Clayton George Wickham - final thesis

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While this chapter has placed focus upon the death sequences of these films,
it should be noted that these films do not solely rely upon the graphic display of
bodily mutilation. The foundation of Dika’s analysis of the genre is the assertion
that these films are constructed around the process of stalking, which is why she has
changed the categorical description to “stalker” for her purposes (13-14). However,
the death sequences are spectacular set pieces that, by their extreme nature, attract
focus and attention, even if they only consist of a fraction of a film’s run time, and
are consistent narrative elements present in all of the films in the series. As these
sequences are designed to draw focus, an analysis of their aesthetics is important to
understand the way these films attract and engage the viewer. In terms of unverified
diegetic sound and editing, these sequences demonstrate a more complex aesthetic
construction of horror which is designed to generate a range of emotional responses.
The consistent development of this method to depict death sequences and its integral
evolution to the overall aesthetic of these films reveals that sound and editing are
significant elements to creating emotional affect within these films, and that they are
useful tools for creating perspective. However, the perspective created in a film is
only one part of the viewing experience of a film. The perspective of the viewer and
how it influences the overall affect of the film is also an important subject for the
understanding of the aesthetics of the Friday the 13 th films.