodernism in A New Nightmare in 1994, which led to Scream and the revitalisation of the Slasher film; and the digital video revolution and use of new media with Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez's masterful manipulation of the audience with The Blair Witch Project), still retained a very distinct set of conventions that primarily challenged normality and distanced the real from the unreal. Reading many different theorists views about how the horror film works makes for wide reaching, and often, very politically motivated ideologies, but it's interesting nonetheless. There's a school that believes American horror is dominated by the struggles created by consumerism, patriarchal social relations, and family struggle, and that the location of the horror is in the home and our way of life. Others believe the monsters prevalent in horror films represent institutional fears, like the affect the church, government, or the police can have on breaking or changing familial tradition, while some writers look at the way the audience is manipulated through the aesthetics of the films by the way they play on the insecurities that defy rational explanation. There are also people such as Stephen Neale who believe the genre satisfies a fetish for violence and terror that is inherited by the society and cultural structure we live in, while feminist theorists argue the genre is dominated by misogyny and the 'female' as victim.
Whether you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing, the fact remains that the horror film is, and has been, a very popular genre for audiences. Despite its early critical backlash, the genre has been important as far back as the 1930s when Universal produced Dracula and Frankenstein amongst others, which were so well received by audiences, it enabled the company to become a major Hollywood studio. In the 1940s RKO created many films including Cat People, which pioneered a style which would be imitated by filmmakers for years to come. Instead of showing the monster, filmmakers used off-screen space, sound, lighting and deep shadows, character reaction, and the ambiguity of the audience's imagination to produce stylish and emotionally impacting movies. Independent production prospered in the 1960s with the most influential film being George A. Romero's Night Of The Living Dead, which led to a new respectability with Roman Polanski's mesmerising Rosemary's Baby, and the best film the genre ever created, William Friedkin's terrifying The Exorcist.
For me, the best decade for horror was the 1980s and that's why I present my top 10. Below, you'll also find my Top five favourite moments:
10. Fright Night (Tom Holland, 1985, USA)
''Apparently your generation doesn't want to see vampire killers anymore, nor vampires either. All they want to see slashers running around in ski masks, hacking up young virgins.''
Top 10, why?: Tom Holland's superb self-referential horror-comedy is both delightfully funny and darkly sadistic, wryly telling the story of a teenager who knows a Vampire has moved in next door but no one believes him. A standout performance from Roddy McDowell is the centre point of a film that simultaneously celebrates and parodies the genre. This unique film inspired a lot of the post-modern sentiment later seen in the 1990s.
Critic quote: '…it's hard to get into this movie and not have a little fun…' (Nadd Yapp)
External review: Absolute Horror
9. Hellraiser (Clive Barker, 1987, UK)
''We will tear your soul apart''
Top 10, why?: The film embodies the idea of nightmares displayed on screen as Clive Barker creates a terrifying vision of hell on earth.
Critic Quote: 'I have seen the future of the horror genre, and his name is Clive Barker.' (Stephen King)
External Reviews: British Horror Films, Blog of the Rotting Dead
8. The Vanishing (George Sluizer, 1988, Holland)
''The only way to tell you, is to make you share the exact same experience''
Top 10, why?: Sluizer's film is about pacing and atmosphere. He plays with audience expectation (even telling us who the killer is half way through) and concludes the film with one of the best and most devastating conclusions to any horror film ever made.
Critic Quote: Sounds like an overworked premise for Alfred Hitchcock (The Lady Vanishes), Roman Polanski (Frantic), or Jonathan Mostow (Breakdown), but The Vanishing quickly veers into new and intriguing territories. (Matthew Kennedy)
External reviews: Bright Lights Film Journal, Combustible Celluloid
7. The Return Of The Living Dead (Dan O'Bannon, 1985, USA)
''Did you see that movie, "Night of the Living Dead"?''
Top 10, why?: Dan O'Bannon's homage to Romero is fun, pacy and full of great production design and prosthetic effects. The film was essentially fighting against Sam Raimi's excellent sequel to The Evil Dead, but I decided to go with O'Bannon's effort because it's a more polished affair with several good performances.
Critic Quote: 'It's kind of a sensation-machine, made out of the usual ingredients, and the real question is whether it's done with style. It is.' (Roger Ebert)
External Reviews: Dr. Gore, Apollo Movie Guide, Club IGN
6. The Fly (David Cronenberg, 1986, USA)
''What am I working on? Uhh… I'm working on something that will change the world, and human life as we know it.''
Top 10, why?: Anchored by a brilliant performance from Jeff Goldblum, director David Cronenberg continues his investigation into the renowned body-horror, as Goldbum's Seth Brundle attempts metamorphosis but it all goes wrong when a house fly gets caught up in the machine. As Brundle struggles to find a cure to his problem, he falls deeper in love with Geena Davis' concerned Veronica. When he learns that his body structure is becoming that of a fly, the fruits of his new powers soon challenge his own sanity, and his own survival. The Fly is one of several great horror films made in the eighties by Cronenberg but it stands out because it his most accessible, and probably most accomplished piece of work.
Critic Quote: 'It's hard to watch; not only because it takes a strong stomach to cope with the necessarily gruesome special effects but because the emotions depicted are so honest and direct that they eventually becomes overwhelming.' (Mike Sutton)
External Reviews: Reel.com
5. Near Dark (Kathryn Bigelow, 1987, USA)
''We keep odd hours…''
Top 10, why?: Near Dark has always fascinated me because it's a horror film that only really works within the constraints of the genre based on the audiences expectation and understanding of the gothic, and of past vampire films. It's almost a western love story, with the premise setting the scene for two star-crossed lovers from distinct families that cannot mix. It's the Romeo and Juliet of the vampire world. The film features half the main cast from James Cameron's Aliens, with Lance Henrikson, Bill Paxton, and Jenette Goldstein all working together again, and Paxton and Henrikson are superb in their roles as rogue bloodsuckers. This small-budget film was a given an awful marketing campaign that saw it fail at the box office, and also saw Joel Schumacher's The Lost Boys become the remembered vampire film of 1987. However, Bigelow's beautifully paced tale is a fantastic film because it was the most unique horror movie of the 1980s, and looked at the gothic story from a completely different point of view than had been seen before.
Critic Quote: 'Near Dark is the best vampire movie you've never heard of…' (Rod Armstrong)
External Reviews: My full review, Horror Movies.com, Alex Jackson, My New Plaid Pants (for an interesting take on the film), Grave Robber
4. A Nightmare On Elm Street (Wes Craven, 1984, USA)
''Whatever you do, don't fall asleep.''
Top 10, why?: It says a lot that this is the only teen slasher film to make the top ten. Wes Craven's excellent film, much like Clive Barker's Hellraiser, embodies the idea of a nightmare on screen. It's also backed by a brilliant premise that has a killer who can only hurt you while you sleep. Fantastic!
Critic Quote: 'A Nightmare on Elm Street is tailor made for those who like their gore leavened with thought-provoking ideas - something that is a rarity in this genre.' (James Berardinelli)
External Reviews: Alex Jackson
3. An American Werewolf In London (John Landis, 1981, USA)
''A naked American man stole my balloons''
Top 10, why?: John Landis' 1981 classic was an easy choice for a top ten spot because it's one of my all time favourite films. It's also a horror film that Roger Ebert absolutely hates, which means it has to be one of the best films ever made. Not that I'm trying to have a dig at the renowned critic (I've used one of his quotes for Return Of The Living Dead), but I do believe he simply doesn't get Landis' film. He seems to believe horror and comedy have lived seamlessly for years, but not like this they haven't. An American Werewolf In London is equally funny and frightening, and Landis is one of only a few directors to actually make it work. Ebert, while celebrating special-effects maestro Rick Baker's work on the film, merely disassociates that quality for his overall appreciation of the film. Baker's werewolf transformation was not only one of the most realistic special-effects ever to be put to celluloid at the time, but it was underpinned by Landis' superb use of music (the brilliant irony of classic Blue Moon). It works so perfectly because it flirts between a line that doesn't tell the audience to laugh or cry, and by breaking convention, the audience is left not knowing what might happen next. The sequence makes for the best werewolf transformation ever put on screen, and is one of the primary reasons the film has such a cult following and is regarded by horror fans as one of the best examples of the genre ever made.
Critic Quote: '…in the summer of 1981 came John Landis' An American Werewolf in London, which has, in many ways, set the standard for the modern werewolf movie.' (James Birardinelli)
External Reviews: DVD Times, Jeffrey Wachs, Chrissy Deberyshire, Darth Jamyz
2. The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982, USA)
''I dunno what the hell's in there, but it's weird and pissed off, whatever it is.''
Top 10, why?: Much like The Fly, I'd have to question whether to put this in the horror or science-fiction category but essentially they are both horror movies at the most primitive level. The Thing was John Carpenter's sixth major feature production, and for me, it's a work that he has never surpassed before or since. He made many excellent movies within the genre through the eighties, but the sense of paranoia amongst his ensemble cast in The Thing makes for wonderful, suspenseful viewing. The blood test sequence in the middle of the film is one of the best scene's in horror cinema ever put to celluloid.
Critic Quote: 'John Carpenter may be better known for Halloween or Escape from New York, but The Thing is easily the famed horror director's best film.' (Evan Pulgino)
External Reviews: James Berardinelli
1. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980, USA)
''Here's Johnny…!''
Top 10, why?: This was an easy choice for number one. It's Kubrick's best film and one of the greatest films ever made, no matter what genre. What I love about the movie is that it gets better with every viewing, and I know the next time I watch it I'll enjoy it more than the last.
Critic quote: 'Stanley Kubrick doesn't anything by halves. What this die-hard perfectionist has created, during the years of post-production work that went on while tucked away in a British film studio, are exemplary pieces of artistic refinement: 2001, A Space Odyssey was a masterpiece in science-fiction, Barry Lyndon set a new standard for historical epics and The Shining redefined the meaning of horror altogether.' (Der Spiegel)
External Reviews: Alex Jackson, Chris Justice, Robert Castle
Round up
There's obviously many great films that didn't make my top ten, notably the Evil Dead's, Dressed To Kill, The Lost Boys, Innocent Blood, The Howling, The Fog, Christine, Prince Of Darkness, a whole heap of teen slasher movies, Dead and Buried, Manhunter, Tenebre and other European independent films, Bad Taste, Cannibal Holocaust and a lot of exploitative filth, Critters, Gremlins (but I always enjoyed the sequel more), The Hitcher, Scanners, Re-animator, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Silver Bullet, Child's Play, the list goes on.
