A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe. Although the term "slasher" may be used as a generic term for any horror movie involving graphic acts of murder, the slasher as a genre has its own set of characteristics which set it apart from related genres like the splatter film.

Development[link]

Origins and influences[link]

Forerunners[link]

Possibly the earliest film that could be called a slasher, Thirteen Women (1932) tells the story of an old college sorority whose former members are set against one another by a vengeful peer, seeking penance for the prejudice they bestowed on her because of her mixed race heritage. Another film important to the sub-genre is Michael Powell's Peeping Tom (1960). The film's plot centers around a man who kills women while using a portable movie camera to record their dying expressions. The film was immensely controversial when first released; critics called it misogynistic (as would critics condemn the slasher films during its golden age).^{[citation needed]} Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), released three months after Peeping Tom, is described as 'the mother of all slasher films'^{[citation needed]}. Even though the villain's body count is only two, the film's "whodunit" plot structure, knife wielding and mentally disturbed killer, twist ending, and 'stalking' camera technique anticipates the gorier films of the 1980s. However, the famous shower sequence has, in itself, become a classic of horror cinema, and the film itself hailed by contemporary critics as a modern masterpiece. Another early pioneer of the sub-genre is director Francis Ford Coppola's controversial 1963 film Dementia 13, which was rushed into production following Psycho's success at the box office.

The "splatter film"[link]

The self-proclaimed "guru of gore, Herschell Gordon Lewis," invented the splatter film in 1963 with the release of Blood Feast. Blood Feast was made quickly and cheaply but differed from its genre contemporaries in that it featured the stalking and mutilation of beautiful women. Lewis went on to use this successful formula to make movies such as 2000 Maniacs, Color Me Blood Red and The Gruesome Twosome.

The Italian "giallo"[link]

Another influence for the slasher sub-genre was the Italian Giallo genre. This film genre was made up of films done by various Italian directors, most notably Dario Argento and Mario Bava. These films were known for extended, graphic murder sequences and bizarre storylines. Probably the most notable are Bava's Blood and Black Lace (1964) and Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971). Several critics have noted that the films had a profound impact on the development of the slasher film sub-genre.^[1] Writing in 2000, Tim Lucas wrote that Bava is “the acknowledged smoking gun behind the ‘body count’ movie phenomenon of the 1980s, which continues to dominate the horror genre two decades later with such films as Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and their respective sequels.”^[2] According to Gary Johnson, “Twitch of the Death Nerve is one of the most imitated movies of the past 30 years. It helped kick start the slasher genre….[Bava’s] influence still resonates today (although somewhat dully) in movies such as I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream, and Urban Legend.”.^[3] Johnson also states of Blood and Black Lace that "Equipped with his colored gels and his predatory camera, Bava arguably created the slasher subgenre and kicked down the door for subsequent directors to stick in their cinematic blades as well, for better or worse. Hitchcock toyed with us, Powell showed us but kept his emotional distance, but Bava passionately reveled in the shock of it all. Camera as weapon; the masked killer as cipher upon whom the audience was almost gleefully invited to imprint their darkest animosities. "^[4] The 1992 movie Knight Moves has been described online as a Western Giallo, with considerable elements to the genre used in this motion picture.^[5]

The "exploitation film"[link]

The 1970s were arguably the Golden Age for exploitation films, which tended to be low budget affairs and specialize in suggestive or explicit sex, sensational violence, drug use, nudity, freaks, gore, the bizarre, destruction, rebellion, and mayhem. While such films have existed since the earliest days of moviemaking, they were popularized in the 1960s with the general relaxing of cinematic taboos in the United States and Europe. Additionally, low budget filmmakers used sensational elements to attract audiences away from television.

Important to the development of the slasher sub-genre were rape and revenge films, notably, Wes Craven's film Last House on the Left (1972), one of the first of its kind.^[6] The 1970s saw a number of new filmmakers such as Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper, John Carpenter and others making names for themselves in the horror genre. Many of these directors were young, but would soon be considered important to the horror genre.^[7][8][9] Slasher films are often considered exploitation films because of their use of their often low budgets, nudity, gore and shock techniques.^[10]

Early slashers[link]

Black Christmas (1974) is widely considered the first proper slasher film. Directed by Bob Clark (later the director of A Christmas Story) Black Christmas was noted as one of the earliest films to present some of the sub-genre's characteristics that the slasher film would come to be known for: a mysterious stalker, a set of adolescent or young adult victims, a secluded location with little or no adult supervision, point-of-view camera shots representing the "killer's perspective," and graphic depictions of violence and murder.^[11] The film was remade in 2006 by Dimension Films. Other films that helped to kick-start the slasher genre were Savage Weekend, Scream Bloody Murder, Silent Night, Bloody Night, The Toolbox Murders, Drive-In Massacre, The Driller Killer, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

It was not until the huge box office success of John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) and Sean S. Cunningham's Friday the 13th (1980), both of which spawned numerous sequels and remakes and countless imitators, that the slasher genre began to gain widespread popularity.

