Clayton George Wickham - final thesis

34
In the tradition of such horror pix as Halloween and Friday the 13th, this
portrays the gruesome extermination of a group of charmless adolescents
by a bogey man. This time it's a hulk of burnt flesh wielding garden
shears and terrorising a summer camp; and true to cycle, it's the teenage
girls who are the chief victims of both the murderer's savage cuts and the
camera's leering gaze. Presented as provocative teasers, they're
despatched while the mini-machos laugh, lust, bully, build rafts and,
finally become heroes. Suspensewise, it's proficient enough, but
familiarity with this sort of stuff can breed contempt.
(http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/68628/the-burning.html; accessed
29-01-2010)
While the promotional material edits the original review, the chosen quote still
references the gaze of the camera, despite the original’s negative angle. The most
revelatory element of the original quote is the implication of the entire genre’s tie to
the eye/camera. The reason that I place this quote in relation to the VHS cover and
not the article itself is to identify the acceptance of this voyeuristic claim even within
the film community. After so much critical reference to the eye/camera as a source
sadistic pleasure via voyeurism, distributors have moved to using this element to
promote the films they sell, due to the profitability of titillation. Arguments against
the exploitation of sexuality aside, the distributor has recognized consumer demand
for titillation, thereby catering to the market.
Clover, in an attempt to reconcile the negative critical stance with positive
viewer reception, approaches the use of the eye/camera from a seemingly negative
standpoint initially, but through the course of her argument, explains that this