Did 80s critics see slashers as harmful, and what did parents and governments say?
Research question: Did critics of the 1980s see slasher films as harmful, and what did parents, groups, and governments say about them?
The records show that critics disliked the genre: the Friday the 13th series was not very popular with critics 1, and debates about media violence put the slasher genre in disrepute over its excessive and realistic violence 2. One critical reference work described the film Maniac as a horror and violence product of a primitive kind that mainly relies on disgust 3. Governments acted against many of these films, since in the 1980s many were banned or heavily censored, at least temporarily 4, and German authorities seized Maniac 7. Youth protection officials and media effects researchers studied the depiction of violence in these films 6, and the underlying assumption was that children need protection from horror media so they do not become corrupted by it 5. The verified facts do not record what individual parents or advocacy groups specifically said, so that part of the question is only partly answered 56.
Sources
"Obwohl die Filme bei den Kritikern nicht sehr beliebt waren, gilt Freitag, der 13. als eines der erfolgreichsten Medien-Franchises in Amerika."Freitag der 13. (Franchise)
"Durch zahlreiche Debatten zum Thema Gewalt in den Medien geriet das Genre wegen seiner exzessiven und realistischen Gewaltdarstellung in Verruf und wird deshalb noch immer stark kritisiert."Slasher-Film
"„Grusel- und Gewaltprodukt primitiven Zuschnitts, das vorwiegend auf Ekel setzt.“"Maniac (1980)
"Dies hatte auch zur Folge, dass besonders in den 1980er Jahren viele Slasher-Filme, zumindest vorübergehend, indiziert oder stark zensiert wurden."Slasher-Film
"with children typically assumed to be vulnerable, impressionable, and in need of protection from horrific media lest they become “corrupted” by it."The Children's Horror Film: Characterizing an “Impossible” Subgenre (2016)
"Auch Jugendschützer und Medienwirkungsforscher beschäftigen sich mit der Gewaltdarstellung in Filmen."Slasher-Film
"Die Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien (BPjM) gab im Juli 2014 schließlich bekannt, dass der Film auf Liste B indiziert wurde."Maniac (1980)