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‘Re-imagining’ the canon: examining the discourse of contemporary horror film reboots

2014; Routledge; Volume: 12; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/17400309.2014.945884

1740-7923

J. M. S. Tompkins,

Gothic Literature and Media Analysis

This paper examines the latest cycle of horror movie franchise reboots as a form of critical industrial practice. It argues that horror movie reboots such as Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007) should not be regarded as mere cynical attempts to repeat successful formulas but part of a far-reaching industrial strategy to cultivate notions of aesthetic distinction in viewers, specifically by rewarding cultural competencies that correspond to the logic of media brands. Examining the promotional and marketing discourses of Halloween, the paper shows how such reboot discourses reflexively incorporate 'critical' attitudes of canonical literacy, authorship, and subcultural distinction as a way to maintain consumer ties and enhance brand loyalty. In turn, these attempts to fold aspects of film reception back into the production process afford industry insiders (i.e. directors, producers, distributors, marketers) the opportunity to overstate the cultural and historical importance of a franchise, while presenting their subcultural credentials to genre fans. Thus, reboots act as a means of reflexively interrogating media properties so as to mediate and contain knowledge about those properties in accordance with the political economy and brand-valuing strategies of contemporary Hollywood.