The American cinema is usually considered as the most conventionalized. However accurate this statement seems, it becomes questionable as to the present condition of the American film production. Popular movies make up the majority of the films produced. They follow the classical genre film tradition, though its canons usually are not entirely respected. Mixing various conventions together has been evident in the recent years' production. Back to the Future III, which combines the elements of science-fiction and western, or Ghost, which is a horror mixed with melodrama, perfectly illustrate the above thesis. Thus, it is no longer possible to define clear genre criteria, as it was in the thirties or the forties. The exception to the rule is gore, otherwise called splatter or slasher. This genre emerged in the seventies, when the other genres, which had until then been very expansive, began to decline.

In order to characterize gore, one has to return to the mid sixties, which brought many important changes into the American system of film production. This was the time when many low-budget films made by independent producers appeared. The pioneer was Roger Corman who had deliberately chosen the role of producer and director of the popular films which were made in a very short period of time. The fact that his films were commercially successful encouraged other film-makers to establish a whole network of small and independent studios.

Hershell Gordon Lewis was one of the most enthusiastic horror fans among the film-makers. His films were characterized by excessive violence and extremely graphic treatment of death; an attitude rare and unusual in that time. Large studios could not agree to produce films like Blood Feast because their potential audience were mostly very young people. That is why, the low budget films by Lewis were addressed to a more limited number of rather devoted spectators, associated in the horror fan clubs. The most famous of Lewis' production were Blood Feast and 2000 Maniacs, and though Lewis did not have the immediate followers, his influence became significant for the horror film production in the mid-seventies.

Two pictures gave a start to the development of gore. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre by Tobe Hooper and Shivers by David Cronenberg, though produced in different countries (one in the US, the other - in Canada) convey the fundamental features typical of the genre. The viewer may predict the atmosphere of the films by merely reading the titles. The films follow the aesthetic canons introduced by Lewis. They implement the elements of traditional horror, but the audience's experience takes a completely different form. Both films are important and distinguished enough to be treated as a basis for further genre analysis, in which gore will be compared to horror, since both genres are undoubtedly linked, as gore has originated from horror.

The traditional horror played an important role in the American system of film production already in the thirties, so the leading characters were usually cast by the film stars. On the contrary, no famous names can be found in the cast of gore movies. The choice between a star and an unknown actor always influences the development of plot. The star system determines the film structure, and at the same time, the viewer's expectations. The whole world presented in the film resolves around the star. In the case of horror the two elements - the star and the rest of the world - become antagonized. The danger which takes for example the form of a monster usually threatens the values cherished by a leading character. Of course, there are various way to present this schematic relation.

However, the positive values are most frequently associated with the family and the supporting institutions. The action of horror films usually takes place in a small provincial town inhabited by idealized American families which are attacked by the Other. The plots of the films present the characters' struggle against the intruder. The films usually end with the intruder's defeat and restoration of the status quo. The protagonist's virtues are challenged, whereas the outsiders who reject the positive values become eliminated from the community. In other words, the classic horror provides diverse and multiple solutions within the same circular structure, which leads to restoring a normal situation, only temporarily disturbed by the intruder. In this way, the ending of the film brings the affirmation of initial, positive values.

In the case of gore, the viewer is confronted with a completely different structure, which is implied by an independent system of production. No limitations typical of the "star system" appear because no stars are engaged. What is more, sometimes the protagonist is not a lonely individual, but a group. This results in the distortion of the process of secondary identification on the part of the spectator. A distorted identification makes the creation of positive values unnecessary. The initial situation of a film does not present any positive values, so nothing can be threatened by an intruder. On the contrary, the evil is an inseparable element of the representation. In this way, gore rejects the "sanctities" typical of horror. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre perfectly illustrates this. The main protagonists, a family, are not victims of the Other at all; on the contrary, they are the embodiment of Evil. The Sawyers are degenerated, half-barbarous cannibals. However, their victims cannot be regarded as positive characters simply because their "on-screen" presence is too brief. Since the victims are vaguely individualized, the process of identification is turned towards the oppressors. Yet, it is impossible for the viewer to identify with them because of disgust and fear. This makes the atmosphere of terror even greater.

A similar atmosphere is evoked by Shivers, (1975) when the slug-like parasites change the guests of a luxury hotel into sex-craved zombies. Most of the protagonists are deviants anyway; the parasites, bred by an insane scientist, only intensify the heroes' deviant behavior. Finally, the hotel turns into hotbed of perverse maniacs. The values traditionally represented by family or other socially accepted institutions are rejected. The film closes with the hotel guests leave the hotel in their cars spreading the plague all over the world.