Halloween, though not the first film of its kind, was the first with a masked killing machine, and also the first film to introduce the concept of the killer being a seemingly indestructible evil force. Through its success, Halloween is often considered the film responsible for the proliferation of the slasher trend, popularizing many of what later became key elements in the genre. A long succession of slasher films were produced, though Halloween actually has far less graphic violence than the later films that defined the slasher genre.^[12][13][14] Friday the 13th was the first to couple this type of murderer character with the sequential murder countdown, which had been seen earlier in 1945's And Then There Were None, which was based on Agatha Christie's famous 1939 murder mystery novel of the same name.

The "Slasher" film in its prime[link]

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Following a trend set by Black Christmas, Halloween, and Friday the 13th (as well as To All a Good Night, a slasher film with a Christmas setting released in January 1980 and preceding Friday the 13th by four months), many films of the era used special days or holidays as a motif. Four titles released the same year as Friday the 13th were: New Year's Evil, Prom Night, Christmas Evil, and Mother's Day; and 1981 saw the release of My Bloody Valentine, Happy Birthday to Me, and Graduation Day. 1982's Humongous, opened with a Labor Day weekend setting. Silent Night, Deadly Night, released in 1984, was the fourth film of this type to use a Christmas setting, and toward the end of the cycle, a twist on the genre was seen in 1986's April Fool's Day. 1987's Blood Rage used a Thanksgiving weekend setting.

A few films picked up Friday the 13th's "youth camp in the woods" setting, like The Burning (1981); Madman (1982); Sleepaway Camp (1983); and Cheerleader Camp (1988). Other films highlighted highschool or college settings: Terror Train (1980), Hell Night, Final Exam, Night School, the serio-comic Student Bodies (all 1981); The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982); The House on Sorority Row (1983); The Initiation, Splatter University and Girls Nite Out (all 1984); and Slaughter High (1986). The "hospital" setting was used at least three times in 1982 with Visiting Hours, Alone in the Dark, and Hospital Massacre.

Other lesser known films during the genre's heyday include He Knows You're Alone (1980); The Funhouse, Just Before Dawn, Bloody Moon, and Nightmare (all 1981); Blood Song (1982); and Mortuary (1983). Later entries include The Mutilator (1985); Mountaintop Motel Massacre (1986); Stage Fright (1987); and Intruder (1989). Obscure entries are Night Warning (1982); and Curtains and Death Screams (both 1983).

Despite a strict formula developing within the genre, audience interest was maintained by developing new, increasingly "novel" ways for victims to be killed, as well as increasingly graphic and realistic special effects. Some series, such as 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street and later 1988's Child's Play, added supernatural twists to the slasher formula, as well as added comedic elements as the respective series progressed.

Earlier films, such as Psycho (1960) and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), were also revived and given a series of increasingly gory sequels in attempts to compete with other franchises. The genre arguably peaked in 1983, a year in which, according to the book Crystal Lake Memories, nearly 60% of all box-office takings were for slasher movies. Even feminists took a satirical stab at the sub-genre with Slumber Party Massacre (1982).

The slasher villain as anti-hero[link]

The larger part of slasher villains are portrayed as mentally deranged and/or physically deformed individuals who were traumatized, in many instances at an early age. Long-running franchises in the genre tended to focus more and more on the returning villain than on surviving victims, effectively transforming characters once viewed as sick psychopaths into sympathetic antiheroes for some. Notables include: Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Leatherface, Chucky, Pinhead, Ghostface, Candyman, Victor Crowley, The Fisherman, brother and sister Billy and Agnes Lens and Norman Bates, all of whom have become some of the more recognizable 20th century American pop culture horror symbols.

Decline and direct-to-video[link]

The profitability of the slasher genre began to dwindle, and controversy over the subject matter would eventually persuade some studios to stop producing and distributing slasher films. Sequels to the most popular slasher series, as well as new series such as Leprechaun, would continue to be released in theaters or direct-to-video throughout the early to mid-1990s. However, few gained the success of the genre's earlier productions, and even entries in the established Halloween, Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street sagas became less frequent.

Influence outside The United States[link]

Notable non-US slashers are Cut from Australia, Gutterballs from Canada, Anatomy from Germany and the French titles Haute Tension, directed by Alexandre Aja, who would go on to direct an American remake of The Hills Have Eyes, Them and, more recently, Inside.

The so-called New French Extremity--a European film movement with which Alexandre Aja has been associated--has been noted to rework elements of the slasher genre.

Defining the sub-genre[link]

The definition of a slasher film varies depending on who you ask, but in general, it contains several specific traits that feed into the genre's formula.

