As noted in the book, movies have gotten incerasingly violent over time, including the number of violent acts depicted, the number of graphic violent acts depicted, the number of killings depicted, and the number of graphic killings depicted.
The genre of movie that leads the pack is "slasher" films. Here are the body counts for some well-known slasher films.
A new one is coming out -- Scream 4 -- and it promises to feature even more blood and guts.
Now a film scholar has developed a formula to predict the number of killings in slasher film sequels.
Let B be defined as "body count":
B = 2n+12(Z-R)+2c+2S+3
B = Approximate onscreen body count
n = The number of the installment in the series
Z = Zombie factor (i.e., is the film directed by rock-‘n-schlock auteur Rob Zombie? 1 for yes, 0 for no)
R = Is the film part of a reboot? (1 for yes, 0 for no)
c = The number of colons in the title
S = Does the film take place in outer space? (1 for yes, 0 for no)
Using this formula, the author predicts a body count of 11 for Scream 4.
If you see the film, keep count and let me know if it is accurate. I'll save my money for a better film.
How awesome and yet sad is it that we have this formula? Since we discussed the number of violent instances per episode or per movie, I have been paying more attention to what I have watched, and when you are aware of it, the amount of violence is staggering. I have watched episodes of CSI:Miami as well as a few movies(Kiss The Girls and Step Up). While one of the movies is known as a murder mystery and violence is expected, the other is a chick flick. But it still had numerous instances of violence and other deviant behavior. I do not usually watch horror movies so I doubt that I will ever use the formula from this article, but it is definitely believable.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting that violent acts and murder are so regular in movies and tv shows that there is a formula to predict the amount during a movie! It does seem to be an increasing trend with the number of violent acts in movies, for exmaple: Saw and Scream. A lot of people are fascinated with murder and violent attacks, so why wouldn't movies and tv shows continue to add more of this in their shows? It will be neat to see if this formula can accurately predict the number of deaths in movies, and if there is actually 11 in scream 4. Companies want to make money, so if violent acts attracts more people than that's what companies will continue to add into their movies and tv shows.
ReplyDeleteWow, really a formula about deaths in a movie. It has been shown though that violence increases the profit of a movie. Movie producers are out for profit. So how do they make profit, add more blood and guts and killing. I personally cannot stand movies like Saw and Scream. I don't understand why people pay to go watch the same movie over and over again. People are killed and eventually the main actor stays alive and kills the murderer. Its so unrealistic and in reality it never plays out like this. Violence is movies is just going to keep increasing, esp. murder. It a true shame that we as a society like things of this nature.
ReplyDeleteI think is formula thing is comical, especially the rob zombie factor. I love action movies and I just watched the Expendables recently for somewhere around the fifth time. It is a pretty bad movie but very entertaining, like many of the movies I watch. I was wondering about the body count of this movie, it's not a slasher but with this cast, it would have to double any other movie. When I ran a simple google search this website came up.
ReplyDeletehttp://screenrant.com/expendables-body-count-vic-74214/.
All of the actors in it are pretty longstanding action stars. It breaks down all of their movies and their body counts. It actually surprised me who came out on top. In their movie careers, nine guys kill 1,593 people and some of these guys have made movies since that stat was posted.
I just googled the movies with the highest body count and this list came up.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.moviebodycounts.com/Top-Movies.htm
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Kingdom of Heaven
300
Troy
The Last Samurai
All of these movies are fantasy or about fictional wars in History. I was disappointed that none of the top movies were about cops on the edge or slashers.The closest one was Hard Boiled directed by John Woo. Starring Chow Yun Fat. This was in 1992 though, so it's not like it's a novel trend in entertainment.
What does this have to say about our society??? Dating back to the ancient Romans, violence has played a major role in entertainment. The revenue for movies that contains violence is at a all time high. So movie makers are consistently being demanded to put out more gore & blood. So it is to no surprise that there is a formula to figure out how many killings are going to take place during a movie. I have to say, those that find this form of entertainment to be enjoyable, would not care to know, before hand, how many killings take place during a movie, because it takes away from the suspense. So I ask this one question……what purpose does this serve?
ReplyDeleteIt seems like a lot of Hollywood-produced sequels tend to be not as popular as the original or first film, for a variety of reasons. In some cases, an original dating back 50 years didn't have the technology that we do now. Therefore, the picture wasn't as clear, the noise wasn't as loud, and the violence not as "realistic." The importance of social norms at the time also play a large role...obviously the Saw and Scream would have no place in our society thirty years ago, yet the significance of an article like this begs the question of whether we are advancing or merely moving forward with advancements - the difference being we have a lot of tools and technology in our control, but waste them on the aforementioned movies. However, there are definitely people who enjoy watching these types of people, who may be interested and entertained by gory slasher movies...that being said, we all have differences in taste and opinion so as long as there is a market for it, I don't see movies like this going away.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the most awesome things I've seen in a while, I would hate to see how long this guy spent watching all the saw movies attempting to put a number on the amount of people violently murdered. I understand that violence sells and that the rare and extremely deviant nature of murder makes it interesting to the public but some of the movies that I see make it to theaters today make me question the thought process of hollywood producers. I think the zombie factor is hilarious, Rob zombie's movies are so far past grossly violent that I honestly can't imagine someone making more disturbing films. Good job rob, your mom would be proud.
ReplyDeleteI find it funny that a scholar actually took the time to work out a formula that could predict the amount of killings there are in a film. It must have taken him quite a bit of time to watch through all of these films and then develop a formula. I decided to put the formula into action and tested Hatchet 2. According to the formula there should have been 7 deaths in the film but it turns out that there were 11 deaths (12 if you count the killers death) total. I would think that the formula does not work but there are also factors that could affect this such as there only being 2 Hatchet films so far or that the film was advertised as having twice the gore. I would have to say that this formula does not work for all films though.
ReplyDelete