The above examples prove that the structure of gore is diametrically opposed to that of horror. The plot of gore is not focused on restoring the disturbed status quo, since it has not even been established. The values are not reaffirmed, but instead, they are rejected. In this sense they are parody of typical horror motifs. In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre the Sawyers cultivate a family tradition, whereas in Shivers no authority is presented. Instead, in both films all possible interpersonal relationships get twisted.

The above mentioned features tie gore closely to the model of production created by Roger Corman. It is also worthwhile to mention that the master of B-pictures himself gave up the idea of making another adaptation of E. A. Poe's works (The Raven, The Pit and the Pendulum etc.) in order to create Bloody Mama and The Wild Angels, in which authorities and values are rejected, while the form and the text become destroyed. The same aesthetics will later be implemented in gore.

The classic horror movie was based on the effect of surprise and creating a specific atmosphere. The appearance of the monster is always preceded by disturbing anticipation. The gore films give up this idea; the tension becomes replaced by feelings of shock and disgust. A large number of special effects used in the films only intensify those reactions. The most important features of the genre have been illustrated by Hooper's and Cronenberg's films. The most eminent achievements of the genre appeared in the eighties with the works of such film-makers as Wes Craven, Frank Henenlotter or Clive Barker, not to mention Cronenberg or Hooper. Due to gore`s present popularity, the tradition of the independent cinema remains alive.

The gore films are frequently analyzed according to psychoanalytic film theory which regards the filmic text as a visualization of a dream. In other words, the psychoanalysis tries to describe the symptoms which refer to numerous repressed complexes.

One can distinguish several fundamental motifs expressed in gore. The emphasis on the destruction of the body is to draw the audience's attention to the human sexuality and physical aspects of our existence. Indeed, the events shown on the film often literally illustrate psychoanalytic theses; the behavioural traits of the protagonists reflect their complexes and neuroses. Strange as it seems, the characterization of men and women considerably differs. Their mutual relationships are inscribed in frames of a simplified understanding of sexual difference. In gore the male protagonist is characterised by the primary possession, so all his activities are focused on confirming his virility. This offers many variables, of course. In Cronenberg's The Fly, the main hero takes an ambivalent attitude towards his own body. Unable to find sexual satisfaction in a heterosexual relationship, he resorts to a symbolically represented perversion. The punishment for this appears to be an incurable disease. This resembles the attitude some people have towards AIDS.

In The Evil Dead the male protagonists fall victims to women's attacks, so their efforts are focused on regaining their lost domination. A similar scenario is presented in Pieces. A man dominated in his childhood by his mother, becomes, as an adult, a murderer of young women. The murders function as the symbolic realization of his repressed virility.

The female characters are treated in a completely different manner. A woman's role is much more active (at a symbolic level, of course). Since a woman is jealous of a man`s penis, she wishes to dominate man in other way. This desire may be fulfilled by an attempt at "being a man"; so a woman tries to take over the phallic objects (swords, knives) associated with masculinity and virility. Many stalker films, such as Friday the 13th or The Evil Dead may serve as perfect examples of this process. However, "penis envy" may take a much more complex form. The desire for social and sexual advancement may be associated with a deviant form of features typical of femininity, such as fertility or motherhood. Expansion and multiplication of the Ego are illustrated by symbolic unity with a child in The Brood or A Nightmare on Elm Street V. The plots of these films may be interpreted in the way suggested above.

Thus, the meaning of gore as a genre has to be interpreted at two levels. One is the level of representation, at which numerous moral and aesthetic taboos are surpassed. Another appears to be the level of communication, since the message of gore unexpectedly turns out to be more complex than it seems. A specific use of psychoanalysis reduces the diverse narratives to a simpli fied illustration of the concept of sexual difference. The individual meaning of a film is lost since the particular gore film functions as an illustration of a few banal theses of psychoanalysis. What is more, when the viewer discovers the symbolic meaning of the represented world, his reaction is reminiscent of the reader's disappointment at the banal and schematic ending of what appeared to be a witty story. The gore viewer seems to be teased into the interpretive trap. Thus, the cri tic should try to define the most characteristic features of this trap.

As other independent productions, gore enjoys cult-like following. Its audience generates from the intellectual elites, who are apt to decode the meaning of the text by applying psychoanalysis. However, once the viewer discovers that the conventions of the film refer only to the most basic concepts of psychoanalysis all the pleasure of decoding the meanings is gone and negated. The pleasure here is understood in terms of Roland Barthes' concept presented in The Pleasure of the Text. The negation is caused by the viewer's inability to reach "the origins" (as defined by Barthes). Instead, the viewer discovers a set of numerous cultural cliches, inscribed in reality. This enables us to situate gore within the frames of the postmodern culture. According to Jean-Francois Lyotard, postmodernism can be most accurately defined by its relation to the concept of pleasure. Unlike other important cultural trends in the 20th century, which affirm pleasure, postmodernism rejects pleasure and identifies it with submitting to the dominating culture and the consent to the ideology.