I probably realised this before making my top ten, but it confirms that I don't like sadistic horror films that set out to repulse the audience. You may notice that I've chosen mainly mainstream horror films. It's all well and good making social comments like Wes Craven's The Last House On The Left, but when a film becomes the director's perverted wet dream, it isn't fun anymore. For all that the horror genre does to its audience it should always be fun and entertaining, leaving the viewer with a feeling of adrenaline, not sickness. For that reason, I think the eighties produced some of the best films from the genre (and don't get me wrong, it also produced some of the worst). They were and still are entertaining movies. The improvement of special-effects may date the films now but the nostalgic feeling of watching them again makes up for that.
Top Five Moments from 1980s Horror
1. An American Werewolf In London – The Transformation
David Kessler tries to keep himself occupied in Nurse Alex's house when she leaves him to go to work. As night falls, and the full moon comes out, he feels a terrible pain in his chest. His skin begins to burn, and his bones begin to crack, as his body changes into that of a werewolf. The great thing director John Landis does here is to make the whole scene painful to watch and clearly painful for David. This isn't the easy transformation that had been seen in cinema before. This was bones, and flesh, moulding and changing; it hurt. The scene is very realistic, and the prosthetic make-up effects look better than any CGI would today. Landis beautifully underpins the scene with the blues classic Blue Moon which is sadistically ironic.
2. The Thing – Blood Test
Working out that alien and human blood react to each other, the surviving group conduct a blood test to work out which, if any of them, are alien. Carpenter infuses the scene with paranoia, creating a level of suspense he hangs on to for several minutes as the scene plays out.
3. Evil Dead II – Ash battles his own hand
When Ash's hand gets possessed, he's forced to cut it off. However, after the gruelling dismemberment, the severed hand (clearly pissed off at such an action), comes after him in one of the great comedic horror moments.
4. The Vanishing – The final twist and devastating conclusion
The film leaves both the viewer and main character Rex in completely darkness over the fate of his girlfriend. Although, we meet the man who abducted her, we are still unsure whether she is dead or alive. When Rex agrees to take a sleeping pill in order to find out what really happened, he awakens to have all his questions answered. This is one of the best endings to any horror film from the eighties. It's both devastatingly affecting and cruelly ironic.
5. The Hitcher – They thought it was all over…it wasn't.
The audience, and the characters, are left thinking the terror might be all over…but it isn't. Jim leaves his hotel room to find Nash (the girl he had fallen for over the course of the film) tied between a truck and its trailer. If the police shoot the driver, his foot will leave the clutch and the truck will roll forward, ripping Nash in half. In order to save her, Jim gets into the truck with the driver to talk him out of it. He doesn't succeed.
See video clips, interviews and trailers for the films mentioned above - right here
Inside Out: Body Horror, Films of the 1980s
Final Girls and Terrible Youth: Transgression in 1980s Slasher Horror
Everything I need to know, I learned from 1980s Horror Films
Hammer Horror and British Cinema (1930s to 1970) May 4, 2007Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Artfully Deranged, Genre, The Film Industry, Audience , add a comment
Below is an essay I wrote at university attempting to answer the question: What contribution did Hammer make to the development of the British cinema from its beginnings to c1970?. I present it here for anyone wanting some background on the subject. I believe it is historically accurate and the facts are definitely sourced, but the quality of argument and the style of my writing leaves at lot to be desired. My only defense is that it was written many years ago in my first year at University. I do hope I've improved since.
The son of James Carreras – Enrique, formed a distribution company in partnership with Will Hinds in 1935. The company was called Exclusive Films and during the 1940's it produced the occasional few films based on radio characters such as Dick Barton. The company was very much a family run affair, and in 1947 its production activities were rationalised and a new company, Hammer films, was set up. The name came from the stage name of Exclusive's co-owner Will Hinds, who was known as Will Hammer in the theatre. James Carreras became the managing director; Anthony Hinds (Will Hinds son) became a producer and Michael, son of James Carreras became his assistant. The production company came about at a bad time for the film industry in Britain, with the industry falling into recession as films were not making profit. Hammer though, survived, thanks largely to James Carreras' ideas for film production taking the stance that if a film would not make profit, then it should not be made at all. With ruthless cost-cutting and a determination to treat films as commercial products rather than simply expressionist art, Hammer was able to maintain itself. In examining how and what 'Hammer' films did to the development of British cinema I intend to look at several key areas which are: How Hammer started to make commercial products to make profit over critical praise or artistic merit; how Hammer managed to keep production costs low, something that meant many other production companies couldn't make profit because the cost of making their films was so high; how Hammer was able to introduce a new genre into British film industry as well as British culture – a genre that had already become very popular in the USA; and finally, how Hammer was able to make films for the international market, branching out British cinema to new countries especially the USA.
Hammer is remembered today for its 'horror' films, which is a little unfair because it produced many other genres, starting out with dramas and comedies, and also period-action films. Horror movies didn't even register as half their output. As a matter of fact, only 1/8th of Hammer films were horror, and one of their most famous and appreciated films was the comedy 'On The Buses'. So why is Hammer so synonymous with the 'Horror' film, and more importantly, such Gothic horror characters like Frankenstein, Dracula and Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde? It links back to James Carreras' idea that a film should only go into production if it is sure to make money. In the 1930's, the horror genre started to crop up in the USA, and soon became a very marketable and profitable commodity. The horror genre at this time hadn't appeared in Britain, and there was no indication that anyone was too bothered about it. Twenty years later, in 1954, Hammer Films was struggling and times were bad with the company's future depending heavily on the box-office of their 1954 output. One of the films produced during this time, was the 'The Quatermass Xperiment (1954) and it did surprisingly very well. The film was a mix of science fiction and horror, and was produced largely due to the success of the television show it was based on – Nigel Kneale's The Quatermass Experiment. Additionally, 'horror' was beginning to be a more marketable genre in Britain with the rise of horror comics. Many of these comics were subsequently banned, after they were deemed unsuitable for any audience, and this created a 'stir' with attention drawn to this new type of entertainment. The idea was simply: try to scare an audience for pleasure. With the political intervention barring people from horror products, demand grew. However, not only did Hammer's The Quatermass Xperiment offer an outlet for this growing demand, it also utilized the new rating of 'X' in its title. This new certificate was for films aimed only at an adult audience.
James Carreras then did his own market research to find out why the film was such a success, asking cinema managers whether it was the sci-fi elements, or the horror elements that were getting people into the cinema. The response was totally in the court of the 'horror' aspect, which sent Carreras off to quickly create more ideas, and films in the horror genre. What followed was a 'spin off' 'X – The Unknown (Leslie Norman, 1956) and a sequel 'Quatermass 2 (V. Guest, 1957). While Hammer didn't totally discard other genres to produce 'horror' films only, their horror output was their most marketable and profitable genre. Such was the money acquired from these films, Hammer stopped producing comedies soon after The Quatermass Xperiment's success. It should also be noted that during this time television was growing more popular so using a notable television show theme was an iconic reminder that brought people back into cinemas.
It is also worth noting that Hammer Films thrived on the bad publicity it got from certain sectors claiming their horror films were not suitable to be seen, citing the horror and violence as inappropriate. 'It doesn't really concern us at all. We're purely a commercial company, we turn out films we think are fairy tales in a way and we don't think they offend anybody. We've never known anyone rush out after seeing a Dracula and help himself to a pint of blood, or rush off to do a transplant because they've seen Professor Frankenstein doing one.'[1] This links with the idea that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Also, the idea of life imitating art is raised which has become a prominent media angle in the 1990's. Films such as Natural Born Killers (Oliver Stone) and Scream (Wes Craven 1997) have been targeted as causes of high school shootings (eg. Columbine High School) and rape (a woman was raped by a man wearing a mask featured in 'Scream'). Like these films in the nineties, Hammer Horror were able to gain a cult following because of the media distaste, with people wanting more, not less. In many respects cinemagoers were trying to revolt against the higher powers. In the 1950's it was likely the revolt was based on class status. Therefore, it could be seen that Hammer horror was a precursor, at least as far as cinema's involvement, to the decline of a class system in Britain.
We have to look back at Hammer Films history to see how they could make so many films, in small stretches of time and with so little money. After all, it wasn't over-night that The Quatermass Xperiment's success transformed Hammer into a production company churning out box-office successes month after month. What did happen however was more interest came from the USA and while Hammer continued to produce various genre films, it was their 'horror' films that were the most successful both in Britain, and what would soon become a success in the USA. This is one of the major reasons why Hammer are remembered for 'horror' rather than anything else. While their 'horror' films were attractive to audiences, they weren't always of a very high quality in terms of the way in which they were acted, scripted and directed. Additionally, the critics hardly ever praised Hammer horror films – partly due to their exploitive violence, but mainly due to them lacking artistic merit. Therefore, other Hammer films, produced under different genres also fell pray to low quality and poor critical appraisal.
One of the major costs of film production was rental studio space, but Hammer came to the solution of buying a large country house, converting it into a studio and creating scripts to work around the décor and location of the house so that it could be re-used, and wouldn't require constant changes in production design or locale. 'The actual cost of buying such a house compared favourably with the studio rentals asked, and with the right story material, the décor of the house could actually provide the sets for the film…'[2] There were of course limitations with using a 'real' country house to make films, like for instance, it encouraged the use of 35mm wide angle lenses and the avoidance of panning and tracking shots. Such were these limitations that 'long takes', with very little camera movement, became prominent parts of Hammer Films' mise-en-scene. But as other production companies used mobile sets, moving from location to location, the 'country house' idea proved cost effective. For example, Outlook Films using mobile sets made 'Blue Scar' (Jill Craigie 1950) for 75, 000 pounds, while Hammer made a couple of movies at the same time for considerably less. 'Their first, Dr. Morelle (Anthony Hinds 1948) cost 15, 000 pounds, and their second (PC 49) was budgeted at 12, 000 pounds…'[3] With the money they were saving they were able to maintain a stronger foot hole in British cinema by being able to make more films more quickly than their competitors. In making the films on a smaller budget they didn't have to rely on every one being a success as 1 or 2 profitable moviess was enough to recuperate expenses, and enough to make further films. It should also be noted that Hammer utilised the services of the same actors playing either the same or very similar roles. This allowed them to keep costs down by buying actors for a set amount of movies, and it also created audience anticipation and a cult following of the actors involved. Christopher Lee as Count Dracula regularly appeared and this not only gave Hammer an angle to promote the film (star status), it also gave their output a solid foot hole in British cinema because people started going to see the films because an actor they were familiar with was involved. This did not just work in Britain but internationally as well, and it could be argued that Hammer played a key role in the emergence of 'star persona'.