Slasher films can be split into two distinct sub-types: one type in which the killer's identity is known from the outset and he is shown overtly (albeit sometimes in a mask), and one in which the killer's identity is not known and which employ a whodunnit angle, often with a twist at the end.

There is substantial critical debate as to how to define the slasher sub-genre and what films are and are not slashers. For instance, Vera Dika rather strictly defines the sub-genre in her book Games of Terror only including films made between 1978 and 1984^[15] whereas Carol Clover in her book Men, Women, and Chainsaws has a looser definition, including films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and its sequels.^[16] In Peter Hutchings book The Horror Film he considers the films following the success of Halloween critically different than films prior (such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre).^[17]

Dika attempts to define the sub-genre by its often formulaic plot structure. She theorizes that slasher films loosely adhere to the following formula:

Past event

1. The young community is guilty of a wrongful action.
2. The killer sees an injury, fault or death.
3. The killer experiences a loss.
4. The killer kills the guilty members of the young community

Present events

1. An event commemorates the past action.
2. The killer's destructive force is reactivated.
3. The killer reidentifies the guilty parties.
4. A member of the old community tries to warn the young community (optional).
5. The young community takes no heed.
6. The killer stalks members of the young community.
7. A member of some type of force like a detective etc., attempts to hunt down the killer.
8. The killer kills members of the young community.
9. The hero/heroine sees the extent of the murders.
10. The hero/heroine sees the killer.
11. The hero/heroine does battle with the killer.
12. The hero/heroine kills or subdues the killer.
13. The hero/heroine survives.
14. But the hero/heroine is not free.^[18]

She further goes on to attempt to define the sub-genre's appeal to its audience as being threefold:

• Catharsis—Through a release of fears about bodily injury or from political or social tensions of the day.
• Recreation—An intense, thrill seeking, physical experience akin to a roller coaster ride.
• Displacement—Audiences sexual desires are displaced onto the characters in the film.^[18]

Other common characteristics include:

• The Hero—The hero is the protagonist. The main character is usually a female (sometimes male in other slasher films) and the most quiet, possibly nervous one. Whenever one their friends goes missing (i.e. killed), they are the first to notice it. The main character are usually not using any illegal material, they don't have sex (rarely), and do not exhibit rebellious behavior, unlike their friends. The hero is usually aware of the killer, while the friends are too busy having fun. In the middle of the movie, when maybe 3 or 4 friends are killed, the hero and the other survivors fight the killer. Their last 2 or 3 remaining friends, are usually killed near the end of the film. While the hero, triumphs the killer and is saved by the police/help/adults. Not all slasher films let the main character win. In the movie Bereavement, the protagonist Allison, is killed violently by an 11 year old child named Martin, who stabs her in the stomach repeatedly. Also, in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, the protagonist Chrissy is killed by Leatherface at the end of the film when she does manage to escape but with him hiding in the back seat.

• The Killer—With notable exceptions, the killer in the slasher film is usually male. His identity is often, but not always, unknown and/or concealed either by a mask or by creative lighting and camera work. He is often mute and seemingly unstoppable, able to withstand stabbings, falls and shootings by his victims. He is usually very strong and sometimes very big, making it almost impossible to kill him. His background sometimes includes a childhood trauma that explains his choice of victim, weapon and location (the killer can be made out to be pitiable or understood). Slasher villains tend to prefer hand held weapons such as knives, axes, machetes, and/or chainsaws as opposed to firearms. Throughout most of the franchises, the killer is constant. Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees are notable examples of this type. Rarely the killer is a woman. A notable example is 1980's Friday the 13th where Jason's mother, Mrs.Voorhees was the original killer.

• The Victims—The victims tend to be young, attractive, high school or college-aged adolescents. Much has been made about the choice of victims. Some theorists claim that they [young people] are punished for indulging in vices such as pre-marital sex or illegal drugs. Other theorists claim that is simply a matter of the activities making the victims unaware of their surroundings, making them easy prey for the killer. The violence often takes place during or after sexual activity.According to Barry Sapolski, It has been argued that through a process of classical conditioning slasher films have a desensitizing effect. Exposure to scenes of explicit violence juxtaposed with sexual images is believed to blunt males' emotional reactions to film violence and lead males to be less disturbed by scenes of extreme violence and degradation directed at women.^[19]

• The First Victim—Often a minority. In later films, the minority victim is actually turned into a Sisyphean figure who is aware of his tragic fate, expecting to die early in the movie.

