America Through a Camera: Horror Cinema as a Historical Discourse in The Last House on the Left

Abstract

Last House on the Left (Wes Craven, 1972) became a very controversial film because of the reflection of social upheavals in America. The consideration of the horror genre as popular has undervalued its importance as a historical source. Hence, the aim of this article is to claim its value for Cultural Studies. From Cultural Studies and the discourse methodology, our object of study is key to understand several cultural aspects in America such as class, religion or violence as well as to disclose alternative discourses which were opposed to the official narrative.

Keywords

• Asesino en serie
• contradiscurso
• historia cultural
• violencia social
• clase.