However, Carreras was not content to pander to just the needs of Britain, he wanted to expand and get his product seen all around the world. 'If you're going to spend x amount on film and your only market is your own and perhaps Australia and South Africa, we think it's better to make subjects that every country will buy.'[4] The Quatermass Xperiment, did surprisingly well in the USA, which put Hammer into the international limelight. From this, movie deals quickly became available with Carreras signing contracts with Universal, Columbia and United Artists. While Hammer continued to make varied genre films, they ceased making comedies as they were very difficult to sell abroad. Carreras' method of selling films for the American market was to present an impression of what was needed to get audiences into cinema's around the world. 'Before we make a picture we say to ourselves "What will it look like outside of the cinema" and "Is it international"'. One of the main reasons why Hammer comedies did not work was because British humour was very different to American humour, which is reflected in the films produced then, and even now.
Hammer horror films maintained a British 'feel' and generic features that separated them from the American competition. Such things as the exploitation of technicolour via the lavishly coloured 'country house' sets; the abrupt endings, very simple narratives; no flashbacks or dream sequences; attention to detail through the use of lingering shots of certain aspects of the mise-en-scene in order to emphasise; and all the films were there to exploit – exploitation of blood, death and the macabre (things people hadn't seen before), all clearly delineated in trailers, posters and of course in the films themselves. The films 'in cultural terms were "British" in a very specific way. By and large they were set in a fantasy world of the past or of the future, but only rarely did they deal with the "real" Britain of the day.' While they didn't show a realist representation of Britain, the films did analogise 'the time of uncertainty'. They showed a changing Britain (the critical backlash, the change in rating with the introduction of the 'X' rating), and also the depiction of good and evil, which had become a major part in British society with the uncertainty after the second world war, and the threat of nuclear weapons. Also, the changing of Britain's youth as teens rebelled against authority, (the 'Horror is bad' message in the media only fueled a hunger for more).
In conclusion, looking at Hammer Films we see that Carreras and his team not only introduced a new genre to British film culture; and not only made that genre popular and profitable, but they also tapped into the American market with their fantasy tales. Not only this, Carreras' shrewd selling tactics enabled Hammer to sell more films in America than anyone else, expanding British cinema abroad. To say Hammer revolutionised the British film industry is debatable, but what it did do is produce films that not only stand the test of time today, but also leave a legacy and footprint in the history of British film. British Film today utilises low budget (Trainspotting); 'star persona'(The Parole Officer – star: Steve Coogan); making generic horror films (Dog Soldiers); breaking norms to create interest (24 Hour Party People – shot digitally; documentary style); using real locations to save money (The Full Monty); shrewd business (Working Title films deal with American studio to produce a number of films: Four Weddings and A Funeral, Notting Hill etc.), all things that can be directly related to Hammer fifty years ago.
The Oxford History Of World Cinema – Antonia Lant – Oxford University Press © 1996
British Cinema History – Creativity at Ealing and Hammer Studios pg. 193 – 207
Authorship and British Cinema – Peter Hutchings – Chapter 12
[1] Creativity at Ealing Studios and Hammer Films – British Cinema History (Curran and Porter) pg. 197
[2] Creativity at Ealing Studios and Hammer Films – British Cinema History (Curran and Porter) pg. 194
[3] Creativity at Ealing Studios and Hammer Films – British Cinema History (Curran and Porter) pg. 194
[4] [According to Carreras] Creativity at Ealing Studios and Hammer Films – British Cinema History (Curran and Porter) pg. 197
The Slasher Film: An Introduction April 3, 2007Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Artfully Deranged, Genre , add a comment
You could look back at the stalk and slash sub-genre of horror cinema (predominately known as slasher' film, or teen slasher') and cite the book written about serial-psychotic Ed Gein as the root of the genre. Alfred Hitchcock bought the rights to the book and made the pivotal film, Psycho in 1960. Along with Michael Powell's Peeping Tom (1960), Psycho was the major influencing factor that allowed Tobe Hooper and then later John Carpenter to define the sub-genre with their films: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Halloween (1978). It was the monster' as a human rather than an otherworldly, fictional entity, that gave the horror' a more solid basis in reality, in turn breeding a closer ideological connection with its audience the next rampaging maniac to run around wielding a knife could be a friend, a relative, a co-worker. Psycho also introduced the audience to the knife as a weapon, a symbolic object of danger, death and madness, which would become an icon of the film and later within the genre itself. The knife represented another human aspect to the evil', a culturally defined object used by everyone that could quite easily become a weapon in the wrong hands.
Generally, slasher films are American-made, there are a few exceptions in Europe that loosely fit the sub-genre mould (Dario Argento's Suspiria (1977) for example), but such European films draw on a very European gothic horror the remnants of old feudal systems and the wicked aristocrats that live in their rundown castles (Frankenstein and Dracula are prime examples, while Suspiria is entirely based in the decaying, rundown castle' whose inhabitants happen to be wicked' witches, living out their power of old.) Slasher films of American cinema drew upon a very Americanized heritage, that of their pioneering past and the new frontier, linked to home and family, the American Dream. These slasher films had at their central core, characters who would break this mould, they would revolt against their parents better' judgment (family) in doing drugs, alcohol, having sex; they would venture out from their sanctuary (home) and in their socially transgressed behavior, they would in turn take the gloss off the clean shine of this heritage. The ever-partying' teens (teenagers were predominantly the main characters in American slasher films, started by Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but arguably pre-dated by Bob Clark's Black Christmas which was released in 1973, and continued through John Carpenter's Halloween) were seemingly causing a rift in their society that had to be put right, and this meant being killed by the hand of a usually masked, always unstoppable (until the end) murderer.
In slasher films the killers are predominantly male and regardless of how inhuman their actions or reactions, they are still human. In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (1978), the killers are reflections of the family unit as idealized by American society. They are rendered monstrous by their actions subverting what has been idealized as they are violent, cannibalistic, deadly, threatening forces. While post-Halloween slashers had single killers, Hooper and Craven's earlier films, and Hitchcock's Psycho, played on the gothic Americana, in that these families protected their own frontiers, their homes and the family. In The Hills Have Eyes the evil cannibals don't like the inner city holidaymakers setting up camp on their land as if accidental trespass is a crime to be paid with one's life. Likewise, in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the victims come under threat after wandering onto the family's land. Interestingly, as the family settle down for a meal at the dining table, much like any family, the idealism of such an act is subverted as the meal is tied to a chair at one end of the table begging for her life. Slasher films post-Halloween used these ideas, especially that of the family unit. Freddy Krueger killed the children of the families that burned him many years previously in A Nightmare On Elm Street, while Michael Myers in Halloween felt compelled to finish the job he started as a child after killing his sister, by tracking down and killing his only remaining sister, and Mrs. Voorhees in Friday The 13th took revenge for the death of her son. Revenge is an important part of the killer's mindset, and it is interesting to note that in most high school/campus set slasher's, they are based upon the premise of someone avenging a wrong, committed to them or to a loved one by a particular group' (Whitehead, M. 2003, page 12). In Friday The 13th, the particular group' that committed the wrong are the camp site counselors who are responsible for the death of Mrs. Voorhees son, while in Prom Night the particular group are four teens responsible for the death of a fellow student.
The killing within slasher films does suggest something deeper within the act, than just one more bloody death. The family unit and the break-up of this unit is an important device in that in reality, the family as idealized by the American dream was becoming less and less common. Divorce was splitting families, and the increase in teenage pregnancy was placing another generation within the family home. Additionally, the whole notion of if you have sex you die!' that was mocked in Wes Craven's Scream (1997), became a predominant element of the genre, and could be linked to the increase in the A.I.D.S virus and the deaths it was causing.
Other features of slasher films resurface constantly like for example the inability of authority figures to offer any kind of help, leaving them either superfluous within the plot or non-existent. Police, teachers, parents can rarely be trusted or relied upon in the slasher movie' (Whitehead, M. 2003, page 12). Lt. Thompson in A Nightmare On Elm Street doesn't believe his own daughter, and the very same thing happens in Halloween with Sheriff Brackett. In Friday The 13th, the campsite coordinator leaves the campsite before any murders start but before he can be of any help, is killed himself. This is an interesting device in that in a slasher movie, unlike a war film or a western, the side of the bad' cannot be easily distinguished, especially by those who are there to protect the public (the police, the army), and it could be argued that this element is there as a representation of the idealism that America so despises but cannot control. For example, the Vietnam war represented America psychically fighting communism, but as an idealism itself, it could not be fought as easily or as obviously, and perhaps slasher films' killers symbolize that untraceable, evil' idealism that can infiltrate its society with silent ease. Certainly the genre's convention of the everyday man becoming a bloodthirsty murderer, would compound this.