• The Location—Many slasher films are set in isolated locations such as on islands, deep in forests, small towns, abandoned buildings and farms. The killer may have a connection to their chosen location, such as from a tragic event or just live/frequently visit. The locations are generally low in population, sometimes with very few to no inhabitants and are far away from civilization, which can present a problem for the police and other emergency services to arrive quickly if requested by the victims. However mobile phone reception may be too weak to make a phone call, and the killer can isolate his victims further by cutting the phone or electrical lines, disabling communication devices (short wave radio) and destroying their means of escape such as their vehicles which makes escape near impossible. This can allow the killer to freely kill his victims without the need to worry about interference from the outside world.

• Final Girl—Slasher films frequently only have a single survivor. She is frequently a female peer of the victims but is cinematically developed in comparison to his or her cohorts. She usually does not indulge in the illicit activities of her friends.

• The Adults—Many slasher films have adults that are unaware that the youths are being attacked by a killer. Usually after the final girl calls the police or parents, either the phone is dead or they never make it in time. In some slasher films, the adults are sometimes attacked/killed by the killer themselves and the group of friends have no help at all. In many slasher films, the parents are usually away for some vacation or work or something that involves leaving the teenagers by themselves. When somebody calls the police, they frequently thinks it's a prank until they see the killer for themselves.

• The Violence—One thing that separates slashers from thrillers and murder mysteries is the level of violence. Slashers de-emphasize plot and character development in favor of violence and terror. Plots are constructed around giving the audience the experience of watching the killer murders. The deaths are often violent and graphic, with originality being valued in the later films to hold audience interest.

Controversy and critical analysis[link]

Censorship advocates[link]

The slasher genre is known for its extreme graphic violence and adult content which has frequently come under fire from censorship advocates, particularly from Christian and Family Friendly groups. Christian campaigner Mary Whitehouse, had once led a crusade against video nasties.

Critics[link]

Films such as Scream were warmly received because of their self-aware, parodic take on the sub-genre. Roger Ebert coined the derogatory nickname "Dead Teenager Movies", although he did write a highly favorable review of the original Halloween. This was not the first time he had attacked the genre or coined a term for it, originally during the 80s, he and the late Gene Siskel had a special about the term they used back then "Women in danger" films, where they said how the genre was degrading to women as it would show them at the mercy of a strong brutish man.

Academia[link]

Three often-cited content analyses were performed by Cowan and O'Brien (1990),^[20] Weaver (1991)^[21] and Molitor and Sapolsky (1993).^[22] These analyses sought to verify or refute assumptions made about the sub-genre.

Feminism[link]

Feminists have criticised the sub-genre. These include: Vera Dika's Games Of Terror tended to the genre's formula and its treatment of female victims, Carol J. Clover defined the Final Girl in her book Men, Women and Chain Saws, Cristal Isabel Pinedo's Recreational Terror considered female spectatorship.

The TV writer and producer Liz Friedman graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in sociology and her thesis was entitled "A Feminist and Class-based Analysis of Slasher Films".^[23][24]

Revival and remakes[link]

[edit] Scream and the New Film Cycle

In the 1990s, the horror genre was almost dead. Audiences and critics were getting very tired of the same, typical teen slasher films. The slasher genre resurfaced into the mainstream in the mid 1990s, after being deconstructed in Wes Craven's Scream (1996), which was a parody of Halloween which had a similar effect on the movie industry. The film was both a critical and commercial success, which attracted a new generation to the genre. A self-aware satire of the slasher genre, whereby the characters realize they were in a horror film and did not make all the usual "mistakes" (i.e. saying "I'll be right back"). Critics lauded Scream for its clever storyline and three-dimensional characters, with more of a focus on suspense than gore. The script carried its own learned analysis of slasher films, and was directed by Wes Craven, a popular maestro of the genre who also created such classics as Last House on the Left and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Followed by three successful sequels, all starring Neve Campbell as main character Sidney Prescott, an attractive, intelligent and resourceful young woman whose characterization both mocks and typifies the Final Girl stereotype. To date, it is the most commercially successful film series in the genre, earning a combined total of over $330 million in the US, and over $600 million worldwide. Scream 4 was released in April 2011.^[25] The film received mixed reviews; however, Kevin Sommerfield of Slasher Studios called it "bloody, fun, and very entertaining."^[26]

Scream kicked off a new slasher cycle that still followed the basic conventions of the 1980s films, but managed to draw in a more demographically varied audience with improved production values, reduced levels of on-screen gore, increased self-referential humor, more character development, and better-known actors and actresses (often from popular television shows).^{[citation needed]} This trend continued for the duration of the 1990s with films such as a nearly shot-for-shot remake of Psycho, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend, Final Destination, Valentine, Cherry Falls and Jason X.

Chucky of the Child's Play series also returned to the screen, first in Bride of Chucky and later with Seed of Chucky. In 2003, two of the largest slasher series, Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th, were combined by New Line Cinema in the film Freddy vs. Jason.^[27]

Modern day slashers[link]

Most modern day slashers are sequels or remakes of franchised slasher films, which generally contain more blood, gore and computer generated effects. Recent slasher examples are Hatchet and its sequel, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, The Pumpkin Karver, Hellbent, Slash, Holla, MTV's My Super Psycho Sweet 16, Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet, Grizzly Park, April Fools, The Legend Of Bloody Jack, Trick 'r Treat, "Killer Movie" and many more.

