Jonathan Porter - Final Project

The End of the Production Code:
From the Illusions of Gore to The R-Rated Horror

The images that I have chosen are images that existed around the last years of the production code and the beginning of the MPAA rating system. In this era, a contrast can be seen between the kind of imagery used to depict violence. Films such as Psycho used the illusion of violence to horrify its audiences. In the memorable “Shower Sequence” the audience is never really shown the blade penetrating the victim. In the series of shots, the viewer sees images of the shadowy figure, the knife, the woman screaming, and the woman’s torso, and ‘blood’ (which was actually bosco chocolate syrup) washing down the drain.


This use of a montage sequence was a way of effectively showing the suspense and horror without actually giving the audience uncensored graphic violence. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0054215/) Another perfect example of the illusion of horror is the film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. From this film, I’ve collected a series of shots of the infamous “Dinner Sequence” in which the female victim wakes up, tied to a chair, at a table with the family of serial killers. To magnify the psychological horror of this moment, there are a series of close up images of the woman’s eye.


In these photos, her eyes are widened in fear. These close ups, along with the victim screaming, is a perfect example of the illusion of horror. The film itself isn’t as grotesque as it’s made out to be. The audience doesn’t see what they actually “think” they see in most of the film.

The production code was abandoned in 1967 and was replaced with the MPAA rating system and from that point on the modern horror film went on to become rated R (Cook, 224). With the new ranking, and the appeal of the horror film still going strong, a new and more graphic genre of horror was born. George A. Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead” is a perfect example of the new graphic horror that emerged in the years after the Production Code. The film does not shy away from images of the grotesque man-eating undead as they feast their way through victims. From this movie, the images are of two different zombies and how they were destroyed. The first is a gruesome, over the top, head explosion.


In this shot, the head of the zombie literally explodes into pieces, in a macabre of blood and guts. The other shot is a zombie taking a machete to the head.


In films before this time, the way that this character being killed would probably have been much different. It is more likely that the machete would have been seeing striking down upon the head, but the camera would then cut away. In this sequence though, the blade is already placed deep into the zombies head, a truly disturbing example of the 70s exploitation of violence. (Cook, 230).

The MPAA rating system still lives on strong today, only minor changes have been made over the years of what letters are used to describe the level of restricted content; specifically, the NC-17 rating replaced the X rating on films that were deemed overtly sexual (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_code). Horror fans of today still get their fare share of the violence and scares that they so desperately long for as well. The horror genre has seen a
renaissance in recent years with new gore films always trying to top the next. The “Zombie” genre of horror films has been on the rise as well with films like 2002's “28 Days Later” and 2004's remake of the Romero zombie film, “Dawn of the Dead.” (http://imdb.com/title/tt0077402/)


Bibliography

Cook, A. David. Lost Illusions. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 2000.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_code (Production Code)

http://imdb.com/title/tt0054215/ (Psycho)

http://imdb.com/title/tt0077402/ (Dawn of the Dead)