Another feature of the slasher movie is that of evil' buildings, or places that hold terrible secrets and bloody histories. This links directly back to Psycho but it has its roots in gothic horror literature from the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, H.P Lovecraft, and Stephen King. Michael Myers' house is a prime example, having the bloody history of his sister's murder, yet in the film during present day, it is boarded up, and the kids tell frightening stories about the house and dare not go near it. Many slasher movies climax within the building or place where the wrong' took place Michael Myers is believed to be dead after returning to the Myers house; Nancy battles Freddy in the boiler room where he was burned which she gets to through her basement; and the killer is finally killed in My Bloody Valentine after returning back down into the mines where the wrong' first took place. Later films in the yuppie-in-peril/suspense genre such as John Schlesinger's Pacific Heights (1990) and Jonathan Kaplan's Unlawful Entry (1992) turned this idea around echoing the family values that were being espoused by politicians and morally-appointed spokespeople at the time' (Whitehead, M. 2003, page 13). The family home represents everything that is good and wholesome and the evil' comes from outside, breaking the boundaries that the family unit lives by within their home. Yet, the breaking of the family ideal and the corruption of the family home can be seen in slasher films, and whatever building, or place is taken as refuge, it's never enough to prevent the evil' from getting in. In Halloween Michael Myers gets into the babysitters house even though she tries to take precautions to prevent him, and in Dwight H. Little's Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers (1988), the authority figures (again being ineffective) try to protect the little girl from Myers in her home. Several cops lock and board up the doors, manning them with guns, yet Myers still gets in.
Technology in slasher films is also important in that it rarely works when it is needed. Car engines won't work in an escape and the phones/radio's won't work when trying to call for help. In Dominique Othenin-Girard's Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers, Haddonfield loses all power, plunging the town into darkness. It's a collapse of technology within these films, to the point where they appear to be an extension of the killer Lynda is strangled by the phone cord when she is on the phone to Lorrie, who believes her muffled gasps are a prank in Halloween. Wes Craven would later turn this into a suspicion of technology, as in Scream, voice-transformers are used to hide the killer's identity and mobile phones are cloned creating false identities. The killer's themselves wouldn't chance the use of such extravagant technology, using as their weapons, the most basic of devices. The knife is used in the likes of Halloween, and originally in Psycho, while a pickaxe is used in My Bloody Valentine, a machete in Friday The 13 Part 2 (1981), and Freddy has a glove made of knives in A Nightmare On Elm Street. While slasher films are consistently presented within the present day (during the slasher boom', this would be the eighties), the problems with technology and the simple weapons link to a distinct primitiveness, which in turn links back to American heritage and the conquering of frontiers in years gone by. This appears to suggest primal instincts and survival within the wilderness, like the first settlers, and that to earn your life, you must rise above that which confronts you and challenge it with the limited capabilities available.
Aesthetically, slasher films possessed subjective camerawork such as seeing through the eyes of the killer with point-of-view shots that spurned the well-known phrase look behind you'. This is exampled very obviously in Black Christmas whose director, Bob Clark, used point of view subjectivity to great effect, placing the audience in the position of killer, rather than simply voyeur. The opening segment of the film which is entirely filmed from the killer's point of view as he/she looks at the girls within the sorority house before climbing in through a window and hiding in the attic, is voyeuristic but the audience's position within this world is not that which they would associate themselves (ie. the victims) but with the killer. John Carpenter did a similar thing in Halloween but the idea seems to stem from Powell's Peeping Tom back in 1960, whose killer murdered because he wanted to capture on camera people's reactions to being killed, so filmed the act.
The films had high moral values, seemingly ignored by critics who saw the films as promoting violence and violent behavior. Death never went unpunished in these films, from Freddy Krueger's child molester in Wes Craven's A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) being eventually defeated and killed for his crimes, to Micheal Myers in Halloween or Jason Vorhees in Sean S. Cunningham's Friday The 13th (1980), there was always someone on the side of the good' who beat the monster'. Equally, the genre's formulaic nature would compound this notion in that, even though each of these three killers come back in the sequels, the audience knows that yet again, someone will rise to beat them by the end. It was here though, that slasher films, like many of their parent genre counterparts, came under threat from detractors who saw the violence as a dangerous element of popular culture. The 1984 video recordings act banned many films in Britain including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and while the reasoning behind this is complex it seems to point to a disregard of audience intelligence and understanding, or at least a disregard to a problem that outweighs simply the movie theatre which becomes an easy target the problem being that of murder and violent crime in our society. One of the points made is that such films force the viewer to identify with the killer through subjective camerawork' (Whitehead, M. 2003, page 9). This seems to suggest that impressionable viewers could find themselves associating with the killer, allowing an inner demon to surface in real-life, largely because all such slasher films forced this subjective killer identification onto us. Reverend Fred Nile, writing on behalf of the Australian Christian Democratic Party believes the repetition of screen violence desensitizes its viewers to it, The recent acts of violence and the attitudes of adolescent youths are showing up - to a tragic degree - that some youths have not been properly prepared to be able to resist and deflect the "Influence" carried into their lives by the entertainment media.' (Nile, F. June 1999). Nile sites Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers as the film, which contributed to the pair, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, going on a murderous rampage. U.S president at the time, Bill Clinton attacked Hollywood over the Columbine shootings, instructing it to clean up its act or face restrictive legislature' (Whitehead, M. 2003, page 10). However, Harris and Klebold were part of a gang named the Trenchcoat Mafia' who had high regard for Hitler and Nazism, exampled in the shootings at Columbine taking place on Hitler's birthday. They were widely known around school as haters of minority groups such as Jewish and African-American students, and they also hated the athletes who had power and popularity, something they did not. (Seely, A.R. Nov 1999). Perhaps more attention should be paid to gun control, which Michael Moore investigated in his 2002 documentary Bowling For Columbine. Equally, the Jamie Bulger murder, which was partly blamed on horror films, particularly Child's Play 3, shouldn't be generalized as a consequence of a new wave of video nasties as the killers Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, both ten, were delinquents from school who often stole from shops and had been stealing incidental items the morning before they abducted, tortured and murdered Jamie Bulger. Such an unspeakable act cannot be blamed, partly or otherwise, on a film. There has to be other more obvious influencing factors and a desire to commit such crime that delves far more deeply into psychology and sociology, than the science of screen violence and the horror film, but as Mark Whitehead states, there's a set of very complex relations that remain between the audience as spectator and screen violence as spectacle.' (Whitehead, M. 2003, page 9) That said, no film can be accounted for the child murderer's lies after the act, or the callous four-hour torture and the lies they made to cover their backs during the day of the murder. The man who tried to assassinate Reagan claimed to have been influenced by Martin Scoresese's Taxi Driver (1976), but David Berkowitz claimed to have been influence to kill by his dog, leaving the whole influence' debate massively questionable and infinitely debatable. (Altered Dimensions. 1998)
It does seem convenient, however, to blame such criminal acts on the violence of the mass media, especially film. During the heights of the slasher boom, during the eighties, the Yorkshire Ripper was terrorizing women in the region. This was associated to the treatment of women in slasher films by many critics, and that many such films had misogynist overtones, but the very fact that most slasher films had female heroes seems to leave this idea highly questionable. From Lorrie Strode in Halloween to Nancy in A Nightmare On Elm Street, to lesser known films such as Paul Lynch's Prom Night (1980), Roger Spottiswoode's Terror Train (1980), Fred Walton's When A Stranger Calls (1979), and George Mihalka's My Bloody Valentine (1981), to newer additions such as Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, all featuring women as the final, conquering, victorious characters who beat their, predominantly, male foes. An argument that cites slasher films as part of a revolution for female lead characters and largely feminist in undertone seems to hold more water. Such films as Meir Zarchi's I Spit On Your Grave (1978) took this notion one step further (arguably one step too far), in that our sympathy lies with the killer raising moral questions. Here we see a woman seeking revenge on those that raped her and left her for dead, killing each in more and more elaborate ways, yet while she is gaining her revenge it still blurs the distinction between right and wrong, good and evil, which is perhaps the reason why this film continues to garner very little support from either critics or film fans. However, predominantly the killer is usually the evil force within slasher films and it is the Final Girl' who destroys him either by killing him, or subduing him into submission. Carol J. Clover investigates from a feminist point of view, how the stereotyped viewers of slasher films are adolescent males, and while they are constantly placed into a position of killer and therefore an identification with the killer is created through subjective camerawork, it doesn't necessarily mean the film is misogynist. (Clover, C.J. 1992, Chapter 1) From films that Mark Whitehead touts as misogynist, Lucio Fulci's The New York Ripper (1982) and Terry Bourke's Lady, Stay Dead (1981), to more well-known films such as Halloween, Clover sites the Final Girl' as being the most important part of the film's overall politics. Clover argues that the female victims are dumb' but the heroines, or Final Girls' are headstrong, they are resourceful, unswayed by earthly pleasures and, rather than just heroines' they are heroic' in the proper sense'. (Clover, C.J. 1992, page 28) These girls confront the monster and have the common sense and courage to destroy it, exampled in Nancy Thompson's final battle and destruction of Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare On Elm Street, or Kim revealing and destroying the killer in Prom Night.
Altered Dimensions (1998) Son Of Sam David Berkowitz [online], New York available from http://www.spartechsoftware.com/dimensions/crime/Son OfSam.htm (accessed 20 March 2004)
Clover, C.J. (1992) Men, Women And Chainsaws London: British Film Institute
Nile, F. (1999). Columbine High School, Colorado, Shooting [online], Sydney available from http://www.cdp.org.au/fed/mr/1999/990601.asp (accessed 19 March 2004)
Scott, S.L (2004). The Death Of Jamie Bulger [online], London available from http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/young/ bulger/10.html?sect=1 (accessed 19 March 2004)
Seely, A.R. (1999). Tragedy at Columbine High School, Littleton, Colorado [online], Montreal available from http://cnview.com/tragedy_at_columbine_high_school.h tm (accessed 19 March 2004)
Whitehead, M. (2003) Slasher Movies (Revised and updated version) Vermont: Trafalgar Square Publishing