The Splat Pack[link]

Many new directors paying homage to their old favorites have come into the light such as Rob Zombie with his films House of 1000 Corpses (2003) and The Devil's Rejects (2005). Another new director popular for paying homage is Eli Roth, with his film Cabin Fever (2002). Adam Green and Ryan Nicholson, both relatively young aspiring filmmakers, are notable for directing Hatchet and Gutterballs respectively, billing them as throwbacks, or "love letters", to 1980s slasher films.

In 2006, Roth's second feature film, Hostel was released following the success of Saw. Following its success at the box office, many major distributors began churning out similarly-themed gruesome horror films. This trend became known as torture porn. While so-called torture porn's popularity has subsided, films of this nature continue to be made with the release of such films as Turistas and Captivity.

Remake and reboot[link]

In 1998, the Halloween series was revived, playing off the success of the Scream franchise. The new film, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, was conceived as a direct sequel to 1981's Halloween II, and would lead to one further sequel, Halloween: Resurrection.

Another revival came in 2003 when a remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning popularized the prequel. The success of theTCM remake would soon lead to a slew of other slasher remakes, including Toolbox Murders, House Of Wax, Black Christmas, the "reimagining" of John Carpenter's Halloween, Prom Night, My Bloody Valentine 3D, Friday the 13th reboot, Sorority Row and A Nightmare on Elm Street. A remake of Child's Play and Hellraiser are also in development.

The Scream series - which created the self aware characters stalked by killers making their own horror movie, sequel and trilogy - was relaunched in 2011 with Scream 4 featuring a killer recreating the Woodsboro murders, therefore remaking the original film. The film itself is not a reboot, though, featuring the surviving characters and acting as a sequel.

See also[link]

• Final girl
• German underground horror
• List of horror movie serial killers

References[link]

Josh Hutcherson
Hutcherson at the Sydney premiere of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island in 2012.
Born	Joshua Ryan Hutcherson (1992-10-12) October 12, 1992 (age 19) Union, Kentucky, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2002–present
Website
www.joshhutcherson.com

Joshua Ryan "Josh" Hutcherson^[1] (born October 12, 1992) is an American film and television actor. He began working in the early 2000s, appearing in several minor film and television roles. He gained wider exposure with major roles in the 2005 films Little Manhattan and Zathura, the 2006 comedy RV, the 2007 family adventure film Firehouse Dog, and the film adaptations of Bridge to Terabithia, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant. On March 30, 2008, Hutcherson won a Young Artist Award (for Leading Young Actor). Hutcherson was also featured on a Celebrity Teens edition of the hit show MTV Cribs, and portrayed Peeta Mellark in the 2012 film The Hunger Games. He will appear in the Red Dawn remake.

Early life[link]

Josh Hutcherson was born in Union, Kentucky. His mother, Michelle, is a former Delta Air Lines employee who now assists Josh, and his father, Chris Hutcherson, is an analyst for the EPA.^[2] He has a younger brother, Connor, as well as many pets, including two dogs, Diesel and Nixon (a boxer).^[3] He has wanted to be an actor since he was four years old,^[4] but had only begun auditioning for roles in 2002, at the age of 9.^[5] He moved from Union to California, due to limited acting opportunities.^[6]

Career[link]

Hutcherson at the premiere of Cirque du Freak in 2009.

Hutcherson's first role was in the 2002 pilot episode, House Blend; in the same year, he appeared in an episode of ER. In 2003, he played the lead role in the comedy Miracle Dogs (which was released on Animal Planet), starred opposite Peter Falk and Timothy Daly in the made-for-television film, Wilder Days, and had a minor role in the well-reviewed independent film, American Splendor. He performed for the motion-capture imagery in 2004's The Polar Express.

In 2005, Hutcherson appeared in several Hollywood films: he had a minor role in the Will Ferrell comedy Kicking & Screaming, voiced Markl in the animated film Howl's Moving Castle (June), and played the lead roles in Little Manhattan (September) and Zathura, which was released in November to positive reviews. The following year, Hutcherson appeared in the comedy RV, playing the son of Robin Williams's character, and subsequently played Jesse Aarons in the drama Bridge to Terabithia, which was filmed in New Zealand^[7] and released on February 16, 2007, performing well critically and commercially. He had not read the novel that the film is based on before being cast in the role.^[7][8]

Hutcherson's next role was in Firehouse Dog (released on April 4, 2007), in which he played Shane Fahey, a firefighter's son who befriends a dog.^[9] Hutcherson filmed Firehouse Dog before Bridge to Terabithia, though the latter film was released first.^[10] His next roles were in the "very dark"^[9] independent film drama Winged Creatures,^[11] and playing the nephew of Brendan Fraser's character in Journey to the Center of the Earth,^[7] a new 3-D film version of the novel of the same name; filming on Journey, which was released on July 11, 2008, began in Montreal in June 2006 and ended in October of that year.^[7][9] Hutcherson also appeared in a film adaptation of the book Cirque Du Freak.