The postmodern works of art convey their meanings by creating the illusions or the false equivalents of pleasure. These works feign an affiliation with culture, whereas, in fact they transgress the limits of culture and become its alternative. Imitation of the cultural roots often takes the form of the "false quotations" (a principle of J. L. Borges' writings). An imaginary library, filled with cliches of our cultural heritage, becomes the heart of the postmodern culture (or rather counter-culture). That is why, postmodern artists make use of the codes typical of popular culture, sometimes they even feed on high culture which transformed by mass-media. One may follow Walter Benjamin and say that postmodernism makes use of culture deprived of its aura.

We shall now try to situate gore in the postmodern context. American criticism has provided us with several attempts at defining gore as a part of a postmodern culture. Unfortunately, most of them have been focused on its culture-negating representations. However, enumerating the acts of violence and attributing them with rebellious connotations, is, in my opinion, a futile misconception, which does not contribute to comprehension of the gore phenomenon.

The text The Terror of Pleasure¹, by Tania Modleski appears to be more interesting. Although she concentrates on these aspects of gore which emphasize the rejection of dominating culture, the style and conclusions of her analyses seem to be convincing enough. According to Modleski, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre challenges the American sanctity: family; whereas The Dawn of the Living Dead , in which zombies attack a large shopping mall, is the negation of the materialistic approach to life.

Another film analyzed by the author is Videodrome by Cronenberg, in which mass-media becomes de-mystified. In spite of the obvious values of Modleski's analysis, I cannot accept her conclusions. She seems to be incapable of grasping a figurative or even symbolic meaning of an apparently univocal representation. Nevertheless, the author has quite adequately noted the effect of homogeneity, which frequently appears in gore. She incidentally refers to this concept, when writing about a distorted principle of sexual difference and the rejection of traditional social and sexual roles. While analyzing the connections between gore and postmodernism one should have in mind both the achievements and the misconceptions of the American criticism.

The already described application of psychoanalysis to the genre interpretation places gore in a specific situation. The American culture, and particularly its popular version has assimilated the works of Freud. As we know, gore makes use of a simplified, democratic and media-transformed culture. Thus, the meanings we decode by means of a symptomatic analysis, should be, as if taken into parenthesis. In this way, the text evades being decoded. It becomes a tautology and results in a complete "corruption" of meaning. Gore challenges the viewer to decipher its meaning which is not hard to find. Yet, the discovery of meaning brings no satisfaction since the very recognition of sexual difference leads nowhere. Having disclosed the secret desires and perversions behind the representation, the viewer becomes alienated, since gore does not convey any positive values. To put it more bluntly, the viewer has been deceived. Due to the limitations of the method, the majority of symptomatic analyses seem unable to grasp the heart of the matter. Although they provide reasonable explanations of the concept of sexual difference, they fail to discover the final meaning of the text. That is why the symptomatic analyses should play a secondary role in the process of decoding the message.

The discovery of "an interpretive misconception" enables us to acquire a fresh attitude towards the genre. Having defined the mechanisms governing the genre, the critic may fully comprehend the role of gore in culture. The role is determined by various mutually reinforcing factors, which in fact, do not make a coherent system. This may explain the failure of psychoanalytic approach to the genre. Therefore, one should take into consideration not only the elements of iconography, but the meanings originated from a psychoanalytical reading as well. Besides, one should bear in mind the already presented "interpretive traps".

An accidental viewer, when asked what gore is, would probably answer that it is a particularly abhorrent and drastic modification of horror. This statement is accurate, because it refers to an important gore motif. Corruption of the body, in a more or less drastic form, is present in all gore films. The concentration on bodily decay is not accidental, on the contrary, it is essential to comprehending the genre. The characters, who are in the state of permanent sickness, are perfectly defined by Nietzsche's statement: "man is more hesitant and unsteady than any other animal...man is a sick animal". Thus, disease becomes the force which determines man's existence. However paradoxical this assumption may seem, it perfectly characterizes gore, which constitutes its existence by creating a world of corruption, illness, and decay. This inevitably leads to the distortions in the process of identification on the part of the viewer. The victims are simply too "fragile" to identify with, whereas the moral otherness of the oppressors makes identification with them unacceptable.

