ACTIVIST HORROR FILM: THE GENRE AS TOOL FOR CHANGE June 11 / 14:00 CEST Presentation by Dr Johnny Walker It is increasingly common for scholars and journalists to make claims of horror cinema’s potential to engage with socio-political realities and, in so doing, identify grave social injustices. This presentation argues that, if one is to [...]

THE METAMODERN SLASHER FILM June 10 / 14:00 CEST Presentation by Dr Steve Jones The slasher – also known as the 'stalk and slash' or 'slice and dice' movie – is a staple horror subgenre. The slasher film has developed through different phases since the late 1970s, including the period of supernatural slashers and sequels [...]

THE DEAD CAN DANCE: CINEMATIC GHOSTS OF POST-PUNK MELBOURNE June 9 / 14:00 CEST Presentation by Dr Alexia Kannas The Melbourne post-punk scene of the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s has developed an international reputation as an important and vital moment, yet it is curiously absent from many "official" cultural histories produced in Australia. Initiating the [...]

GHOSTS IN THE (VCR) MACHINE: VIDEO, THE HORROR GENRE, AND DEAD MEDIA June 8 / 14:00 CEST Presentation by Dr Shellie McMurdo and Dr Laura Mee The horror genre and video culture have long been intertwined. In contemporary horror media however, video is utilised in various ways: as an object of nostalgia to be collected, [...]