Hutcherson and Vanessa Hudgens, his co-star in the film Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, in January 2012.

In 2010, he had a supporting role in the critically acclaimed movie The Kids Are All Right, playing Laser. Hutcherson has said that he would like to appear in every type of film genre.^[9] On April 4, 2011, Lionsgate announced that Hutcherson had been cast as Peeta Mellark in the 2012 film, The Hunger Games.^[12]

Personal life[link]

Hutcherson briefly dated his Journey 2 co-star Vanessa Hudgens but the two are now "good friends".^[13]

Hutcherson has cited actor Jake Gyllenhaal as an inspiration.^[8] On August 11, 2007, Hutcherson served as the Grand Marshal at the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series Meijer Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway.^[14] In September 2008, he went to Italy for the first time. He visited Rome and Milan, and participated in a local event about kids and cinema.^[15] Hutcherson recorded a video for the "Straight but not narrow" campaign, designed to encourage young, straight men to come out in support of their gay peers.^[16] On Saturday, April 21, 2012, Josh received the Vanguard Award from GLAAD. The Vanguard Award is awarded to one who incases the visibilty and understanding of LGBT folks.^[17]

Growing up near Cincinnati, Ohio, Hutcherson is a lifelong fan of the city's Major League Baseball team, the Reds; and got to throw the first pitch before their April 7, 2012 game against the Miami Marlins at Great American Ball Park.^[18]

In April 2012, Josh adopted a pit bull named Driver from the Hands, Paws, & Hearts rescue organization in Lancaster, CA.^[19]

Being from Kentucky, Hutcherson has been a lifelong Kentucky Wildcats fan. While he was on Conan he admitted to painting his face at a Kentucky Wildcats Basketball game and being a lifelong season ticket holder.^[20]

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

Producer[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Josh Hutcherson at the Internet Movie Database
• Josh Hutcherson on Twitter
• People in Film: Josh Hutcherson - Focus Features
• Josh Hutcherson on Myspace
• Josh Hutcherson's channel on YouTube
• Josh Hutcherson on Facebook

Dane Cook
Cook at Comic Con 2007 promoting Good Luck Chuck
Birth name	Dane Jeffrey Cook
Born	(1972-03-18) March 18, 1972 (age 40) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, film, television
Nationality	American
Years active	1990–present
Genres	Stand-up comedy
Subject(s)	Observational comedy
Influences	George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Denis Leary, Steve Martin
Notable works and roles	Retaliation, Dane Cook: Vicious Circle, Isolated Incident
Website	Official website

Dane Jeffrey Cook (born March 18, 1972) is an American stand-up comedian and film actor. He has released five comedy albums: Harmful If Swallowed; Retaliation; Vicious Circle; Rough Around The Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden; and Isolated Incident. In 2006, Retaliation became the highest charting comedy album in 28 years and went platinum.^[1] He performed an HBO special in the Fall of 2006, Vicious Circle, a straight-to-DVD special titled Rough Around The Edges (which is included in the album of the same name), and a Comedy Central special in 2009 titled Isolated Incident.

He is credited as one of the first comedians to use a personal webpage and MySpace to build a large fan base^[2] and in 2006 was described as "alarmingly popular".^[3] As an actor, Cook has appeared in films since 1997, including Mystery Men, Waiting..., Employee of the Month, Good Luck Chuck, Dan in Real Life, Mr. Brooks (in a non-comedic role), and My Best Friend's Girl.

Personal life[link]

Cook was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts,^[4] the second son of Donna Jean (née Ford) and George F. Cook.^[5] Cook has an older half-brother, Darryl, and five sisters. He was raised in a Roman Catholic family^[6] in Arlington, Massachusetts, where he attended Arlington High School.