The viewer's psychoanalytic attitude will enable him to reveal two basic elements of gore "philosophy". One takes the form of perverse sexuality, which originates from man's inability to evade his primary natural function. The other rejects the strong values inherent to moral systems linked with culture. Having deciphered the sign, the viewer feels pleasure, which later, however, will be negated at the final and most important level.

Alienation and embitterment on the part of the most careful viewer are the reactions deliberately implied by the genre. Its most significant feature is the inability to differentiate the inside of the text, which results in total annihilation of its meaning. Since the desired nonentity is impossible to achieve, it turns into informational chaos, which reduces possible forms of the message to several banal categories.

The "cursed" meaning of gore enables the critics to include the genre in postmodern philosophy. The negation of culture takes a complex form in gore. The very reference to sexuality, used as a central element of the representation, becomes a violation of the taboo. The sexual taboo is presented as a "cultural prison", in which man is trapped. However, the characters' struggle against the repressive institutions is merely an exploitation of numerous cultural cliches. Finally, a deceitful pleasure of solving a mystery, creates the illusion of the viewer's independence, while in fact, his activities are totally manipulated. A detailed analysis of gore indicates that the genre's aim is to reject the culture that is based on and believes in communication. Although at the level of representation, the excess of highly conventionalized signs can be detected, the deeper analysis reveals the strong distortion in the relations between the signified and the signifiers.

Therefore, the text of the gore should be comprehended in terms of Tadeusz Rachwal's "revelation": "It is I, the text...I, the text, want to talk to you, I, the text"². In other words, the text should be regarded as a phenomenon of a turbulent and deceitful nature, which is endowed with life. When challenged with such a text, the spectator should follow Laing's advice: "Take all expressions in parenthesis. Take all possible shapes in parenthesis. And finally, take parenthesis in parenthesis" ³.

The term "parenthesis" should be interpreted in agreement to Kalaga's suggestion ⁴ as an equally valid element of the message. Gore is base on the chaos of communication, which disturbs the traditional hierarchy of relations among the text, the margin and the parenthesis. That is why it requires a new interpretive method, which would correspond to the exceptional nature of the genre. Gore is a part of the postmodern culture, and at the same time, it challenges the very concept of culture. Both, the viewer and the interpreter are inscribed in the text, its margins and parenthesis. Although they are unwelcome guests, their presence is indispensable. The above thesis brings yet another meaning to the words of M. Ryan: "A classical theory of representation is one of the main problems for the postmodern criticism "⁵. The gore, aiming to reject communication in the traditional sense, creates the "parenthesized" meanings, and replaces the signs with illusions of signs. The parenthesis appears to be the essence of gore. The genre reveals a tendency towards its own annihilation, beginning from such easily differentiated elements as aesthetic, plots or characters. What is more, one may risk the suggestion that it is the genre itself, both as the work of art and the element of culture that become invalidated.

Postmodernism is the culture of cliches. A postmodern work of art is, as Tony Wilson has put it: "an identical copy of the original that has never existed " ⁶. Its social function and the system of production situates gore close to hard core. Both phenomena exist on the margins of culture and some more conservative critics would prefer to cast them out of its realm.

The gore becomes the expression of man's inaptitude and decline. The conviction that we are unable to construct any meaning is confronted with the conclusion that, on the other hand, we are "doomed" to meaning. The helpless "udecidability" of cognition discloses the truth of the condition of the spectatorship in the end of the 20th century. In my argument, I have focused on the most significant element which constitutes the meaning of gore. The motif of sexuality and the use of psychoanalysis, both of which link gore with postmodernism, did not exploit all possible approaches to the gore phenomenon. The situation of a potential interpreter is perfectly illustrated by a scene from Videodrome. The main protagonist, Max Wenn gets a video cassette from Bianca. She warns him: Watch out, it bites". Max, however, does not hesitate to accept the cassette, though he realizes that its consequences might be tragic - the cassette contains a signal inducing a brain tumor.

Notes:

1. Modleski, T., 1986: The Terror of Pleasure: The Contemporary Horror Film and Postmodern Theory [in:] Modleski, T., ed., Studies in Entertainment: Critical Approaches to Mass Culture, Bloomington, Indiana. pp. 155-165.
2. Rachwal, T., 1988: Tekst [in:] Tekst - (Czytelnik) - Margines. Katowice.
3. Laing, R., D., 1971: Knots, Middlesex, p. 71.
4. Ryan, M., 1988: Postmodern Politics' Theory, "Culture and Society", vol. 5., no. 2-3.
5. Willson, T., 1990: Reading the Postmodernist Image: A Cognitive Mapping, "Screen" vol. 331, no. 4., p. 401.