Splatter is a genre of horror that is focused on being as bloody as possible. Splatter is unique because most films in this genre have little social commentary and are usually only aimed to gross out viewers, separating it from other types of horror.
The themes represented in splatter are few and far between, but many films have an overarching feeling of the weakness and vulnerability of the human body. The only consistent storyline or narrative throughout all these movies is an excessive amount of blood, characterizing the splatter genre as a genre without order.
Splatter enthusiasts often say that, aside from just enjoying the theatrical special effects, seeing a character go through something so brutal can be a unique and humbling experience that makes their problems look small by comparison.
Production Techniques
Films in this genre have a few notable techniques used, but their most well known is their very excessive special effects. While CGI is used for touch ups, a surprising amount of the effects shown in the movie are practical. Most of these effects aren't focused on being realistic, but rather aimed at being as gross as possible.
^ Behind the Scenes of Terrifier ^
Additionally, a typical splatter movie will feature jump scares using stings and sudden jumps, quick cuts to create unease and terror in the watcher, and excessive Foley and sound effects layered over the gory scenes. When there is a killing scene, squishy or wet noises are present to gross out the audience further and emphasize what is happening. The audio effects also help to scare the viewer further even if they are covering their eyes.
Institutional Conventions (Marketing)
Being as extreme as it is, the splatter genre is mainly marketed to aficionados of the genre. However, a lot of their actual audience is teenagers or young people going in blind to see if they can handle it.
A big theme within the splatter genre recently is having a recognizable killer. Many splatter films are also slasher films, meaning that they feature an iconic serial killer character (ex. Terrifier, Texas Chainsaw Massacre.) The use of a character that people will recognize instantly builds notoriety within the fanbase and makes sequels easy to produce.
One of the most important things that helps splatter films stay relevant is the sense of bravery that watchers get by seeing it in theaters. Many promoters for the movies will have people saying it was the scariest or grossest movie they've ever watched. Horror influencers, who build their following by watching the most notorious movies and talking about them, will want to see what the publicity is about. Additionally, advertisers will invite these influencers to the preview and pay them to post about how scary the movie was to drive more people to the theater.
The biggest thing for these movies is the notoriety of specific scenes in the movie. The Saw franchise's iconic traps popularized horror enthusiasts discussing the scariest clips from a new horror movie, and a fan will instantly know what you are talking about if you mention the "angel trap" or the "car trap". Marketers for splatter films are starting to take notice. For example, in promotion for Evil Dead Rise, promoters would post clips of them shocked with captions like "Me after seeing the cheese grater scene" to make the audience curious and want to know what happens.
Samples:
DAWN OF THE DEAD
Dawn of the Dead is a cult classic zombie movie that many would hesitate to associate in the genre since it has considerable social commentary that other splatter movies do not. However, the director, George Romero, coined the term himself to refer to his film, and plenty of films with commentary such as "Cannibal Holocaust" are undoubtedly placed in the genre.
In its initial release, the movie was given an NC-17 rating (known as X at the time), so many movies refused to show it. This forced Romero to publish it without a rating and rent out theaters past midnight to show the movie. It’s initial rating, plus the fact that it was marketed as “the most intensely shocking motion picture experience,” gave it notoriety, a trend that continues today. Suprisingly, the movie gathered a pretty good box office rating. Japanese audiences, which were already familiar with bloody movies, supported the movie greatly.
Since CGI was still in its early stages, everything was a practical effect. Hundreds of background actors were painted gray to play the zombies, and a head cast of one of the actors was filled with food scraps and shot with a shotgun to simulate his head exploding. It also was an early example of the exaggerated gore seen in these films since the blood used for special effects was bright red, which Romero said enhanced the “comic book feel” of the movie.
^ Dawn of the Dead "Head Explosion" Scene, created with practical effects ^
TERRIFIER SERIES
The Terrifier series is a textbook example of the marketing techniques mentioned. Not only does it use a recognizable killer in the form of Art the Clown, but a popular advertisement for the films posted on their social media was a clip of the premiere's reactions to seeing a specific scene. Watchers were shown covering their mouths as the scene played offscreen, the sound of the clip playing in the background. A popular tactic to market Terrifier 2 was showing how many people in the theater walked out, threw up, or even fainted when watching specific scenes.
^ Reactions outside the theater showing of Terrifier ^
The sounds and effects in the series also blur the lines between exaggerated and realistic. Again in Terrifier 2, the infamous "Bedroom killing" in the movie was done almost entirely with a puppet and other practical effects. Damien Leone, the producer, stated "I had latex gloves in her chest that people could breathe into to make it look like her chest is inflating," and "98% of the movie is practical," showing the lengths he went to to make the scene feel real without a lot of CGI.
All in all, the splatter genre is mainly genre without morals or messages. It is characterized by a lack of order and is focused almost entirely on grossing out the audience. While it sounds extremely violent and a genre like this is absolutely controversial and not exempt to criticism, many of the fans of splatter films are simply people who enjoy the special effects shown and the unique sense of weakness felt when witnessing them.
