Degree
Master of Arts
Program
Film Studies
Supervisor
Dr. Joe Wlodarz
Abstract
This thesis adopts an industrial approach to auteur study, engaging in a detailed analysis of the extratextual crafting of metal-musician-turned-horror-filmmaker Rob Zombie’s auteur image from the year 2000 to the present day. It proposes the existence of a new authorial archetype in the twenty-first century American horror market, the convergence-era horror auteur, whose manufacturing and mobilization is tied explicitly to the niche-oriented marketing efforts of media industries. Positioning Zombie’s career as an instructive case study, this thesis ultimately demonstrates how critical discourses of horror auteurism have been co-opted by studios, filmmakers, and other industry parties as (self-)branding strategies designed to confer subcultural prestige upon horror properties and secure the loyalty of horror fans in an increasingly fragmented and diverse media landscape.
Recommended Citation
Stam, Ryan, "Rob Zombie, the Brand: Crafting the Convergence-Era Horror Auteur" (2015). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 2744.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/2744