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2013/07/09 /
Tarran and Redline KTM continue British Motostar form
Tarran Mackenzie, riding the Redline Motorcycles KTM RC 250 R, made another visit to the British Motostar championship podium at Snetterton on Sunday (July 7).
The 17-year old was desperate to make amends for not being able to start the previous round at his home track in Knockhill and set a blistering pace at the sun-baked Norfolk track during Friday's practice sessions.
'Taz', youngest son of three-time British Superbike champion, Niall, carried on his form on the Moto3 machine into Saturday's qualifying and placed second on the grid for Sunday's 12-lap race.
By his own admission, it wasn't the best of starts as Tarran slotted into fourth at the first corner. But the tenacious rider set about making his way to the front and the race unfolded to be an epic battle between the two other KTM's of Joe Irving and Jordan Weaving, along with championship leader Joe Francis.
Positions changed at every corner and a hard move from Francis almost sent Taz off track at the halfway mark. After regrouping, Taz clearly had the corner speed but seemed to be outgunned down the long straights of the former airfield. In the final lap, fellow KTM rider and Red Bull Rookie, Jordan Weaving, crashed out unhurt of the lead to make it a drag race to the line with Tarran finishing third behind Joe Francis and Joe Irving.
Tarran, who also works at Loughborough KTM dealer, Redline Motorcycles, now sits 20 points behind Francis with 7 rounds to go.
Tarran Mackenzie said: "The weekend was good in terms of everything running smoothly and super weather. After qualifying I thought Jordan (Weaving) and I would be running away in the race, but both Joe's pulled their finger out and their bikes were seriously quick. After a bad start I found the pace easy and got to the front, but the race had a lot of passes and hard moves. We just seemed to be hampered on the long straights so I had to make it up everywhere else.
"It wasn't a bad result with another podium, but it took a lot for me to manage a smile on the podium and I'm always smiling! Still, we're only 20 points off the lead with half the season to go."
British Motorstar Championship results – Round 5, Snetterton
1. Joe Francis
2. Joe Irving (KTM)
3. Tarran Mackenzie (KTM)
British Motorstar Championship after 5 of 12 rounds
1. Joe Francis 106
2. Tarran Mackenzie 86
3. Joe Irving 7

