SLASHER FILM RULES - Why Rule 1 [The Warning]?

Films have formulas and rules, but how well do films follow those formulas?  Why do the Slasher Film rules exist?

I looked at 10 rules the Slasher Film genre followed, tested 20 films against them and analysed the results, but I never looked at the rules themselves, so let's look at the first Slasher Film rule...

LESBIAN ROMANCE RULES - The Film Rules

Film genres have formulas and rules, but how well do films follow those formulas?  What about Lesbian Romance films, do they follows a strict formula and a set of rules?

Does a niche genre like Lesbian Romance films follow a genre.  They're often low-budget independent films, more likely to be seen in arthouse cinemas and at festivals.  Those sort of films don't have a formula, right?

SLASHER FILM RULES - Night of the Living Dead

The film that inspired The Walking Dead.

1968's seminal Zombie film Night of the Living Dead has a small group in an isolated house trying to survive the night while something it trying to kill them.  Is that enough for it to follow the Slasher Rules?

THE FILM RULES - Overview #1

The Films Rules blog is about looking at the rules that films follow.

ROM COM RULES - The Film Rules

There is a certain sub-genre of romantic comedy chick-flicks contain meet-cutes known as Rom Coms.  These films are highly formulaic and cliched.  Perfect to a Film Rules.

But first, for a guide to living in a Chick Flick check out the now cancelled Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23's Season 2 Halloween episode.

SLASHER FILM RULES - The Film Rules

There list  of rules that you regularly see online:  Horror Film Rules or Slasher Film Rules.  They are rules about films in which a small group are killed off one-by-one and who (if anyone) will survive.  The apply to most Slasher films and a number of other non-Slasher Horror films (especially animal and alien attack films) and even Action and Disaster films.  I've chosen to call them Slasher film rules, but will look at other Horror and non-Horror films from time to time.

These are not intended as survival guide but rather as genre rules to explore.  If you're really just trying to survive a real-life slasher film situation, the following this footage will help you survive (ignore the spelling of "sequel"):

RANDOM RULES - 10 Rules To Tell If A Character is a Supervillain.

See TEN RULES: How To Tell If A Character is a Super Villain part of SUPER VILLAIN ADVICE.

THE FILM RULES - Introduction

Different films and types of films come with rules.

These films create and define genre but they can also make them predictable.  Sometimes it is that predictability that the viewer wants, sometimes following the rules make the film more special when it breaks them.

This blog is designed to test some of the commonly known film rules to see if they are really used in film and conversely to see how closely a variety of films follow the rules of their genre.

A list will be created, through personal observation and viewer consensus (the web, mentions in popular culture, etc).  This list will be blogged.

Then films from the genre will be watched and how they follow the rules analysed.  Eventually, when 10 films have been done how the rules stand up will be looked at.

There will also be the occasional random rule list to keep things bubbling.

• The Slasher Rules.
• The Rom Com Rules.

~ DUG.