Tag: Advocates

Halloween (Devil’s Advocates)


Free Download Murray Leeder, "Halloween (Devil’s Advocates)"
English | 2015 | pages: 113 | ISBN: 1906733791 | PDF | 1,2 mb
The 1970s represented an unusually productive and innovative period for the horror film, and John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) is the film that capped that golden age – and some say ruined it, by ushering in the era of the slasher film. Considered a paradigm of low-budget ingenuity, its story of a seemingly unremarkable middle-American town becoming the site of violence on October 31 struck a chord within audiences. The film became a surprise hit that gave rise to a lucrative franchise, and it remains a perennial favourite. Much of its success stems from the simple but strong constructions of its three central characters: brainy, introverted teenager Laurie Strode, a late bloomer compared to her more outgoing friends, Dr. Loomis, the driven, obsessive psychiatrist, and Michael Myers, the inexplicable, ghostlike masked killer.

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Carrie (Devils Advocates)


Free Download Neil Mitchell, "Carrie (Devils Advocates)"
English | 2014 | pages: 112 | ISBN: 1906733724 | EPUB | 1,6 mb
Brian De Palma’s adaptation of Stephen King’s debut novel, Carrie (1976), is one of the defining films of 1970s "New Hollywood" style and a horror classic. The story of a teenage social outcast who discovers she possesses latent psychic powers that allow her to deliver retribution to her peers, teachers, and abusive mother, Carrie was an enormous commercial and critical success and is still one of the finest screen adaptations of a King novel. This contribution to the Devil’s Advocates series not only breaks the film down into its formal componenets-its themes, stylistic tropes, technical approaches, uses of color and sound, dialogue, and visual symbolism-but also considers a multitude of other factors contributing to the work’s classic status. The act of adapting King’s novel for the big screen, the origins of the novel itself, the place of Carrie in De Palma’s oeuvre, the subsequent versions and sequel, and the social, political, and cultural climate of the era (including the influence of second wave feminism, loosening sexual norms, and changing representations of adolescence), as well as the explosion of interest in and the evolution of the horror genre during the decade, are all shown to have played an important part in the film’s success and enduring reputation.

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The Descent (Devils Advocates)


Free Download James Marriott, "The Descent (Devils Advocates)"
English | 2013 | pages: 119 | ISBN: 1906733716 | PDF | 1,0 mb
The story of an all-female caving expedition gone horribly wrong, The Descent (2005) is arguably the best of the mid-2000s horror entries to return verve and intensity to the genre. Unlike its peers (Saw [2004], Hostel [2011], etc.), The Descent was both commercially and critically popular, providing a genuine version of what other films could only produce as pastiche. For Mark Kermode, writing in the Observer, it was "one of the best British horror films of recent years," and Derek Elley in Variety described it as "an object lesson in making a tightly-budgeted, no-star horror pic." Time Out’s critic praised "this fiercely entertaining British horror movie;" while Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers warned prospective viewers to "prepare to be scared senseless." Emphasizing female characters and camaraderie, The Descent is an ideal springboard for discussing underexplored horror themes: the genre’s engagement with the lure of the archaic; the idea of birth as the foundational human

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SAW (Devils Advocates)


Free Download Ben Poole, "SAW (Devils Advocates)"
English | 2011 | pages: 119 | ISBN: 1906733562 | PDF | 1,6 mb
Like all game changers within the horror genre, SAW was an independent success, a low-budget champion that flourished without the patronage of a big studio. Not bad for the most successful horror franchise ever, which has spawned subsidiary media and masses of merchandise, including a theme park rollercoaster ride. What is it about SAW that attracted such a following? In his contribution to the "Devil’s Advocates" series, Ben Poole considers the SAW phenomenon from all aspects of film and media studies – from its generic pedigree in both literature and film, to the visceral audience pleasures ("what would I do?") of the text, to the contrasting representations of men and women and the film’s implicit criticism of masculinity.

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