Cook has described himself as being "pretty quiet, pretty introverted, shy" as a child, although he was a "wild child" at home.^[7] He overcame his shyness in his junior year of high school when he began acting and doing stand-up comedy.^[8] After graduating from high school, he studied graphic design in college as a back-up plan in case he did not achieve success in comedy.^[9] He now designs all of his merchandise, including the cover of his album Harmful If Swallowed.^[8] Cook has stated that he does not drink or do drugs.^[10]

Cook's half-brother Darryl was Cook's business manager until 2008, when it was discovered that Darryl and his wife had embezzled millions of dollars from Dane Cook. Both Darryl and his wife have been sentenced to prison for the embezzlement.^[11]

Career[link]

Dane Cook

Stand-up[link]

In 1994, Cook moved to New York City and began performing. Two years later, he moved to Los Angeles, where he still lives today.^[12] His big break came in 1998 when he appeared on Comedy Central's Premium Blend. In 2000, Cook did a half-hour special on Comedy Central Presents. Since then his special has won the Comedy Central Stand-up showdown twice in a row.^[13]

In 2003, Cook released his first CD/DVD, Harmful If Swallowed. He signed a contract with Comedy Central Records. The album is certified platinum. He released his second CD/DVD in 2005, entitled Retaliation. This album went double platinum and made Cook the first comic in 29 years to have an album at #4 on the Billboard charts.^[13] He performed at the MTV Video Music Awards, and then afterwards he joined Snoop Dogg (who introduced him) in presenting the award for Best New Artist.^[13]

On April 15, 2005, Cook performed his first HBO Special entitled Vicious Circle. Vicious Circle was filmed "in the round" at the TD Banknorth Garden. The same year, Cook shot two pilot episodes for his own sitcom, Cooked. The sitcom never got picked up and the two pilot episodes were later released on DVD as the Lost Pilot Episodes. That same year, he embarked on a 30-day 20-show college tour called Tourgasm with his long time friends Robert Kelly, Gary Gulman, and Jay Davis. The tour was filmed and was later made into a 9-episode documentary on HBO.

On December 3, 2005, Cook hosted Saturday Night Live. It was one of the highest-rated SNLs of the season".^{[14][dead link]} He would then go on to host the premiere of season 32 of SNL a year later. Both episodes were the highest rated of the season.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Cook headlined for Dave Attell's Insomniac Tour and hosted the 2006 Teen Choice Awards alongside Jessica Simpson. The following year he won the award for Best Comedian. On November 12, 2007, Cook became the second comic to sell out Madison Square Garden. He did two sold out shows in one night. The show was filmed and would later be put onto a DVD to be sold on Cook's third comedy album. Cook won the Big Entertainer Award at the VH1 Big in '06 Awards, and Rolling Stone magazine's Hot Comic of the Year. The following day, November 13, 2007, he released his third CD/DVD entitled Rough Around The Edges, which was filmed live at Madison Square Garden in New York City. During that time, he embarked on his first arena tour.^{[citation needed]}

On April 10, 2007, Cook broke The Laugh Factory's endurance record (previously held by Richard Pryor)^[15] by performing on stage for 3 hours and 50 minutes. Dave Chappelle would break the record five days later.^[16] On January 1, 2008, Cook later broke Chapelle's record, by performing on stage for 7 hours.^[17]

From May 23, 2008 to May 25, 2008, Cook reunited with Robert Kelly and Al Del Bene for three shows at The Coliseum in Caesars Palace. From May 29, 2008, to June 4, 2008, the trio went to Iraq to perform for the troops. Del Bene was the Emcee, Kelly was the Feature, and Cook was the Headliner.^{[citation needed]}

He finished his fourth album, Isolated Incident; a performance which aired on Comedy Central on May 17, 2009, with the release of the record following two days later. He kicked off that tour at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, on April 25, 2009. This album will be the last as part of Cook's four record deal with Comedy Central Records. The new album was performed at The Laugh Factory in Hollywood, which is considered to be Cook's home base, where he goes and works on new material. He released the DVD version of Isolated Incident in November 2009.^[18]

Critique[link]

Cook's style is principally "long-form storytelling"^[19] and "multipurpose phrases"^[3] with a casual attitude. Cook says his onstage persona is a combination of the personalities of his mom, Donna, and his dad, George. "My mother is like a Looney Tunes cartoon. She's wiggly ... She has the ability to tongue in cheek a lot, and do it in a way where she's being physical. My dad is the polar opposite. He always had a little 'what the fuck' in his voice. Even if he knew nothing about what he was talking about, he could sell it. So I looked at these two extremely funny people and created a style of comedy from absorbing their actions."^[20]

He explains:

I wanted to create a stage persona for myself that allowed me to really speak about anything I want... So I can be a storyteller, I can be jokey, I can be corny, I can be a little vulgar, I can be a lot vulgar. And I'm not afraid to go anywhere to get the point of the joke across, even if I have to just blabber like a retard until it becomes apparent that I'm a retard and that the audience should laugh.