subset: commoncrawl


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Anything written by Nelson Thornes
What piece of software exasperates and infuriates you like no other?
Anything written by Nelson Thornes
BenABF (14th October 2010), gill (9th January 2013), Hightower (9th February 2010), sjatkn (18th January 2012), speckytecky (10th February 2010)
At the moment -Serif DrawPlus.... If I don't get anywhere quick with it, I'll be posting a new topic soon
Edexcel ActiveTeach etc
Mcom (26th October 2012)
Our alcatel omnivista management program for the phone system.
java based, unintuitive piece of rubbish, constant crashes and cryptic errors.
JoeBloggs (18th January 2012)
I'm with Korifugi on this one - absolutely anything released by them apes that like to think they can design software.
Mediator 9 [ never wants to Activate correctly ] & anything by Phillip Harris. Oh and anything written by me that does not work correctly - [ scripts mainly ]
bwestlake (26th October 2012), mrb-solutions (17th July 2012)
Anything that came on a floppy!
Currently CrazyTalk 5 Pro.
It requires an internet connection during install, a separate license key per station, and then their blasted install validation .DLL crashes and removes the product.
Six days later and their tech support are still blaming the PC / OS install even though I've tried this on different PC's.
SimpleSi (9th February 2010)
Haha, Mediator, Serif....we have all of these. Our problem is our Head of IT goes on training courses and the what not and sees software that looks great....then she purchases it. Funnily enough this is how we've ended up with a Mac Mini and a Macbook in our office.
OOOO shiny...
Activeteach / Promissor ALAN Testing....
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ACParadise Network: American Cosplay Paradise American Cosplay Experience American Cosplay Snapshots
Photographer Everon > Photoshoots > Guilty Crown
Photoshoot Info
- Series:
- Guilty Crown
- Title:
- Two Face
- Convention:
- Pacific Media Expo 2012
- Most Recent Photo:
- 06-04-2013 (12 Photos Total)
- Location:
- Hilton Los Angeles Airport Hotel
- Equipment:
- Sony DSLR a500
No cosplayers identified yet!
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - View original article
|This table may be more easily updated if the rank-order column (1,2,3) is removed (or separated). Alphabetical order may also help. Sort buttons order numbers. Help:Sorting.
This article includes for each section three lists of countries of Latin America and Caribbean sorted by their gross domestic product (GDP) and by their gross domestic product per capita.
The figures presented here do not take into account differences in the cost of living in different countries, and the results can vary greatly from one year to another based on fluctuations in the exchange rates of the country's currency. Such fluctuations may change a country's ranking from one year to the next, even though they often make little or no difference to the standard of living of its population. Therefore these figures should be used with caution.
Comparisons of national wealth are also frequently made on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP), to adjust for differences in the cost of living in different countries. (See List of countries by GDP (PPP) and List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita.) PPP largely removes the exchange rate problem, but has its own drawbacks; it does not reflect the value of economic output in international trade, and it also requires more estimation than GDP per capita. On the whole, PPP per capita figures are more narrowly spread than nominal GDP per capita figures.
Great care should be taken when using either set of figures to compare the wealth of two countries. Often people who wish to promote or denigrate a country will use the figure that suits their case best and ignore the other one, which may be substantially different, but a valid comparison of two economies should take both rankings into account, as well as utilising other economic data to put an economy in context.
Non-sovereign entities which are not considered to be countries (world, the Latin America and Caribbean totals, regional trade blocs and some dependent territories) are included in the list because they appear in the sources or gives useful and relevant comparative information between trade blocs and countries of the region. These economies are not ranked in the charts here, but are listed in sequence by GDP for comparison. The country aggregates are marked in bold and italics and the dependent territories are marked in italics.
This section includes three lists of countries of Latin America and Caribbean sorted by their GDP, the market value of all final goods and services from a nation in a given year. The GDP dollar estimates presented here are calculated at market or government official exchange rates.
|List by the International Monetary Fund (2010)[1]
|List by the World Bank (1993–2010)[2]
|List by the CIA World Factbook (2002–2010)[3]
This section includes three lists of countries of Latin America and Caribbean sorted by their gross domestic product per capita at nominal values, the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year, converted at market exchange rates to current U.S. dollars, divided by the average (or mid-year) population for the same year.
|International Monetary Fund (2010)[9]
|World Bank (1993–2010)[2]
|CIA World Factbook (2002–2010)[10]


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Beautiful massive breasts black bootyposted by: bigjugsporn
Farrah, the ebony version of our 70's era sweetheart, has something the Ms. Faucet could never offer: a full voluptuous black body. Farrah seems to have mastered the art of seduction and in this shoot the beautiful ebony girl is in a little green teddy.
Her long-lashed eyes bat at you and her smirk is just calling in a naughty flirt. Watch how the black seductress slowly takes the nightie off her big black breasts. They are like chocolate mountains and when that juicy black nipple is revealed, if you are a real big breast lover, you will really start to hunger for these dark melons.
Click here to see more of this enormous jugs ebony chick at Score HD.


