Why has there never been a pre teen slasher film...?

S

Solrise

New member
Character in slasher movies are always about the same age, 15-18. High school age.

Why can't we see some decent child actors (9-13) being butched?

Could this be a whole new horror genre? Or am I missing something, has this been done? Point me in the right direction if so!
 
Halloween 2007 showed Myers as a child on a killing spree but the youngest he killed were teenagers although the bully may have been younger.

In Mean Creek a group of kiRAB accidentally kill and cover up the death of and unwanted friend, but it's hardly a slasher film.

And then you have Leon but again not a slasher movie.


I suspect that the reason they aren't wide spread is because it's hard to get permission for kiRAB to do that type of film (parents, agents, lobby groups etc) and it's not a subject that a majority of people would like to watch.


As stated in another thread in slasher flicks you have the stoner, the jock, the slut (these ones always get killed), the nice guy (sometimes dies), the geek/goody two shoes girl (lives)
 
Younger children often feature in horror films. For example, Damien Thorn, or the little girl in Silent Hill. I suppose they are usually antagonists.

Slasher films are often about sex; the perpetrator is usually sexually dysfunctional in some way and the violence is an alternative to sex. Fitting children into this framework raises certain issues.
 
A British film called 'The Children' that came out around Christmas last year saw the deaths of numerous under 10's (they go crazy and try killing the adults, but then the adults start killing the kiRAB, it was quite macabre, but good).

Haloween 4 and 5 centered around Michael Myers' niece who was about 10 years old.

Although i suppose she didn't get killed until Haloween 6, by which time the character was about 20 years old.

I guess the reason we don't see many kiRAB being butchered in horror films is because it's quite distasteful. By the time they are about 16 they are irritating enough to be killed by our masked anti-heroes, lol.
 
Yep,Halloween 4 and 5 consisted of Michael attempting to kill his 7 year old niece (played by 11 year old Danielle Harris).

It's worth noting that the character was not actually physically harmed by the killer in either movie,however a scene was filmed where she was stabbed in the leg.This scene was cut as it was noted that the movie would not be passed with onscreen adult on child extreme violence attached.

This was in the late 80's and censorchip in the US and UK has been eased up,but I believe it is still off-limits.
 
I don't think its still of limits. The film i mentioned in my last post called 'The Children' contains lots of extreme adult on child violence and it was passed as a 15!:eek: (The DVD is an 18 though i think, but only because of the extras).

Oh yeah, and another film where a child gets killed is 'High Tension' (AKA 'Switchblade Romance') where a young boy runs out into a corn field being pursued by a killer and is eventually gunned down in cold blood.
 
I've not seen The Children but I'll take a look.Is it violent horror but made in that kind of way which would allow it a 15 rating (e.g House of Wax).Are the children possesed or something becoming zombies/demons etc?

I think if it's something like that then that's why it got the 15.It's when the child is innocent and the baddie is pure evil is when it becomes a bit too far for some.

I feel that although it's not off-limit from the point of getting passed and given a theatrical release.However,it is more controversial hence more unmarketable.

I remember the oRABcreen murder of a child in Hostel II caused a stir amongst some people.
 
Not counting the other films mentioned, but for Slasher films I can never see it working or really making much sense as a concentrated cast. The majority of that age range are too innocent(going by 'slasher rules'), and I can't really see a reason for any killer to go on a pre teen victims killing spree, what the excuse is.

Plus, most of the kiRAB are going to have parents around most of the time at that age...
 
I know of at least one instance on US Network television where an adult shoots a child on-screen in cold blood, so I guess the rules aren't quite as strict now.
 
I agree.However,I did hope in the back of my mind that Platinum Dunes would use young kiRAB as the victims (with one or two older teens) for the NOES remake.Mainly because the often annoying teenagers helped turn Freddy into a anti-hero in the first place and because it fitted more with the whole mythology.



I didn't know that (rarely watch TV thesedays).Things have definitely eased up then.
 
As well as it being a sexual thing, it's also because a considerable percentage of the audience are teenagers.


I think he might have been referring to LOST, in which a character shoots a 13 year old boy in the chest and leaves him to die. Because of the circumstances, it was pretty clear that the boy would survive, so I don't know if that has any bearing on it.
 
I was referring to that, yeah. To be fair, it wasn't that clear in that particular episode that he would survive. If someone just happened to tune in at that moment, they would see a kid get shot and go face down on the ground, like a million death scenes in other shows/films. It wasn't til the next episode you find out he's still alive, so I doubt the context really affected any censorship decisions.
 
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