ost theorists as a 'slasher' movie, although almost all would agree that this is a difficult genre to define. Vera Dika argues that this particular genre is best defined by "a predominantly off-screen killer who is known primarily by his distinctive point-of-view shots" (Dika, 1990 cited in Koven, 2003). Although it is hard to place exactly what makes a 'slasher' movie, it is fair to say that 'Halloween' fits the criteria.
             Genre is an important element in the analysis of horror films, and through watching horror films over the years, it becomes part of our socialization process, and we grow used to the conventions and techniques used in the horror genre. Through filmmaking techniques and an assumption of the audience's knowledge of the genre, the film can create meaning, suspense, tension, etc. with little effort. For example in Friday the 13th, (Sean S. Cunningham, 1980) when the scantily clad teenager wanders off on her own into the woods, and the music begins to change to a more ominous tone, we all know violence and danger is near, yet the character onscreen does not. Pinedo states that "narrative pleasure derives from the intelligibility of the genre, from appreciating the deployment of generic conventions to discern the logic to the madness and from innovations that violate audience expectations." (Pinedo, 1999, p.44) In her book Recreational Terror, Isabel Pinedo discusses the uses of 'insider knowledge' associated with the genre, especially the serialized 'slasher' films of the early to mid-eighties. We are privy to information that the characters in the film are not; we know where Michael is and what his motivations are. As members of a competent audience, we can bask in the knowledge that we would not act as foolishly as the killer's victims; we would know what to do. "Insider knowledge provides a measure of security. If we understand it, if we have some idea of what to expect, it becomes less menacing, and we can brav...