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Daniel Markham's Pretty Bitchin'
By Kelly Dearmore
Americans Under 30 the Most Cynical Bunch Ever
By Jim Schutze
13 of the Best Female-Fronted Bands in DFW
By Rachel Watts
Your Baseball Season Guide to Pre- and Post-Game Eats...
By Lauren Drewes Daniels
The Bizarre Life and Troubling Death of DarkSide
By Anna Merlan
The Ten Most Badass Band Names in DFW
By Lee Escobedo
The Cheap Bastard Guide to Dallas
By Alice Laussade
Guided by Voices' contract with TVT Records allows Pollard to indulge in as many side projects as he wants, whether they be solo albums or Guided by Voices albums recorded under pseudonyms, such as the recent releases by the Fading Captain Series. Fading Captain is a project Pollard began earlier this year to release whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Although only in existence for a few months, it has already kicked out three albums: Kid Marine, an EP by GbV alter-ego Lexo & the Leapers, and an album by NightWalker, which Pollard says consists of "psychedelic ramblings I recorded from '84 to '93."
Since almost all of the recordings Pollard appears on involve whatever musicians he happens to be playing with at the time, and since Guided by Voices has essentially become a solo vehicle for him, it doesn't make much sense that he would separate Robert Pollard and Guided by Voices into separate projects. But for Pollard, the arrangement is perfectly logical, a way to play ball with the music industry but never become a slave to it.
"With a Robert Pollard record, there aren't any obligations to do anything, really," he says. "I mean, I can do whatever I want without anybody telling me, 'That's not what we paid for.'" He laughs. "And it's mainly the degree of professionalism, you know? Robert Pollard albums are kind of like what Guided by Voices records used to be like. I can leave mistakes in, and I can do lo-fi--I can do whatever I want. Guided by Voices is kind of like this big professional entity now. Robert Pollard is not. Until someone wants to give me the kind of money Guided by Voices is given. I had entertained a notion of every band, every pseudonym that I come up with, I entertained a notion of getting those bands signed. Get separate advances and everything, keep doing that." He laughs. "I don't think that's allowed, though.
Sponsor Content


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AIG: Benmosche Transformation Winner
Shanker's price target for AIG is $47, and he estimates the company will earn $3.35 a share this year, with earnings increasing to $4.20 a share in 2014.
A Much Better Set of Employment Numbers
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Investors cheered a better-than-expected monthly employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, especially in light of the disappointing report from Automatic Data Processing on Wednesday, saying that the U.S. economy added 119,000 jobs during April. The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday said that U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by 165,000 during April, following the addition of 138,000 during March. The March figure was revised upward from 88,000.
The April job-growth figure came in ahead of the consensus estimate of 145,000, among economists polled by Thomson Reuters.The national unemployment rate improved to 7.5% in April from 7.6% in March, moving to its lowest level since December 2008. The KBW Bank Index (I:BKX) was up 0.5% to close at 56.94, with all but 24 index components showing gains for the session, except for JPMorgan Chase (JPM), which was down 1% to close at $45.57. The KBW Insurance Index rose 1.4% to close at 154.83, with all but five of the 21 index components rounding out the week with gains.
-- Written by Philip van Doorn in Jupiter, Fla. >Contact by Email. Follow @PhilipvanDoorn
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text:
The Futuristic Technology That Could Enable Interstellar Travel
Technically savvy scientists and engineers have put much effort into conceiving far-future technologies that might make possible near- light-speed travel. You can learn a lot about their ideas by browsing the web. It will take many centuries for humans to make any of those ideas real, I think. But they do convince me… »


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- Running
- Cycling
- Triathlon
- Fitness
- Race Results
- More
About This Activity
Come join us and compete to become the Houston Open Champion. Join us for a weekend of fantastic squash and tons of fun and social events. Alongside the US Squash Amateur draw you will be able to watch the PSA World Ranked players compete for $10K in prize money.
Your Entry fee includes: 2 matches, Entry gift of squash racquet valued at $170, prizes for winner and finalist, drinks, food daily, Saturday night party & viewing of PSA pro matches including PSA Finals.
Registration closes on March 21, 2014. Any withdrawals must be done by email to firstname.lastname@example.com by the 21st or you will forfeit your rights to a refund.
We strongly advise that you do not enter two divisions. You increase your risk of injury and we cannot guarantee that your matches will not be scheduled back to back.
$85 for US Squash Members/ $100 for Non-US Squash Members
Organizer Info
Map & Direction
Friday, March 28, 2014 @ 11:59 AM (CDT)
LIfe Time Fitness City Centre Athletic Club 815 Town & Country LN Houston, TX 77024Get Directions


text:
Latest on Save my toys
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text:
|The Message (MSG)
|New International Version (NIV)
|14 If anyone refuses to obey our clear command written in this letter, don't let him get by with it. Point out such a person and refuse to subsidize his freeloading. Maybe then he'll think twice.
|14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed.
|Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved. (The Message Bible Online)
|Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online)


text:
You have no items in your shopping cart.
Aviation GPS Systems
Marv Golden carries the best Portable GPS Systems on the market at great prices. We also carry all the GPS Accessories, Kits, Adapters, Software and Manuals you'll ever need!
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text:
When Tech. Sgt. James Schols learned he would be getting the 2014 Military Scholarship from Career Step, the first person he knew he had to thank was his wife. The second person was his academic adviser at Brandman University.
"My counselor Carmen (Gonzalez) is awesome," said Schols, an operations intelligence journeyman in the Oregon Air National Guard. Gonzalez steered Schols to a list of scholarship links on the Brandman website, wrote letters of recommendation and encouraged Schols to pursue his dream of getting a master's degree from Brandman after he graduates this spring with a bachelor's in legal studies.
Career Step, an online provider of career-focused education and career training, established its military scholarship as a way to support education on a broader level and further give back to the military community. They'll provide $2,000 toward his pursuit of an MBA.Read More


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|[ Forgot Password? ] [ Register ]
|All Labs, Stages, bonuses,party games and skins.
uploaded by krecek
Downloaded: 833 times (1.09 MB)
Region: P - European / Other / PAL
This is an almost 100% perfect game save, there are only two stages in which I have not been good enought to do it perfectly (100% of mercury), if you get it please upload it and save the replay. My score is not too high because I only wanted the first pos...
Views: 5768 Votes: 2 User Rating: 54.5


text:
Test C2180-402: IBM Business Process Manager Advanced V8.5, System Administration
Tab navigation
- Overview- selected tab,
- Objectives
- Test preparation
- Sample / Assessment Test
Sample Test
There is no assessment test for this test. Instead, below are sample test questions.
- How does your salary compare to national averages? Help Global Knowledge and IBM discover the answers by participating in 2015 IT Skills and Salary Survey.
Testing Policies
Before taking your test, please review our testing policies and guidelines, and registration process.
Register for a Test
Register for an IBM Certification test at Pearson VUE and take a step into your future. Take a minute to review how to Create Pearson VUE account associated with IBM and Selecting Tests on the Pearson VUE Website.


text:
|Hebrew Names Version (HNV)
|New International Version (NIV)
|42 Livna, and `Eter, and `Ashan,
|42 Libnah, Ether, Ashan,
|The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain. (Hebrew Names Version - The Holy Bible Online)
|Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online)


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VLE and Website Manager
Line Manager: TBC
Salary: Teacher Payscale M1-M6 with overseas allowance and free accomodation
Purpose of the post
To maintain an overview of the school website and to drive the e-learning initiatives.
Duties and Responsibilities
To drive the development of BISRs Frog Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)
Provide a broad range of direct VLE training and lead the Frog Champions, with the aim of helping to disseminate knowledge and skills to all departments.
Manage the schools online presence, including the schools website, and help keep the different sites and services up-to-date.
Day-to-today management of the VLE service desk
To complete an audit of current provision and create a strategic plan for BISRs development of its e-Learning capabilities. To help develop the learning platform (VLE), in consultation with staff, so that is easily accessible and supports teaching staff in their delivery, administrative staff in service administration and learners in their studies.
To act as the key administrator for the learning platform, and to advise and support colleagues in the management of the platform and be the day to day link with the host system.
To help synthesise the many different web based elements that we use on a daily basis in to one user-friendly portal. For example how our VLE interacts effectively with our exchange email accounts, our SIMS Learning Gateway platform (internal), our Eclipse Library System (external), our Overdrive digital library system (external), and our CHQ ECA system (external)
To set up control systems, including log-ins for staff, and develop administrative processes .
To develop a user friendly content management system, for administrative procedures, teaching staff and for learner usage, undertake regular checks to ensure the content is relevant and kept up to date.
To induct, train, and give ongoing support to staff on the use of the platform and to keep an up-to-date record of all staff training and competence levels.
Research new learning technologies and work with staff to implement them.
Work alongside middle managers to assist the enhancement of education using ICT.
To attend staff meetings to motivate usage, seek comments from users for improvements and share practice in order that processes are user friendly and functional.
To attend conferences and training events to keep up to date with developments in the e-learning and e-technology.
Website Management:
Update and develop the website regularly with school information approved by the SLT team. This may include remotely updating information in the case of emergency closure. This will also include updating the exam results page in August.
Skill/Experience Requirement:
Experience of working in an innovative school environment.
Experience of social media networks and digital marketing systems.
Experience of using Frog and Microsoft SharePoint .
Evidence of leadership and project management skills
Must be enthusiastic, self-reliant and self-motivated
Must have an in depth technical knowledge and be hands on when it comes to implementing solutions.
If, having read the job description, you are interested in joining us, please submit the following to firstname.lastname@example.com :
1. your c.v. including details of 3 professional referee
2. a completed application form available from www.bisr.com.sa
3. a recent photograph (so we will recognise you if you are invited for interview)
4. a letter of application addressed to Mr Mantz Principal