Commentators in a variety of media sources have characterized Dane Cook's humor as unfunny.^[2][3][21] Comedian Ron White has criticized Dane Cook for his lack of real material and for his inflated ego; saying "[He] does not make me laugh, at all, in any way, shape or form."^[22] When asked about his opinion of Cook on The Howard Stern Show, comedian Nick DiPaolo said "he doesn't make me laugh, but that doesn't mean he's not funny."^[23] On Boston radio station WBCN, Dane Cook was named by radio show Toucher and Rich to a tournament of the top 16 "Worst Comedians" and, based on listener voting, was voted the "Worst Comedian" of all. In the Michigan Daily, Elie Zwiebel and co-author Jesse Bean wrote that "he's managed to become one of the most overrated comics ever" and that his act is "boringly stagnant".^[24]

Jim Breuer talked about Cook's reputation within the comedy industry, saying: "Everyone kills this guy ... Not one comedian comes on [my Sirius radio show] and says 'I'm so happy for him', which is weird. ... They can't stand this poor guy." Breuer went on to say that he personally thinks Cook is a "tremendous performer".^[25]

Accusations of plagiarism[link]

Comedian Joe Rogan has claimed that Cook performed a bit on an episode of Premium Blend that Rogan had developed on I'm Gonna Be Dead Someday (sketch titled "Tigers Fucking"), and claimed to have performed the routine earlier in clubs with Cook present.^[26] Other comedians have also accused Cook of stealing their material. A 2007 article in Radar magazine about joke theft included Rogan's allegations, as well as the allegations of an anonymous "veteran comic" who accused Cook of appropriating one of that comic's "very physical routines," despite a direct request by the comedian that Cook stop using the routine in question.^[27] The piece also noted widespread Internet discussion of the similarity between the bits "Struck by a Vehicle," "Itchy Asshole," and "My Son Optimus Prime," from Cook's 2005 album Retaliation, and the bits "Guy on a Bike," "Itchy Asshole," and "Kid's Names," from comic Louis C.K.'s 2003 album Live in Houston.^[27] In 2011, Cook played himself in an episode of Louie, scripted by C.K., centering on a fictional encounter between the two comics during which they discuss the controversy.^[28]

Film[link]

Cook began with small film roles in the late 90's, including Mystery Men as "The Waffler," and opposite Dennis Rodman in 1999's Simon Sez.^[29]

In 2006, Cook starred in his first leading role as the slacker box boy Zack Bradley in Employee of the Month, which co-starred Jessica Simpson and Dax Shepard. Poorly received by critics, the film made a modest $30 million against a $12 million budget.^[30] In June 2007, Cook co-starred in his first dramatic role as the devious photographer "Mr. Smith" in Mr. Brooks, which starred Kevin Costner. The film debuted at #4 at the box office. The film grossed $10,017,067 in the opening weekend.^[31]

In September 2007, Cook starred as dentist Charlie Logan in Good Luck Chuck, which co-starred Jessica Alba and Dan Fogler. The film was the second-highest grossing film (#1 Comedy) at the U.S. box office in its opening weekend, grossing $13.6 million in 2,612 theaters. The film went on to have a total box office tally of approximately $35 million U.S. and $24 million foreign. It was received very poorly by critics.^[32] A month later, Cook co-starred as Mitch Burns in Dan In Real Life, which starred Steve Carell. The film grossed $11.8 million in 1,921 theaters its opening weekend, ranking #2 at the box office. As of July 6, 2008, it has grossed $62,745,217. It received moderate to good reviews from critics.^[33]

In 2008, Cook starred as air purifier call-center supervisor Tank Turner in My Best Friend's Girl with Kate Hudson, Jason Biggs, and Alec Baldwin. The film grossed $8.2 million in its opening weekend, debuting at #3 at the box office, but received poor reviews from critics.^[34]

In 2010, Cook auditioned for the role of Captain America for Captain America: The First Avenger, although the director, Joe Johnston, did not have him on the short list for the part.^[35]

Stage[link]

On November 18, 2010, it was announced that both Cook and Josh Hamilton will be starring in Neil LaBute's 2011 Broadway production of Fat Pig.^[36] Production will begin in March 2011.

Tours[link]

• Tourgasm 2006 (w/ Robert Kelly, Gary Gulman, Jay Davis)
• Rough Around The Edges Tour 2007
• Globo Thermo Tour 2009 (w/ Robert Kelly and Al Del Bene) – In a Shave Magazine review of the Globo Thermo tour, Jake Tomlinson expressed that "his live performance quite enjoyable", and gave the concert 4 out of 5 stars.^[37]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Other releases[link]

• 2006: Dane Cook's Tourgasm (3DVD)
• 2007: The Lost Pilots (DVD) Sony Pictures Television.
• 2011 In the Future Steel Panther Balls Out

Singles[link]

• (2006) I'll Never Be You – #100 (U.S. Pop), #4 (Germany)
• (2007) Forward
• (2010) Drunk Girl/Red Car^[38]

Cook co-wrote and performed the song "Ruthie Pigface Draper" for the Dan In Real Life film with Norbert Leo Butz.^[39]

Filmography[link]

References[link]