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A Mini Me
Anyone know how to reboot one when they start making error cries
Happy new academic year you one and all. Looking forward to being back on the boards.
blimey we are all having kids...
Well might as well hijack let people know who didnt that there is also a mini version of me due on January 28th when is yours due sysman?
reboot when it cries if we could design some software to do that we could all retire...
Yay. Congratulations. Is it your first?
*Prepares to fill you with stories of dread and sleepless nights.
Congratulations SYSMAN
Current due date is Feb 8th but this is subject to change
Yeh Dos_Box tis my first. Those seem to be everyones fav stories to tell me for some strange reason.
Congrats Sysman... I'm expecting a wee girl in December, somewhere around the 21st - 24th (my second...)
Congratulations SYSMAN, your life will never be the same again, I can guarantee it!
Congratulations there goes the good night sleep when the baby arrives.
No need to reboot when error status indicated ......... just plug in the nipple interface and empty the recycle bin while holding breath (and avoiding further file deletion until recycle bin is restored).
I`ve had 4 (in fact got 8 now I`ve remarried!!!), but all now upgraded to teenix and twentynix so require less administration.
it must be something in air everyone seems to be having kids or trying to have kids...
@stevet sent your description to my expecting partner so if when i get back from scotland i get hit i will blame you
Congrats, kids are one thing I don't want! I've enough problems with them at work without having them at home !
Thanks for all the kind words guys
LOL That is excellent
I am not jealous ... neither is my wife ... honest.
This brings the grand total to 19 people we know who are having babies or just had a littlun ...
Yet another month of trying :-(
Congratulations to you all....
... from the woman with no maternal bone in her body (just as well, really...)
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It was another night and another Bee Gees' chorus. Eastern stayed alive in the Big Sky Conference postseason hunt thanks to a home win over Sacramento State.
After Sac State had taken its only second-half lead at 67-65, Marcus Hinton scored seven consecutive points for EWU and the Eagles went on to the victory.
• UPDATE: You can read Dave Trimmer's game story here.
You can also find out more about the Eagles' chances of playing in the Big Sky tournament on Dave's blog.
Please keep it civil. Don't post comments that are obscene, defamatory, threatening, off-topic, an infringement of copyright or an invasion of privacy. Read our forum standards and community guidelines.
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text:
Pictures taken by past participants on the Galway
Summer program or other programs in Ireland.
Location: Galway, Ireland
Dates: June 23 - July 22, 2015
Professors: The group is accompanied by Dr. Eamonn Wall, UMSL Smurfit-Stone Corporation Professor in Irish Studies.
Course: Students choose between the courses below in Irish Studies and earn 6 credit hours of transfer credit. This program is available for undergraduate or graduate credit.
Course Description:
Teaching will be by means of lectures, seminars, dramatic performances, guided tours and informed contact with the music, language and people of Ireland. An interdisciplinary approach will be used within each course and between the courses of the Irish Studies program. Students will have access to library, audio and visual facilities of the University.
Special Notes: Additional Scholarships are available for qualified UMSL students through the Smurfit-Stone Endowed Professorship!
Each student will select two of the following courses:
|Course number & name at Galway
|UMSL equivalent (how it will transfer)
|SS 115 Representing Ireland: Literature and Film
|English 4950 Special Topics
|SS 116 Archaeological Heritage of Ireland
|Anthro 2190 Special Topics
|SS 117 Irish History
|Hist 3000 Special Topics
|SS 120 Gaelic Culture and Literature
|English 3500 Special Studies
|SS 121 Irish Society
|Soc 3000 Sociology elective
|SS 122 Irish Traditional Music & Dance
|Music 4000 Directed Studies
|SS 118 Introduction to Art in Ireland
|Art Hs 3391 Selected Themes in Art History
|SS 119 Creative Writing: Poetry and Fiction
|English 4130 or 4140 Creative Writing
Application Deadline: March 16
Eligibility Requirements for UMSL students: UMSL Study Abroad Eligibility Requirements.This program welcomes undergraduates, graduate students, and life-long learners.
Estimated Costs:
|Program Fee**
|Airfare (approx.)
|Personal Expenses & Meals (approx.)
Program Fee includes • 6 credits tuition at the NUI - Galway • Health Insurance • Accomodations • Course-related excursions
Not Included in the Fees • Roundtrip Airfare • Meals and Personal Expenses • Passport Costs
Important Dates:
Application and Deposit Deadline: March 16
Acceptance Documents Deadline: April 3
Remaining Program Fee Deadline: April 3
Online Orientation Completion: April 3
Mandatory In-Person Orientation: 2-4 pm on a Friday in early April
For Additional Information:
Dr. Eamonn Wall, UMSL SMURFIT-Stone Corportation Professor in Irish Studies (firstname.lastname@example.com 314-516-5589)
Nate Daugherty, Study Abroad Coordinator (email@example.com, 314-516-5229)
NUI-Galway Irish Studies Summer School (http://www.nuigalway.ie/international-summer-school/programmes/irishstudies/)
Scholarships: available through International Studies and Programs for all accepted UMSL full-time degree-seeking students with a 2.75 GPA or above.
Application Process:
Students must submit the following documents to the Study Abroad Office. Forms are available online only.
1. UMSL Study Abroad Application Form
2. Non-refundable*** $100 deposit (due at time of application)
3. Scholarship application and scholarship essay (UMSL students only)
4. Non-UMSL applicants are required to submit a $100 application fee. The application fee is payable by check or money order to 'UMSL'.
5. Non-UMSL students must also submit a letter of recommendation and transcript.
Application and non-refundable deposit are due by March 16.
Mandatory Pre-Departure Orientation:
Faculty-led program participants are required to complete the online study abroad orientation, which covers health and safety topics, culture shock, and much more. Participants may or may not have to attend an in-person orientation; you will be notified by the program coordinator via e-mail regarding the specific requirements for your program. Non-UMSL students residing in the St. Louis area are welcome to attend. Please notify the Study Abroad Office if you will be attending so that we may send you a parking permit and directions, details and location.
Important Information Regarding Fees and Registration:
1. Program fees must be paid by check or money order made out to UMSL and sent or brought to the Study Abroad Office. Credit cards are NOT accepted for program fees. Students receive transfer credit for this program, and thus, are not responsible for UMSL tuition.
** UMSL reserves the right to revise the program fee if there are fluctuations in the exchange rate and departure fees. Participants are responsible for any increase in rates.
***Deposit will be refunded only if you are not selected to participate in the program or the program is cancelled by the university.


text:
Competing circular forms that are kiln-cast into float glass add visual interest to decorative panels.
Curves are no match for this line of rail seating, which can be installed in various shapes.
From bright lights to bright ideas, this week's roundup of products includes seating, luminaires, and technology.
This table by award-winning landscape architecture firm Gustafson Guthrie Nichol encourages socializing in public spaces.
This cast-stone chair withstands tough conditions, but also offers an ergonomic shape.
Inspired by the shape of plant shoots and stems, this flexible bike rack allows users to secure a bicycle at multiple points.
Bluetooth technology allows users to control this outdoor fixture with a mobile device.
A simple and elegant rack that oversee the security of bicycles.
A single lighting source goes a long way in this luminaire.
The latest version of SketchUp Pro is the first CAD product with its own app store, made up of add-on tools.
ARCHITECT offers architecture news, market intelligence, business and technology
solutions, continuing education, building products, and other resources for practicing
Copyright ©
2014 Hanley Wood Media, Inc. All rights reserved.